Üsküdar University NP Feneryolu Medical Center Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist Dr. Instructor Its member Neriman Kilit touched on the increasing K-Pop trend with the effects of popular culture in recent years.
Expressing that popular culture is most influential on the field of music, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist Dr. Instructor Member Neriman Kilit said, “There are many examples of popular culture in the world that can be given about the past and the future. Most of these examples include a piece of music, an outfit, a book, or a word. The extreme interest of young people in the songs and clothing styles of the American band Back Street Boys, which left their mark on a period, and South Korean singer PSY's Gagnam Style song can be cited as an example. From the perspective of Turkey, once upon a time, Cem Karaca, Erkin Koray and the Mongols formed popular culture examples that changed shape in the capitalist world. Virtual baby feeding of almost every individual in the world for a period is also an example of popular culture. The phrase that one day everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes was also an important phrase in the most used popular culture field of the period.” said.
Pointing out that the influence of popular culture in our lives has increased in the last twenty years, Kilit said, “The desire to consume has increased in societies, especially among the young generation. The rapid development of the internet and social media and the fact that they took an important place in our lives were also effective in this situation. In addition, today's popular culture is largely based on violence. Certain television programs and books contain a certain amount of violence. Violence is so subtle in some television programs that projected violence is particularly popular. Emphasis is placed on reflected violence in societies structured by the existence of conflicting interests, where power and resources are unequally distributed. used the phrases.
Referring to the K-Pop movement, which is a part of Hallyu in South Korean popular culture, Dr. Instructor Member Neriman Kilit said that in recent years, Türkiye and the world have been mentioned frequently. Locking the worldwide success of K-Pop, which is observed to have a large fan base, especially among young women, to the support given to cultural products in various ways, Kilit continued:
“South Korea has recently attracted attention with the rising popularity of K-Pop groups such as BTS, EXO, TWICE among young people around the world, the Oscar-winning productions such as Parasite, and the blockbuster productions on Netflix such as Squid Game. Cultural products originating from South Korea are just some of the popular cultural products spread all over the world. Popular culture occupies a large place in the daily life of today's individuals thanks to mass communication technologies. It has been frequently mentioned in recent discussions that popular culture is a commodity offered to the consumption of the masses through the media and that it has been transformed into mass culture blended with the logic of the market. According to this point of view, because popular culture is the culture of everyday life, it helps to get rid of the negative aspects of reality.”
Stating that popular culture is produced by the ruling classes in order to create artificial pleasures and happiness on the audience or consumers, Dr. Instructor Member Neriman Kilit said, “Popular culture is associated with a kind of procrastination. Accordingly, while popular culture is more preferred than the everyday, it provides ordinary pleasures intertwined with it. The emotional satisfaction of popular culture legitimizes the game of desire and discipline. Fans attribute symbolic meanings to the meanings of K-Pop songs and K-Pop singers' life stories and stances. In the rise of Korean popular culture products in recent years, it has become important for the product to have a story or to have good storytelling in the background of the product. This situation allows young people to make the life and thoughts of K-pop singers their philosophy of life, and causes behaviors such as suicide and perspectives such as single-sexism to increase.” warned.
Pointing out that we have no chance to completely change popular culture and completely eliminate its effects on young people, Kilit said, “Family bans on this issue will not make things better. First of all, we need to explain to our children that there can be movements and people that we all admire, and that this is normal up to a point.” he said.
Stating that we cannot build our whole lives and goals on these fascinations, and that this type of fanaticism can cause obsession and addiction, it is necessary to explain in a language suitable for children, Kilit concluded:
“For this reason, we need to explain that our daily life functionality may decrease and it may distract us from our own reality and future. Parents should color their children's lives in line with their talents and interests, and ensure that this situation takes less place in their lives. It should not completely ban the products and concerts of these groups, but should reach agreements. Even if they observe that this fanaticism turns into obsession and addiction in their children, they should definitely consult a child and adolescent psychiatrist.”