Government trying to correct the wrongs in the Entertainment Industry
We, as a society, could say that we improved a lot over the last hundred or so years in terms of equal treatment. In a lot of countries we’ve (legally, although it still exists) gotten rid of slavery, racism, sexism, etc. However, we still see a lot of people suffering from unequal and unfair treatment, mostly caused by those that have the power and authority to do so. For example, good old Bob Barker, long time host of The Price is Right, had various sexual harassment cases against him, and allegedly frequently threatened models on the show that they could either sleep with him or lose their job. When employees of the show testified against him in court, they were fired as well… except they technically didn’t get fired; their contract simply didn’t get renewed. The girls who were on the show had to negotiate their contract every week. There’s a lot of stories like this in Tinseltown (Hollywood). The entertainment industry in general seems to be in this same old black cloud no matter which country we talk about, it appears. But it seems the Korean government actually decided to take a step at the right direction, possibly influenced by controversy involving the late Jang Ja Yun, trying to get to the bottom of this problem within the entertainment industry. The first thing they did was take a poll / ask the people in the industry if they have ever been wronged.
On October 5th, senator Byun disclosed a report from the Korean Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism entitled “Survey on work environment and related concerns of mass culture artists.” 60 Actors and actresses, 80 music artists and 60 technicians took part in this survey, and the results look pretty grim. 36.3% of actors (both male and female) experienced physical or verbal assault, while 32% were asked for bribes and 32% were asked to partake in unwanted drinking. It was worse for actresses, of whom 43.8% were asked to partake in unwanted drinking, 37.5% experienced physical or verbal assault, 25% experienced unwanted physical contact and 12.5% received “sponsorship” offers. By Sponsorship, it means those in power who support actresses, financially and also using their connections and influences (to get important roles), in exchange for sex. Many famous stars such as Ivy and Song Yoon Ah confessed to turning down such offers, while some female celebrities who seem to receive a lot of media attention compared to their popularity are rumored to have very powerful sponsors. 36.8% artists involuntarily surrendered copyrights, and 31.6% had to perform at times involuntarily. Overall, 59.2% of those that were surveyed did not receive full wages or received the full wages late.
Hopefully this survey helps the issues that are to be addressed as soon as possible in order to improve the conditions of artists. It seems like it will help the artists in profit division, general treatment, and standard labor contracts. Instead of turning a blind eye to it, the government is actually addressing some of these issues. Also, the issue concerning minor artists came up as well. Although average age of artists have dropped significantly in recent years, relevant sections of the law hasn’t been revised to protect those that are minors. This could end up in exploitation of under aged artists. With sterner rules and more regulations, hopefully things will change for the better.
yeaaa it’s nice to see the korean government taking notice of these things. BUT let’s wait for the results. =/
It’s harsh, but i think it’s like this in any entertainment industry.
Glad the government is taking a stand.
something should be done >< its a good thing they are!
It’s about time :) I hope our favorite celebrities get the money they deserve (DBSK and other Sm Town’ers).
after taking care of the wholoe sex in exchange thingy,
hopefully the gov will take care of slavery.
Wall of text, not reading that
omg TT
the statistics sounds bad :/
do something to help them asap!!
nice. babysteps to change.
I hope they really do try to fix this and make it better.
The results definitely are not something to be proud of…
this is a normal thing in this industry.. it happen everywhere in the world, but glad that the Korean gov. showing up.
That’s too awesome! Korean Government = Win!
oh wow!
idol worshiping drives people nuts !
i agree with 59
they have brains but they want to be famous fast so i they do those stupid idiotic acts , well the world is fucked up what can we say
we can comment but there is nothing we can do ….
unless we hold a petition even that won;t work
some would listen some would oppose …
and really i don;t care , nothing we say or comment would change the impact on K celebrities or others unless that really happens then i would take that seriously ….. N NETIZENS SHOULD BE HANDLED , THEY SHOULD BE ARRESTED FOR CAUSING DEATHS OF PEOPLE if they are too young they should should be sent to a home and when they reach the age they can be hanged
call me crazy a life for a life …
it might work better ! because they would know the consequences
and they have to answer for their actions .. :]
lol
FINALLY! well that took a long time… i didn’t know that the host of “the price is right” is a fucking old pervert, thanks for telling us :D
finally he takes notice !
1 : he is too late T.T
2: think of all the celebrities that could be saved
3 : the world is so fucked up !
4 : where is tvxq news ???
you supposed to tell us at the end of sep
they better win and FUCK You SM
hope things change for the better soon. i didnt even know the guy who used to host the price is right did all those things
singers, actresses made dose choices
theyre not dumb 2 sign contracts
and ppl say ‘o they didnt knoe bout it’
y do u think there are contracts?
so they can KNOE wtf theyre getting into b4
and even tho they do get harassed
they made the choice
if they dnt want 2 stop then they should jus stop not keep going
i guess those idols and ppl netizens ‘worship’
are really jus stupid then rit?
r u calling ur idol stupid?
this is nice & all but i’m hoping like Minzy of 2NE1 and Ji Young from Kara and others like them havent had to go through this…>_<“”
Every entertainment industry is hella dark. But glad the K govt to have the balls and will to fix up something that is messed up. Go for it !
Entertainment business in general is a very shady business. Behind all the shining lights and pretty voices, it’s all just money and contracts.
they’re taking a good step forward!^^
About time. The result of the survey looked horrible. I didn’t know it was that bad. Good thing there’s effort to learn of these conditions and hopefully there will be good changes in the entertainment industry.
they should have done it earlier.
the korean entertainment industry is really harsh and can be corrupting.
the age limit of debuting should be reformed. some debut when they’re friggen 14! (example: krystal of fx, jiyoung from KARA, and sohyun from 4imunte)
and it’s really sad that some women have to perform sexual stuff for the men of the cast (director, producer, etc.) if they want to be kept on the show/casted.
they need to do something about netizens too, man!
about time!
i hope the next action will be against cyber bullying and harassment!
that’s effed up. i’d like to think of the industry as least mostly happy since groups like SuJu and 2PM promote that atmosphere. but i guess the korean entertainment industry is just as dark and cruel as any other.