Yin & Young EP047 - Filmmaker Valerie Soe - Love Boat, K-Pop & Mental Heath

Hope everyone has been safe and healthy. We recorded this at the start of 2020 before the pandemic with filmmaker/Asian American studies professor Valerie Soe! We talk about her feature documentary, Love Boat: Taiwan, anti-orientalism, deaths in the K-pop community, and the pressures of being in the spotlight.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Valerie: writer/director of Love Boat: Taiwan - https://www.loveboat-taiwan.com/about
Valerie went on Love Boat during college
Love Boat, formally known as The Overseas Compatriot Youth Taiwan Study Tour, was set up by the Taiwanese government to get young overseas Chinese and Taiwanese to visit Taiwan for cultural exchange.
Valerie is Chinese American. Family has been in the U.S. since the 1920s.
Glad to see more Asian representation in the media recently.
Discussed the passing of K-pop idols Sulli and Goo Hara and the pressures of modern society (compressed modernity) as mentioned in her blog: https://tinyurl.com/ycsgm6wc
The scrutiny K-pop stars face are not unique, result of rapid modernization, globalization, neo-capitalism..
There are no dating clauses in contracts for K-Pop stars.
Cyberbullying is a major issue, with public figures and celebrities particularly vulnerable to widespread criticism.

Language Corner

Korean: 사생팬 - sasaengpaen - a Stan. A stalker fan. Literally, “private life” fan. (in Mandarin: 私生飯 - Sī shēng fàn)
Mandarin: 地頭蛇 - dì tóu shé - lit. land head snake. The boss of that area. Street king.

If you or someone you know is thinking of harming themselves:

Call the Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-273-8255: suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Message/call 7 Cups for someone to listen: https://www.7cups.com/
Visit the National Institute of Health Suicide Prevention website: https://tinyurl.com/hbxmhmk

Articles on depression and death in K-pop:

I have reported on 30 Korean celebrity suicides. The blame game never changes: https://tinyurl.com/ycxs6b43
The Impossible Task of Being the ‘Perfect’ K-Pop Star: https://tinyurl.com/yb97d9vg

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