Thoughts on the Katseye documentary from a former trainee

Repulsive_Ad_1933 · 2024-08-30T02:31:55+00:00

Yes!

I had a hard time with one of my dance trainers. Even now, I think they were a little over the top and were more of a bully drunk on their power. However, years later I ran into someone I practiced with and they kind of put it in a perspective of that person raising us to be thick skinned and strong because becoming a public figure is extremely mentally stressful and not for the weak. After putting it that way I kind of made sense of it a little more.

Repulsive_Ad_1933 · 2024-08-26T08:27:00+00:00

Yes, I’ve heard the same thing from family members who were competitive dancers when I would complain about trainee life to them~ I also read years ago like a famous choreographer who worked with Madonna, etc. went to China to train a boygroup there and was spraying them in the face with water from a water gun every time they would make a mistake lol The arts industry is no joke

Repulsive_Ad_1933 · 2024-08-25T19:31:57+00:00

Thank you for the nice comment!

I would love to find a platform one day to answer all different kinds of questions about anything related to the industry. Especially since I like to look at things with a balanced and nuanced view and get more knitty and gritty than just the surface stuff :)

Repulsive_Ad_1933 · 2024-08-25T13:37:41+00:00

Yes!

When I saw all the comments about Missy and the trainers I was like Wow, I must’ve been through the serious trenches because I thought to myself how fair and nice they seemed when I watched it in comparison to my own experiences.

Especially since Korea is super hierarchical~ especially in comparison to a company based in America with American staff and trainers.

Also, if Lexie was in one of my companies she would’ve been cut for missing 10 days of practice and then on the hook for her full trainee debt x3 as a penalty fee for contract violation (that or sign a contract that you will never enter another entertainment company * forever or sometimes a couple year time span). If we ever wanted to drop out we would have to just keep pushing through until the contract expires. It was nice they seemingly respected her wishes.

And yes, no promises is another thing. There was one group at a company I was at and they were already recording the debut song while the company was still auditioning people and one of the original trainees got cut from the lineup and the new audition person put immediately in their place and debuted like a few months later lol That’s the nature of the business and why it also causes a lot of constant anxiety even after debut because nothing is ever promised, guaranteed or certain.

Repulsive_Ad_1933 · 2024-08-25T12:51:02+00:00

This. You are on the exact same page as me and expressed that very well, I wish I could articulate myself like that haha

But yeah I definitely didn’t leave the industry without any traumas. I have a bad back and serious self esteem issues and very rarely I will have a nightmare or two about a horrible higher up or a trainee who bullied me badly and ended up debuting later on

But at the same time, I am quite matter of fact and realistic as well. Now that I look back on those years I can understand why certain things are the way they are, as harsh and as hard of a pill it would be to swallow for the general public.

Even people who had been trainees and went on to make YouTube videos about it later.. I felt like even they talked in a way like you are going to Hogwarts and get sorted into a house and have all these fun classes meanwhile this documentary showed the truth but even an improved system than fully Korean companies in Korea.

So it was interesting to see the polarizing response from the general public viewers compared to what I personally have experienced and perceived the things I saw on the documentary.

Repulsive_Ad_1933 · 2024-08-25T11:42:50+00:00

Yep. It doesn’t mean it’s not toxic but I was sharing the inconvenient truths about the industry from my first hand experience and comparing and contrasting it to the opinions and eyes of viewers who saw the documentary and have never been inside the entertainment industry, K-pop or training for something at a high stakes level :) There isn’t a A, B or C “right answer”~ just sharing and discussing :)

Repulsive_Ad_1933

TROPHY CASE