By banning JYJ’s song Pierrot, has KBS become a shill for SM Entertainment? Before they could successfully rehabilitate their image for the whole Jeju Island/ambassador concert debacle, KBS seem to be looking for reasons not to have to deal with JYJ.
At the end of September, KBS stamped JYJ’s Pierrot, written by member Jaejoong, as inappropriate while claiming the song contains a slur against Lee Soo Man. Lee Soo Man is the (former?) head of the dreaded SM Entertainment (SM), the company with which JYJ are currently involved in a lawsuit.
KBS made the interpretation that a lyric in the song was referring to “President Soo Man” and deemed it a personal attack on a specific individual. In the song, there is reference to the letters “P.S.M.”. There is no mention at all of Lee Soo Man’s name, and no personal threats to the any employee of SM.
How could KBS come to such a conclusion, you might ask. Well, that’s obvious: they completely pulled it out of their a$$es. In other words, they projected their own interpretation onto the lyrics solely because of the current situation between SM and JYJ.
Jaejoong actually responded a bit to this situation via his twitter account (@mjjeje) by saying:
“Despite having my hands full and not being to sleep for 33 hours, I am curious about one thing..who on earth creatively thought that P is for President? was it imagination..? Also the things that come after that.” (translated by @joejjang)
In other words, Jaejoong wasn’t talking about Lee Soo Man or President Soo Man in the song.
If we’re going to use rank speculation with absolutely no evidence, why couldn’t KBS have interpreted it as “Protect S. M.”? Or “Perfect Single Men”? Or “Petty Small Minds?”. Ah, “petty, small, minds”?! They must be talking about KBS!” Sarcasm.
Simply saying “P.S.M” in a song, with no reference at all to who or what it is specifically referencing, shouldn’t be grounds for banning a song. But a lot of things SHOULDN’T be happening to JYJ.
JYJ have the honor, unfortunately, of being the biggest ones to have challenged the Korean industry; an industry full of stuffy, old drones afraid of losing power and control over an almost-free labor force full of bright eyed, talented young men and women.
If Jaejoong had written this song while still under SM, would KBS still have banned it? Wait, what am I saying! SM would never have allowed Jaejoong to actually express his creativity with a song like ‘Pierrot‘!
Meanwhile, KBS is now claiming that JYJ can ask for a “re-evaluation” of the song Pierrot. One guess as to what the findings of a “re-evaluation” will be?
As a result, Congressman Jun Byung Hun has reportedly confronted KBS for making the decision to ban the song.
KBS responded by saying the reason JYJ’s reps gave for “P.S.M” (“professional”, “success”, “music”) didn’t make sense…. to them… so they banned it.
Translated reports say that at the “Ministry of Culture Korea Communications Commission”, the congressman asked for KBS’s specific standards for making a decision like this.
The Congressman also said, “Is KBS the spokesperson for Lee Soo Man? The person that wrote the lyrics clarified that it was not about him. Why are you not believing that?…”
I guess Jaejoong was supposed to write the lyrics in a way in which KBS would approve… which is the exact opposite of the entire meaning of the song. Pierrot, for those who may not be aware, is basically about breaking out of being controlled.
One of the translated lines in the song is “I want to know the meaning of freedom”. If so, why in the world would Jaejoong allow KBS or some other big industry to decide on a small detail of a vague lyric like “P.S.M.”? He wouldn’t.
I think it’s interesting how KBS jumped to the conclusion that “P.S.M.” was about Lee Soo Man. Who said anything about Lee Soo Man?? That’s like your boyfriend suddenly walking up to you and saying “Don’t slander me! I didn’t sleep with your best friend!”. Like totally out of the blue. Seriously.
What made KBS’s collective mind say ‘Oh this is about Lee Soo Man!’, when listening to words like “Take away your dirty hands” (translation)? Does KBS think Lee Soo Man would be in a position to have “dirty hands”?
Do words like, “I hate having to think about days living in a prisoner cell” (translation) mean JYJ MUST be talking about Lee Soo Man??
And why did KBS single out Lee Soo Man? Why not the current president of SM? JYJ aren’t personally suing Lee Soo Man, are they?
If so, isn’t that an admission of guilt? Or at the very least, isn’t KBS saying that one can’t help but think of Lee Soo Man when someone sings about “dirty hands”? This wouldn’t have even been an issue if KBS didn’t make it into one.
KBS is so dead set on protecting SM that they keep causing mini controversies to happen where none would have existed otherwise.
@dongbanger
Source mat.:
http://bemyrain.blogspot.com/2011/02/lyrictrans-jyj-pierrot.html
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/dbvbp1
http://sharingyoochun.net/2011/10/05/news-111004-kbs-president-jyj-may-request-for-reexamination-for-banned-song-pierrot/
http://ilovetvxq5.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/news-kbs-president-under-fire-for-banning-%E2%80%9Cpierrot%E2%80%9D/
http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&;mid=sec&sid1=106&oid=108&aid=0002101515
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