EXO
Friday, 1 April 2016 | 0 letters
But I know for sure that Kris left in the worst fashion, out of the three of them. I know, he was the one who tested the waters, so the odds were against him. It'd have been fantastical if his departure wasn't the messiest.
The harder question is this -- should he be blamed for the manner in which he left EXO? Yes. From here on, I'll be discussing the issues that are more nebulous. That means I am not confident of what I'm about to say. And I admit that there are loopholes in my argument. That's because
1) I haven't properly researched on this whole mess.
2) As with nearly all of such scandals, a lot of information isn't available to the public, or fabricated.
3) I'm not really sure what constitutes betrayal.
Why should he be blamed for leaving EXO like that? He left just before EXO's comeback. What a way to deal even more damage to the rest of the group with the terrible timing, as if the departure alone wouldn't have caused enough inconvenience to the rest. That is one of the few things that cemented my dislike for what he did. I /don't/ understand why he chose to leave exactly before the comeback.
I'm still confused. Did he gain anything from that deliberate timing? I had been entertaining the possibility of him not having much of a say in this (being caught in a crossfire), but eh, I realised that he prolly had enough autonomy to choose when to leave. No. I don't think he gained much from doing that. So that move was full of douchebaggery.
Next, the most relevant and difficult question. Should they be blamed for leaving EXO? Let's explore the different camps:
1) Support OT9! Hate the three of them!
2) Support the twelve!
3) Kristaohan!
(Of course, you can support someone even if you don't agree with their actions. See: my love for bigbang despite jiyong and taeyang's repeated cultural appropriation.)
3) is the least popular. The first two are somewhat equal in number. Obviously I'm leaning towards the first camp, though I don't "hate" them. I disapprove of what they did (I used to condemn their decisions). But I no longer am angry at them. Some dislike will remain for a long time, of course.
I won't bother trying to summarise whatever I'm about to say, because my thoughts are still messy. So... yeah, sorry, I'm being incoherent, as always.
Why their actions were understandable:
1. No one can foresee the future. What they thought would be a good career decision turned out to be not a very good one. To seek greener pastures, they left. Simple. I know some rebuke them for for not "knowing what they were getting into". Sure, they had somewhat of an idea, but you never see the full picture until you're actually doing it. This is why you can find termination clauses in all legal contracts. Circumstances change. We change. Naturally some of us choose to start anew on different paths.
2. SM's treatment of idols is terrible. We all know this.
Why their actions were wrong:
1. They relied on the rest to reach such a level of fame but left them once they were sure they could succeed on their own. Is that not a stab in the back? This is the trickiest bit. I don't view them as simply "colleagues". Of course I also don't think all of them were genuine friends to each other, because the aftermath would've been a lot less messy if they were.
I'll use an analogy now. If I were in a group, and we find massive success because of something we painstakingly put together as a group, and then I leave to do similar work elsewhere and enjoy better work conditions, I'd feel very guilty. I owe a part of my success to the rest. Of course, I also contributed to their success. I may still leave because it's difficult to resist better terms, but. It feels like I've abandoned my team members after achieving success. They don't even have to be my genuine friends for me to feel that way.
2. The manner in which Kris left.
I guess the part which I loathe the most is the way in which Kris left EXO. People leaving their bands doesn't automatically = betrayal. I used to think that. But adter my irrational anger and disappointment passed, I could see things a lot more clearly. A betrayal is not caring much about your team members and consequently causing a lot of hurt that could have been preventable.
