by TYSON SACCO
Did you ever wonder if Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE is merely a fun and addictive reality competition show, or if it reveals the tragic nature of today’s superficial, image-obsessed youth culture?
As a middle-aged science teacher with little knowledge of K-pop, I approached KATSEYE as an outsider. Initially, I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at the K-Pop casting and training process. My wife and I found ourselves invested in the personal stories of the trainees, rooting for them as they pursued their dreams.
However, as the series progressed, I noticed unsettling patterns. The adults involved in casting and coaching seemed to intentionally manipulate the young women, creating drama, damaging friendships, and exacerbating anxieties about body image and self-worth.
While manipulation is often part of reality television, most shows feature adults rather than impressionable teens. Moreover, the initial group of women was misled about the competition’s nature until they were already entrenched in the training process.
The intentional dishonesty was evident from the start.
Not only were the trainees unaware of the fan-voting aspect, but the adults also shielded themselves from accountability. They delivered negative feedback and eliminated participants using a disembodied robot voice instead of a trusted staff member, making the process even more impersonal.
In their quest for the next hit-making group, the staff encouraged camaraderie among the trainees while subtly pitting them against one another. Hurtful comments, initially shared in confidence, were disclosed to create tension.
Additionally, the rules for the trainees were inconsistently enforced, allowing select individuals, like Manon, to break them without facing consequences.
By keeping the trainees in the dark about how the final group would be chosen, the staff could manipulate the “rules” to select the most marketable participants, regardless of their actual talent.
As the series concluded, I found myself particularly drawn to Lexie, a talented Swedish singer who, after enduring injuries and hard work, chose to leave the show. Her disillusionment stemmed from witnessing the cruelty of the elimination process.
When the final six trainees were selected, I was struck by the realization that the entire series was just clickbait—reducing talented, hard-working young women to mere objects instead of recognizing their humanity.
Why should Netflix or the executives at Hybe/Geffen care about the harm inflicted on these individuals, as long as millions of social media followers become invested in the music and concerts produced by the KATSEYE “machine”?
Tyson Sacco is the biology teacher and Science Department Chair at Chadwick.
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