SM Entertainment and Queer Baiting: A History

Let's talk about SM's 3 mainstream girl groups, Girls' Generation, f(x) and Red Velvet, and their history with queer baiting. 

1. Girls' Generation

First, a song you will find on any "gay kpop" list, "Dancing Queen." 

Despite being filmed before even "Gee," "Dancing Queen" was released as a surprise throwback along with 2013's premier release "I Got a Boy." In more important circles, such as my tumblr followers at the time, "Dancing Queen" was immediately heralded as a sapphic classic for its lyrics:

When I first saw you on the stage

Time around me all froze

Leaving only my heart pounding

It’s you who changed my ordinary life

You are my Dancing Queen (colorcodedlyrics)

These lines can be read as queer, but were more likely written to be illustrative of a idol/fan relationship. While singing the first line, Taeyeon lovingly strokes a sepia-toned picture of herself, giving the video a meta and playful tone. Every fan watching can relate, and the girls themselves, who presumably dreamed of become idols and have now achieved that dream, are telling their own story.

The funky rhythm of the song brought comparisons to 50s & 60s girl groups when Duffy released it, and Girls' Generation's retro concept only furthers this comparison. The song's original release date would have made it hot off the tails of Wonder Girls' "Nobody," which also sported a retro girl group concept. "Dancing Queen" is a homage to girl groups of the past, acknowledging them as inspiration for girls today.

While "Dancing Queen" was probably written from the point of view of a young girl who wants to be famous, I can concede that lines like "your dancing makes me hot" toe the line. Whether you read it as queer or not, it is certainly a welcome change from songs about having a crush on a man, which litter the majority of kpop girl group narratives.

More 50 & 60s girl group fun: What You Didn't Know About WG's American Single "Like Money"

A more recent Girls' Generation music video that is constantly touted as queer is "All Night." But, blink and you miss it!

Personally, I find this a huge stretch. The lyrics of "All Night" are about falling into the routine of an old relationship. We can easily see how this is a metaphor for the group itself: when they get back together as 9 ahem 8, they remember and celebrate the good times and "smile together." The scene in question involves Yuri watching Sooyoung dancing on stage. Later in the video, they are dancing together on that same stage.

The thematic comparison to "Dancing Queen" is strong: Yuri is a fan who is now actualizing her dream and becoming an idol herself. The Documentary Ver. takes this even farther, by interlacing these scenes with lines from the girls about their 10 year anniversary with the group. Noting the maturation of their sound and narrative, while maintaining the same themes of fun, celebration and pop music, is what is really amazing to me in a comparison of "Dancing Queen" and "All Night." While they have become the titular dancing queen of their dreams, they are steadfast in their belief in friendship and raising each other up. With or without Jessica.

So, is this queerbaiting? Female/female relationships are present, but they are not romanticized or sexualized. They are realistic and not the focus of the aesthetic. I would say no, but I'm not the police.

2. f(x)

Only a month after their debut, f(x) nabbed a CF deal with LG mostly, if not totally, thanks to their sister group Girls' Generation. Both f(x) and Girls' Generation released their own versions of the same song, "Chocolate Love." While Girls' Generation's "Chocolate Love" capitalized on the girls' bright and girly image, f(x)'s was distinctly unique, sounding more like Girls' Generation then-competitors, 2ne1. Of course, 2ne1 was not the only group to use an electronic sound, and f(x) eventually found their own electronic niche, and their music continues to be praised for its eccentric sound, years after their unofficial disbandment.

"Chocolate Love (Electronic Pop Ver.)" is not only known for being the superior version among fans (I actually personally disagree with this but I get it), but also for its aesthetically pleasing music video that included, yes, possibly gay aspects.

The video is sultry, giving the audience a voyeuristic experience with close up shots of the eyes, lips and hips, as well as group dancing shots. It it meant to be a contrast of "Chocolate Love (Retro Pop Ver.)," which is a fun and feathery kind of sexy, rather than dark and serious.

These shots give f(x) a sleek and dangerous vibe, suggesting a comfort with sexuality that Girls' Generation, as coquettish, shy girls dancing behind filly fans, lack. It is also a quick and easy to way to sexualize young girls while skirting censor laws and using cheap minimalist sets for filming. Either way I guess.

f(x) continued to promote themselves as Girls' Generation's Alternative little sister, so much so that Pink Tape was praised as "quirky," "experimental," and sometimes even indie, despite coming from a company that is arguably the biggest and most infamous for mass production in the music industry. No one questioned the group clout's when singing "Pretty Girl," which lyrics such as "everyone calls me a witch, comparing me with [a pretty girl] [...] pretty girls all look the same" (lyrics source), the irony being that Krystal and Sulli were both constantly praised by the media for their beautiful looks (the other girls only being left out because of racism, colorism and sexism).

More queer theory and kpop: The Shocking Truth Behind this T-ara MV That Queens Won't Tell You

The company very knowingly cultivated this image through various means, the most common being aesthetic. The "Pink Tape Art Film" was released as a teaser to the album, which set the tone for the release. It features what seems to be artsy nonsensical actions, over the quirky song "Shadow," which is about the girls going on a date with their shadow.

One shot in the art film is of two members kissing through sheets, and this display of sapphic sexuality is implicit in the photobook pictures as well. The suggestion seems to be that, not only are the group experimenting with music styles, but with sexuality as well. They are eccentric because they are different, and one way they display with image is by queering visual norms of girl groups, who usually do not, you know, lay all over each other and press their lips together and stuff... or do they?

(image source: fuckyeah-fx)

Is it queerbait? Well, maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.

f(x) are using relationships between women to cue to the audience in on their alternative image. It could be argued that they are exploiting queer aesthetics to further their music career. It could be. I am not saying it is wrong, I am just saying that I am deeply invested in f(x) and do not want to tarnish their image or name.

3. Red Velvet

Red Velvet is our current hot topic and the reason I am writing this today. Before we get into the controversial release, let's talk about an earlier one.

"Wish Tree" is a simple story of a one-sided lesbian crush. While sentimental, it is not a particularly happy Christmas story, and the group members are not featured, so it has low views for a SM release. However, it is a decent attempt at representation and is definitely not queerbait. It is the only non-implicit queer relationship on this list.

As for the song of the evening, "Monster," the opposite has been argued by both fans and critics. The video features copious shots of Irene and Seulgi about to collide faces together and at least one obvious almost kiss.

So, is it queerbait? Let's look at context...

For Girls' Generation, implicit lesbian desire was used as a metaphor for the actualizing the self. In both "Dancing Queen" and "All Night," the girls looked up to the stage and idolized the person they wanted to become. This was a queering of the anima/animus theory, which argues that we are looking for the opposite of ourselves in our opposite gender. The girls saw themselves as Strong, Dancing Women, and that is what they Became. It was not just a fantasy for them, but a fleshed-out career, which they are still seeing through.

For f(x), queer imagery was used to illustrate the group's marketability as an indie group. They had to differentiate themselves from Girls' Generation; as members of the same entertainment group, they were meant to take over a different niche. In order not to create competition, their style focused on electronic music and a hipster image. This resulted in imagery that focused on female relationships, which marked them as edgier, bolder and more surreal than Girls' Generation.

Personally, I find "Monster" to be a mix of both. As proven by "Wish Tree," the company does know what good representation of lesbian relationships can look like. However, "Monster" is not a sweet, sentimental Christmas song; it is a song about a woman at war with herself. The original demo had the lyrics, "No body can save me from myself" (eng demo), and the Korean lyrics follow suit: "Under a single lighting, why are there two shadows? / I guess something else woke up inside me" (lyrics source). This is not f(x)'s quirky date with their own shadow, but the girls struggling with something dark inside them.

The ReVe Festival: Red Velvet, Digital Images and the Making of an Illusion

In my review of the ReVe Festival, I argued that "Zimzalabim" was a spell the girls cast to call forth their inner desires. And this resulted in "Psycho," a warning about getting lost in the illusion of fantasies. "Monster" is the shadow they set loose, and it takes over. But, is it a bad thing? Or is accepting your own duality necessary in order to mature? And, do you have to kiss her to accept her? Would like a high-five work because this is really not the time to be kissing people you don't know where they've been

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