Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I plan to create a video essay about the Korean boy group BTS and how they are setting a precedent for feminist masculinity (as described by bell hooks) in the media today.

BTS' Cover for Time Magazine, Oct  2018

In 2017, BTS joined with UNICEF by beginning a campaign called “Love Myself” in order to promote self-love among young people. In September 2018, BTS’ leader Kim Namjoon delivered a speech at the Generation Unlimited meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. In his speech, Namjoon discusses that as a young person, he “just tried to jam [him]self into the molds that other people made.” Namjoon and the rest of BTS’ careers have been incredibly turbulent, and the ways in which they have progressed as both artists and people is something which I believe is valuable for the purpose of encouraging feminist masculinity. I intend to analyze this in my project so that I can reach BTS’ fanbase.

I have been part of BTS’ fanbase for three years now, so I have a good understanding of how their ARMY operates. Many of my friends and followers on my “stan” Twitter account are fairly woke. I am definitely not the first person to link BTS to ideas of masculinity. I trust ARMY to understand where my project is coming from and implement it in the way they talk about BTS.  ARMY is powerful in promoting both BTS’ music as well as their message, so I hope that my project will gain traction among the fanbase.

            As far as a timeline goes, first I want to interview a few ARMY’s (this is the correct plural form in this case) on ideas of feminism, femininity, and masculinity, and how they think these ideas can be applied to BTS’ music and actions. Then, I will draft a written version of what I want to record, and compile clips of BTS’ performances, videos, interviews, and speeches to provide visual material to accompany my essay. Once the video is complete, I will post it on YouTube and share it on my Twitter account. I hope to submit a transcript of my essay to music publications to possibly get it published. This project fits perfectly into my portfolio of work because I hope to one day become a music journalist.

(I also wanted to include this article because I thought it would be useful for those of you who don't know much about BTS but I couldn't find anywhere to slip it in so here!)