The Morality of Idolatry

[TotallyUncool]

does this mean i am a horrible person? Because I do want Eririn to return.

Thought you wanted Eric to marry Aichan for a sec.

Either of those sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

[Bakajo Nono]

Idols exist to sell you a product, and that product is a little bit of relief from your real-world problems. CDs, DVDs, concert tickets, and merchandise are just the tokens by which they sell you that product.

So we can't question the morality of an industry itself just because it exists to sell a product? Nope. Don't buy it.

[resop2]

You know, following the idol industry is really bad. We should instead follow more morally upright forms of entertainment, like the ballet.

.
.
.

Oops, never mind.

[Bakajo Nono]

Yeah, because that's what we're talking about and is completely comparable. Why do you need to make this into some straw man argument?

[resop2]

^
The post was a joke, based on the ongoing scandal at the Boshoi Ballet where the artistic director Sergei Filin was brutally attacked with acid as a fall out of his not pushing a ballerina who had crossed the director at a previous company.

[Bakajo Nono]

My bad.

[questorminator]

Idols exist to sell you a product, and that product is a little bit of relief from your real-world problems. CDs, DVDs, concert tickets, and merchandise are just the tokens by which they sell you that product.

So we can't question the morality of an industry itself just because it exists to sell a product? Nope. Don't buy it.

I believe we can question about the morality of the industry itself. Changing it to satisfy our concept of a morally "right" industry is another.

Of course there's also the fact that we absolutely can't do anything about it.....

Not going against you, mind you. I believe you when you say we can question it simply because we can as fans/consumers.

[Bakajo Nono]

Idols exist to sell you a product, and that product is a little bit of relief from your real-world problems. CDs, DVDs, concert tickets, and merchandise are just the tokens by which they sell you that product.

So we can't question the morality of an industry itself just because it exists to sell a product? Nope. Don't buy it.

I believe we can question about the morality of the industry itself. Changing it to satisfy our concept of a morally "right" industry is another.

Of course there's also the fact that we absolutely can't do anything about it.....

Not going against you, mind you. I believe you when you say we can question it simply because we can as fans/consumers.

I don't mean to like ~*~*~*~call anyone out~*~*~*~ or anything. I know we can't do anything. But it's just something I've wanted to talk about with other fans since it's always been a bit of an ethical dilemma for me and this is the only forum where I can do so

And sorry, what do you mean by?:

Changing it to satisfy our concept of a morally "right" industry is another.

[AyuHikaru]

We can't change it, but we can QUESTION it which can, in some cases, lead to change. Change didn't happen by keeping your mouth shut. It's a long shot, considering we're Westerners and it isn't geared toward us, but it's good to question the problems in ANY thing.

Like I said before, Comic Books, Hollywood, Television, video games, and even BOOKS have their fair share of problems, as well. It's not like it's limited to just the idol industry, but as fans we absolutely have the right to question that which we enjoy.

[questorminator]

^
^
It means I should screen my comments before I post them and not write them as they come off my brain.

Anyway, it depends on what kind of change we actually want. Will it make the industry itself thrive, or do we want change simply because we don't want certain elements in it?

Of course there will be stuff that some of us can't take. It took me years to buy my first photobook, and up to now, I still can't leave it where other people can see it. I imagine there are lots of foreign fans who can't take a bikini shot of a 14-year-old girl. Maybe UFP can consider making more fashionable PBs with less skin? Still a stretch, but if UFP listens to their non-Japanese audience, they can market their idols in ways that doesn't have to be hardcore Japanese.