The entertainment world was shaken when news hit the socmed sites: Kim Nam-Joon of the famous KPop group BTS beat DC star Henry Cavill in the Most Handsome Actor of the World Poll.
And suddenly the world was ripped in half. Polarized. Dichotomized.
One half of the community questioned how somebody with feminine features could beat Superman himself.
Memes started circulating, some poking fun at the looks of the Korean star in comments that border on homophobia (others outright comparing the star to comedian Vice Ganda). Others started focusing on Cavill’s chiseled looks, saying there there is no way he could have lost to somebody who seems to have more female hormones than male.
The Army of course fought back, accusing those who disagreed as racist, and defending the BTS star saying he’s not just beautiful outside but inside (and smart to boot).
It didn’t help that the supposed poll results have not even come out yet (and the supposed poll body TC Candler had since disowned the results — it hasn’t come out, yet).
But the damage has been done.
Egos have been dashed (the fans, more than the artists), and we are once unveiled as vicious petty creatures fighting over which of our pet looks better.
The emphasis in who looks good and why — fake poll results notwithstanding — has revealed a lot about our character.
The poll after all did raise a lot of issues about beauty being skin-deep, of beauty being cultural, of beauty being subjective. It also made instant LGBT advocates out of some BTS fans who find themselves defending their idol against the overt homophobia of some non-fans.
Whether we are side Kim Nam Joon launching a Protect Kim Nam Joon movement, or we are pro-Henry Cavill drooling over the Superman’s classic Alpha Male looks, the reaction to the fake poll results reveal our absorption to the world of make believe and entertainment.
We are still, it appears, easily distracted by the biz, the glamour, and the klieg lights, distracted enough to forget that the prices of salt and sugar are rising, and gas prices have jacked up prices of oil as we speak.
