Sooyoung's Sensibility on Strong Heart Makes Controversies Seem Like a Joke

We're living in a generation where even doing good deeds can generate hate. There are a small number of very dedicated people out there, but when it comes to judging people doing good deeds, there are many cases where it doesn’t matter WHAT deeds they’re doing, it matters WHO is doing the deed. Even when two different people are doing the same thing, there are different standards of “judging”, and rather than looking at the big picture, people tend to nitpick and make issues out of the smaller details. The purpose is just to nitpick and target at a few people without looking at the context of the situation, the celebrity’s intention, or even the impact that they have when doing the deed. All of this attack on a celebrity isn’t because the public wants to help improve their mistakes, nor is it because the public is upset at the celebrity’s small mistakes. It only shows whether the public likes or dislikes the celebrity in question.

SNSD has been exposed to this type of attack so many times, and so frequently they have been the bait and victim to such exposure. Of course, this has required numerous apologies and improvements from the girls for their mistakes in speech or inappropriate behavior. However, despite their apologies, people continue to hold interest in each and every single thing they do, and excessive criticism and attack toward SNSD is becoming heavy. SNSD is currently the number 1 representative of girl groups, and they are in the middle of attention where they are most prone to protection from fans and from attack from others. The girls’ strongest weapons against this is their ability to move the public and change their opinion, and their ability to maintain an image that can spark positive comments and positive rumors that fight off the negative comments and rumors.

Member of SNSD, Sooyoung, and Shin Sekyung (actress) visited a past basketball coach, Park Seungil, who is suffering from Lou Gehrig’s Disease. A picture they took together during the visit became a hot topic on the internet, sparking controversy and arguments. The picture was originally posted by Park Seungil to show appreciation and thanks to the stars, without any other ulterior motive. Park Seungil and many of the nurses in the hospital visited the page and left numerous words of thanks for their visit and their mindfulness. But despite their words of appreciation, people began to say that Sooyoung lacked respect from looking at just one single picture. People began to pick at outrageous things and questioned whether she visited just to take the picture for show, or whether the kissing pose she took for the photo was appropriate.

Sooyoung’s story on this week’s episode of Strong Heart would naturally have been another easy target for the critics to raise more outrageous questions. If she explained the whole situation in detail from beginning to end, if she expressed her upset feelings on the negative remarks and accusations, or if she emphasized her personal relationship with Park Seungil and tried to disprove the accusations, she probably wouldn’t have resolved the issue and it wouldn’t have helped her situation much. In fact, it might have led to even more backlash because what matters most to the people who are criticizing her is not getting the clear-cut facts behind the situation. The critics' main objective is just to question and criticize. If Sooyoung explained her feelings and her point of view on the show, people might have started arguing and saying things like, “What’s so upsetting to you that you have to bring up that topic again to defend yourself when the issue has died down already?”

However, this smart lady didn’t express her feelings on how she was hurt in the past. She did not bring up the past matters or accuse any of the skeptics who “threw stones” at her. Instead, she talked about the moving love story of past-coach Park Seungil and his girlfriend and talked about how everybody else could help him and people like him. She talked like she has never been hurt by anybody’s words before. Through her words, she expressed her fondness to the coach and how he moved her. She knew that her sincerity and honesty was the most effective way to deal with and fight off the bad-talk aimed at her.

Everything she said was enough. What she said was even better than a detailed explanation or a tear-filled story of her own feelings. Instead of explaining what she did, she focused on the topic of Park Seungil and girlfriend’s wonderful love and devotion toward each other. And to a society that believes that it is a virtue to do good deeds without others noticing, she was able to make people think about how they have not helped those in need themselves. She was very wise in talking about the need of interest and support toward Lou Gehrig’s Disease patients. Sooyoung performed a good deed just by talking about it and raising awareness.

Overall, I do not know if Strong Heart is the most appropriate place to explain one’s misunderstandings and painful past, or if it’s the most appropriate place to settle any doubts. It is way too easy to raise more criticism for Strong Heart to be a good place to reveal one’s honest thoughts and it is much easier to stimulate controversy when the celebrity pours out everything. Sometimes, revealing insignificant but personal stories, or going on the show for the sake of self-promoting can be just as harmful and self-damaging for the celebrity. However, there have been several cases where people have raised their worth among the public despite all the hate by knowing how to deal with situations wisely and saying the right words. Through this episode, Sooyoung set a good example of just that, and it was good to see the power of sincerity in putting accusations and rumors to rest in this generation where good deeds cannot always be accepted as a good deed. It is these kinds of tears, when one is sincere, that make controversies and rumors seem like they are nothing but a joke.