Minami and nearly all of the girls were admitted into the group when they were either in junior high or early high school.
The reason I bring this up is that the companies behind the pop idols are businesses, with profit in mind. They have many adults who either work for these companies directly, or are contract workers who depend on the business they get from the production companies.
So it is a difficult situation to begin with- the producers need to push the artists to improve their performance level, so that the buyers (fans) will continue to buy the products, yet as adults, they have to guide the artists as they transition from young teens into adulthood.The producers really do have a moral responsibility to look after the kids, just like school teachers and firemen/policeman do.
All the details in the fans and new media outlets don't really concern me. I try to keep it simple- I like seeing the artists improve their artistic and/or variety skills, I like to be cheered up by harmless entertainment, when real life situations are not always so good. I am happy that the production companies and the artists are working hard to make their product fun and that they make gettimg to know the artists better an interesting experience.
A bonus for me was after the earthquake, when the whole population was in a state of shock over the extreme loss of life, all of the various entertainment companies put on fundraising, and personal appearance campaigns to help cheer up the country. Sure, it would benefit the companies to create this good will, but when I watched various clips of the young artists visiting the parts of the country that were worst effected, and saw children and their parents geniunely overjoyed that these idols came to see them, I was moved tremendously.
Minami has been the sort of artist who always seemed to want to present the best product that she could, and basically having worked in the adult world since she was a middle school kid, I can see how she could make a mistake or two here and there, just like any other kid. But in her case, it makes the front pages of the tabloids. And by the way, a form of advertisement for the tabloids is too hang sheets in the subway cars, with all the latest headlines, including little pictures from the tabloids. So, whether her shock was just from 'getting caught' or from a growing horror that she realized she was about to lose something that she really valued, I will never fully know.
But I saw a hurt person who was a good kid, who made me forget some of my problems, and I have no qualms about saying I will continue to like the public persona of Minami Minegishi (and others out there) because I trust that 90% of what I am seeiing is the truth, which is about all you can expect in life.
The JPH!P family has been a force for good in many cases, whether celebrating the life of someone that we lost too soon, or cheering up an idol when she was down (a bunch of you sent messages to one of the Morning Musume members, and she mentioned on her blog that all these foreign fans had reached out to her- I am sure she was thrilled), or encouraging each other.....Minami is just like any one of us at this point. So let's try to focus on the good, and not let the bad or the cynical take us down.
Keep on keeping on y'all!
Topic: [News] Minegishi Minami demoted to kenkyuusei and shaves her head (Read 26913 times)