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Prompt: Deliberation on the phenomenon of idol worship among today's youth
I. Detailed outline
II. Sample essay
Deliberation on the phenomenon of idol worship among today's youth
I. Outline of deliberation on the phenomenon of idol worship among today's youth (Standard)
1. Introduction
Introduction and addressing the issue for deliberation: The phenomenon of idol worship, especially among today's youth
2. Body
a. Explanation:
- What is the phenomenon of idol worship?
- Where does this phenomenon originate and why do a portion of today's youth tend to idolize excessively...(Continued)
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II. Sample Essay Deliberation on the phenomenon of idol worship among today's youth (Standard)
Mentioning idol culture, most people have negative thoughts about the images of crying, sleeping on the streets waiting for idols of today's youth. So ultimately, do idols corrupt the essence of fans, or the fanaticism exceeding control of some youth is tarnishing the image of idol culture in the eyes of the public, especially parents with children suffering from 'idol obsession'.
Idol is a term used to express admiration, appreciation for famous individuals, talents in artistic fields such as film, music, photography, fashion, etc. They are often individuals trained extensively over a long period to perfect their skills. It can be said that idols are the ideal role models for a large part of the youth in terms of fame, beauty, wealth, and career. Therefore, idols tend to be 'deified,' leading to excessive 'fanaticism,' loss of control. Young people adore and worship idols excessively, leading to regrettable consequences for both individuals and the community.
The phenomenon of idol worship is extremely prevalent in society. A decade ago, when the South Korean boy band Super Junior performed in Hanoi, news of a female fan demanding suicide, killing her parents, even boldly declaring on social media that 'parents may not be there, but the idols must always be number one' caused a social uproar, creating a strong backlash. Even now, headlines like 'Crazy fans curse their parents for not giving money to see Son Tung's concert', 'Youth go crazy for idols: Love or crisis' on reputable online news sites still attract a large number of interested people. Young people tend to 'imitate' idols in lifestyle, dress, clothes, style because for them, idols are the standard ideal, embodying all the precious essences. Or the scene of a group of young friends lying at the airport, holding banners, posters with idol images to welcome artists for performances is judged as idle, crazy, a waste of time. Worse, from idol worship leading to external imitation, young people quickly learn supposedly 'cool,' trendy phrases from idols and directly apply them to life. It's nothing special to live in Vietnam but not be able to speak a complete Vietnamese sentence, having to add Korean or English words to sound cool and stylish, then it's considered trendy, catching up with the trend.
There is no denying that idolizing an individual or a group makes us better. With idols, we will have goals to strive for, taking idols as the destination to work diligently, improve knowledge and skills, using it as motivation to push ourselves to self-improvement. However, idolizing to the extreme brings no benefits to anyone. Threatening to kill parents, leaving home because not allowed to meet idols, that's a sign of moral decline and lifestyle degradation. Willing to sell blood, sell kidneys to have money to see idols, that's recklessness, danger, and childishness. Overly flashy dressing, outrageous clothing, bizarre hairstyles, displaying them in places like schools, hospitals, it's not showing fashionable personality but disrespecting the other person and lacking self-respect. Of course, everyone has the right to decide on their own bodies, but too much freedom, without permission, the right to hate returns to society and public opinion. Moreover, some young people are willing to spend a large amount of money to organize events, buy discs, buy idol accessories, which also surprises the community. The majority of these young people are usually under the working age, so where do they get the money to spend on their hobbies? Some parents accept to let their children spend money freely like that, some extreme cases, young people are willing to sacrifice illegal activities to have a large amount of money to pay for their 'enthusiastic' hobbies.
Society often points fingers at young fans of Korean culture, but it cannot be denied that fanaticism for football, sports is also present. Surely, most parents have had a youth passionate about football clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool,... The term 'Hooligan' is used to refer to football fanatics who lose control, willing to strip off celebrating in public, throwing bottles, trash onto the pitch when dissatisfied. Their ugly crying images are captured and widely circulated on social media, so when they grow up and look back, do they feel proud, happy about their glorious past?
The cause of idol fanaticism must first mention the development of entertainment forms. If in the past, television channels were limited and tightly controlled before being broadcasted, nowadays, with the internet and globalization, we can choose favorite entertainment channels all over the world. Media is paid to build idols into shining stars, giving young people dreams of perfect, flawless people that they never see in their daily lives. However, in the end, the cause still lies in the personal choices of young people for their wrong idolization path. Facing too many deficiencies in society, idols are the world they desire, crave, and create conditions for strong 'fanaticism' to develop. Parents neglecting children's spiritual lives, schools being dry, rigid, making young people turn to entertainment cultures to relieve stress, fatigue. There is nothing to talk about if the actions of the youth themselves are increasingly tarnishing the hobbies that originally had completely healthy, good intentions.
The consequences of excessive adoration are not difficult to list. In 2017, before the departure of singer Jonghyun, he committed suicide after a long battle with depression, six fans of his worldwide attempted suicide following the idol because of heartbreak. Or when legend David Beckham got married, a series of fans protested against the marriage between the male footballer and the famous singer Victoria of the Spice Girls. They believed that the two had betrayed the trust of fans because marriage would decrease performance and leave less time for the public. Idols themselves are also harassed by persistent fanatics. In 2019 in Japan, AKB48 group member Maho Yamaguchi was followed by crazy fans everywhere. These fanatics sold her private address information so that other fans could disturb the life of a whole neighborhood. Putting themselves in the position of idols, do they feel happy and pleased when hearing about fans' thoughtless, rebellious actions against parents just to meet them? When their privacy is invaded by those who love them, do they still feel like serving the public, wanting to contribute to art? The answer is already clear, but it seems that some fanatics still believe that they simply love their idols sincerely and passionately.
As public figures, painted glamorous, artists will surely feel pressured to maintain their image. It's unfortunate that excessive love from the public makes idols often turn to negative outlets like addictive substances, stimulants. Once the incident is exposed, when the public turns its back, fanatics become blind. Standing in the whirlwind of public opinion, few have the courage to maintain performance. In the past year, the case of Big Bang idol Seungri being accused of drug trafficking and involvement in prostitution, a series of fans turned against him, condemning his unethical behavior. Fanatics rely on that excuse to argue, defend illogically, unreasonably, inadvertently igniting public outrage by saying that those fanatics have forgotten their humanity, aiding criminals. The ongoing battle between parents and fanatic children, between fanatics and anti-fans not only affects idols, society's view and thoughts about the term 'idol' but even directly tarnishes the faces of genuine fans.
