Thisisthefirststep - you sound very angry. You live in Korea. Has a Korean man broken your heart or are you into some other band I.e. Exo, and bringing BTS hatred onto Mumsnet?!
You sound extremely negatively opinionated about a group of 20 something boys working their arses off to make a life for themselves and in the process bringing a lot of happiness to millions of people young and old. Yes. Fans range in age from teens to those old enough to be their parents. I am not necessarily a fan, but enjoy their music and just like KingSeokjin have seen the positive effect they have on those who listen to their music and in turn like their message.
The Graham Norton performance was lacking. But if you watched the show you would know one of the boys had stitches in his leg after an accident in the live 02 Arena show and another pulled a muscle during rehearsal at Graham Norton show and therefore could not perform. The usually powerful performance was lacking for this reason as their normal routine was dropped. They were near the end of a long sold out tour and despite being battered and clearly broken, came out smiling and upbeat. YouTube BTS Idol on Jimmy Fallon or just BTS in general on AMA, Billboard Awards, Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel, MAMA Awards etc to see their full performance.
About being plastic. When most of us have men for whom using a facewash, wearing some aftershave, and applying moisturizer daily is a huge skincare effort, of course these boys will look out of the ordinary. They wear makeup. That's it. They are already beautiful boys, which you don't see everyday, and then on top of that they wear makeup. It is out of the ordinary. I don't see plastic. The most altered feature on east asians are the eyelids. They all have their typical east Asian monolids. Not to be biased, I will admit that one boy does seem to have had his nose done, the reason for which I do not know. It could have been cosmetic or medical, and certainly nothing to bash him on calling him plastic. There is no reason to assume any of the others have done any work, as they do look the same throughout childhood and up to now. The only difference is hair and makeup which is part of the visuals.
So many artists want to collaborate with these boys. They are talented and have a huge following. Not niche at all. They have more fans than the big names. It is not largely anime related, thats for sure, although that does not mean it is not in part an influence in the attraction. Who knows.
I speak Korean although am not Korean, but you would not need to, as there are subtitles/captions to all their music videos and even live performances. Lots of meaningful lyrics and some not so meaningful. It is what it is. But what is clear to anyone who has watched more than Friday night's Graham Norton show, is that these are talented young men who write and produce their own music and have a hand in creating all that we see and hear from them. They currently have a message of loving yourself and speaking your mind, for which they did that speech at the UN. Thisisthefirststep , you are currently speaking your mind which I commend you on, but maybe you should love yourself a bit more and in turn your values might be such that you can direct your hatred at a more worthwhile cause, than a group of very humble young men who I very much doubt would speak a negative word against you, even if they knew you were speaking negatively against them.
On a different note, haters will be haters, just like fans will be fans, and these boys have a lot of both. From what I know, they have been sent death threats, and xenophobic and homophobic messages are everywhere online about them. Sadly, that is par for the course when it comes to fame.
We all can choose what we like and don't like. But let's not be so ugly. Mumsnet can be such a sad place sometimes. Let's just all love a bit more.
KingSeokjin - I have a younger sister who loves these young men and their music has given her a sense of direction in life she was lacking a bit before. All the best to your daughter.