Drugs are just misdemeanors? “Propofol” Wheesung’s superspeed comeback and how insensitive showbiz is to crime
The return of drug-crime-related celebrities like Park Yoo-chun, Wheesung and Kwon Ji-yong is leading to a decline in drug awareness.
A drug-free country is just an old saying. Nowadays, one can easily get drugs if they want to. Schools don’t tell them how dangerous drugs are. That’s why modern people are insensitive to drugs.
There have been reports of countless celebrities who have dabbled in drugs. People criticize these celebrities for dealing with illegal drugs, but welcome them back anyways because they don’t think it’s a big crime. Some celebrities have used this as a shield for their popularity and even re-establish themselves in the entertainment industry.
Singer Wheesung announced the resumption of his music activities on July 7th. Wheesung was sentenced to a probation sentence for taking propofol regularly. However, he recently said on his SNS account, “I participated in writing, composing and singing the song ‘Do or Die’ of Babylon.”
This is a signal that he would return in full-blown soon enough. Wheesung was accused of taking propofol repeatedly in March 2019. He was then found collapsed in the bathroom of a building in Songpa-gu, Seoul, during the investigation, and was discovered to have taken a sleeping anesthetic. It was an incident that shocked the entire industry because Wheesung was already suspected of taking propofol twice earlier.
He soon recovered and had to pay for his drug controversy. Wheesung was sentenced to one year in prison and two years of probation in October last year. However, Wheesung held a concert soon after, meeting his fans in December, which is two months after the ruling, Wheesung finished the concert with a bright expression, and is even active in many OST and album releases this year.
Celebrities and drugs have been linked for decades. “Drugs” is not a familiar word to the public as not many people have actually seen it. This may be one of the reasons for the lack of awareness regarding criticism of drugs in Korea.
The celebrities who are involved with drug soon return after a period of self-reflection. Negative public opinions are already buried, and fans’ sympathy grows. Park Yoo-chun who announced his retirement from the entertainment industry, Kwon Ji-yong who bowed his head on a talk show, and Park Bom who avoided responsibility under the pretext of “I didn’t know about that,” are celebrities following the same return narrative.
Why do celebrities take drugs? The industry cites their job’s ‘distinct characteristics’ as the reason. The interpretation is that their psychological pressure will be high as they are exposed to countless unknown people. In particular, there is also another view that they didn’t have enough time to socialize as they have to prepare to become celebrities from an early age.
We can sympathize, but we cannot rationalize. A special job does not create validity for crimes.
Ha Jae-geun, a cultural critic, said, “The reason why we are interested in celebrities is because of their social influence. Such rapid returns of celebrities who have taken drugs can lead to a lower awareness of drugs. Delayed socialization as they prepared to become celebrities is only an excuse. It is unfair to judge a celebrity’s drug crimes lightly,” he criticized.
Source: daum
