Karaoke is an important recreational space for teens, but there are limitations that prevent them from enjoying true autonomy. Teens are losing their creativity as they are bombarded with commercialized pop music, which shows the problem with today’s youth culture.
In South Korea, karaoke has long been a cultural space for teenagers. Emerging in the early 1990s, karaoke has evolved into more than just a leisure activity; it has become an important communication space among teens. Karaoke has become a place to hang out with friends and de-stress, which has had a positive impact on teens’ socialization and emotional stability. However, it may seem cliché to talk about karaoke culture among teenagers now. However, it’s still meaningful to look at teenage karaoke culture because it allows us to see the problems of teenage culture through the lens of karaoke.
A karaoke room is an enclosed space of two to three square meters. Why do teens flock to these enclosed spaces? One of the many reasons teens flock to these enclosed rooms is because they don’t have their own cultural spaces. In fact, there are very few public spaces in our society where teens can freely gather and interact. Karaoke is a safe haven, especially for teens who want to escape the scrutiny of parents and teachers. Once they leave the enclosed room and step out into the open social square, teens have nowhere to go but up. The culture of the older generation is the only culture that exists in the public square, and teenage culture has not taken root. In the name of protecting young teenagers from impure and diseased culture, various taboos oppress teenagers. It’s hard to find a space in the public square where teens can create their own culture, so they turn to karaoke.
The problem is that karaoke isn’t really a cultural space for teenagers. Karaoke is appealing to teens because it allows them to disconnect from the outside world, but it’s hard for them to have true autonomy. It’s very difficult for teens to create their own unique culture in karaoke. At first glance, it seems like teens are breaking away from the culture of the older generation and creating their own culture, as they sing different songs in a different way than the older generation. However, the songs they sing are not free from the commercialism of the established culture. In a capitalist society, culture is also governed by commercial logic. Popular music is no exception, and it’s dominated by songs that are commercially viable. This tendency is evident in the teen-oriented songs that are popular on the airwaves. Teenagers are singing karaoke to songs that have been created according to commercial logic, and they are becoming infiltrated into the culture. Karaoke is a place where teenagers, who are supposed to play a leading role in creating an experimental culture, are losing their creativity by singing commercialized songs.
Furthermore, while the proliferation of karaoke culture provides teens with an escape from social isolation, it can also lead them to avoid the real-world problems they face. For a short period of time, karaoke allows young people to escape the demands and pressures of the adult world, but it is only a temporary release. As such, karaoke can be an important recreational outlet for young people, but it also has limitations that prevent it from being the space for self-discovery and creativity that they truly desire.
This unfortunate phenomenon of teenagers who go to karaoke because they don’t have their own cultural space, and who are then absorbed into the commercial culture of the older generation, encapsulates the problem with teen culture in today’s society. This phenomenon also shows that it is an important obligation of our society to allow teenagers to freely enjoy their own culture and achieve creative self-development through various cultural experiences by moving from dark, enclosed rooms to bright and bright plazas. Teenagers are neither sponges that absorb and soak up the colors of established culture, nor are they unconditionally opposed to the older generation. If there is an open cultural space for teenagers to express their creativity, teen culture will flourish and blossom. At this point, teenagers are not subject to the protection and surveillance of the older generation. Teenagers will be the ones to create and enjoy a bright and healthy culture, and teen culture will play a role in bringing new energy to our culture.
