Idolatry, unfortunately, can be a natural part of development. Teens are especially vulnerable as they are in search of their own identity. What is happening can be out of desperation. No doubt. However, there is a considerable amount of exploitation happening as well.

While a healthy family can mitigate the risks, it becomes especially difficult because it’s a behavior that is exploited by large companies for money. It’s magnitudes worse when it’s exploited over a generation.

Disney was the worst of the bunch as they curated fake lives of children, for children. As normal kids grew older so did their idols from the shows they watched as kids. Those kids lived in lock step with their idols through teenhood and into adulthood, all the while, they are doing the same shit at the same time. It’s hyper-relatable over time and can even be exploited through adulthood now.

To my understanding, K-Pop is the same shit but just a different theme. Maybe not as extreme as Disney, but still very similar.

I started to compare this situation to cigarettes, actually. The more I thought about this, it’s probably magnitudes worse. Unfortunately, that is speculation on my part.