The rise of K-pop as a global phenomenon has resulted in a meaningful cultural exchange. As pop culture becomes more globalized, we’ve seen a surge in tweets around Korean TV, movies, and music in the American marketplace. A feature like Forever We Are Young, which follows the global phenomenon around the BTS ARMY, might not have been possible fifteen years ago. However, with BTS not only breaking through in America but worldwide, the group’s fans have become an increasingly rare force for social change worldwide. Forever We Are Young takes us inside the BTS fandom and allows some of ARMY’s most fervent fans to explain why being part of the fandom is so compelling.
Forever We Are Young — The Plot
In 2013, a group of seven young men created BTS. The acronym stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan, which roughly translates to Bulletproof Boy Scouts. The seven members included now-famous Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. Forever We Are Young allows the members of BTS ARMY (Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth) to express which members of the band resonate most with them. As we discover different ARMY members’ biases (“bias” is the term used to identify which BTS fan is your favorite), they dive into their personal history with the band. Forever We Are Young tells us the band’s history through the ways ARMY has supported them over the years.
Forever We Are Young is surprisingly introspective.
It’s one thing for a documentary to focus on a fandom or a phenomenon. It’s another project to have clear eyes about the topic in question. Throughout Forever We Are Young, directors Grace Lee and Patty Ahn have fun celebrating BTS. However, they also question whether the ways ARMY expanded the group’s global brand caused irreparable harm in the process. As the boys of BTS suffer extreme emotional outbursts on the public stage, the toll of touring and superstardom comes to light.
At the same time, ARMY expands to encompass more people. The growing size of ARMY not only creates some internal “hipsters” within the group but also causes more toxic fans to take hold of the microphone. While ARMY remains better than most fandoms, some of the toxicity and parasocial relationships spill into the public eye. When this occurs, the fans have no choice but to confront their own.
Forever We Are Young does not need to be introspective about their group, and it could let the emotions of those interviewed tell a compelling story. However, its willingness to be honest about perceptions of the fandom, as well as critique their actions, gives Forever We Are Young a unique place at the fandom documentary table. For all the fun things that we’ve seen explored by fans of other properties, this discussion should be far more common, regardless of fandom, medium, or genre. While Forever We Are Young can mostly celebrate its unproblematic figures in ARMY, the acknowledgment of bad actors is a powerful storytelling tool.
It is flashy but standard in how it delivers information.
While the history of BTS is tied up in the story of ARMY, the documentary delivers its information in a somewhat formulaic manner. With seven members to get through, Forever Wee Are Young breaks down each member of the band, giving us their key characteristics and jobs in the group. However, with so many members, this becomes a repetitious process. A member of ARMY explains why their bias is best, we get a flash card explaining the BTS member’s role, and we cut between a half dozen shots of the boy being goofy. It’s effective and undoubtedly flashy, but it becomes a bit repetitive.
Additionally, the choice to bring in international members of ARMY occasionally plays on broad images of their cultures. Several black ARMY members are represented through their YouTube channel, and while that makes them more visible, it also self-selects the kind of fans the documentary elevates. A man from Mexico is literally dressed in mariachi garb, which allows him to make jokes about BTS joining his group someday. Forever We Are Young cannot spend all of its time digging deep into the culture of ARMY across the globe and cultures, but sometimes its depictions of various cultures are a little thin.
Is Forever We Are Young worth watching?
While the documentary will be most at home with BTS ARMY, it spreads enough interesting ideas to play on a broad scale. Its depiction and dissection of fandom are certainly compelling. While ARMY continues to grow in the absence of the band (who are actively completing their required South Korean military service), this provides a perfect moment to reflect on ARMY’s effects on pop culture as a whole.
Keep up with Forever We Are Young. No release date is currently scheduled.
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