(Imitative Writing 008/100)
All that’s left of the “Burning Sun” nightclub in Seoul are the faint outlines of the letters that used to spell its name, which have been hastily removed from above the former entrance. The club was run by Lee Seung-hyun, better known as Seungri, a member of Bigbang, a k-pop group. It was closed last month after police began investigating Seungri and his business associates for offences involving drugs, tax evasion and the provision of sexual services to potential investors (prostitution is illegal in South Korea). Though Seungri denies the allegations, he nevertheless made a grovelling public apology. Some called Mr Lee “Seungsby” (after the Great Gatsby, a high-living fictional anti-hero); the analogy has become even more apt since things all started to unravel spectacularly for Mr Lee. His music label has terminated his contract.
k-pop offers fans a polished and sanitized version of sex and glamour. Recording contracts often ban stars from having girlfriends or boyfriends to ensure that fans can project their desires onto them unimpeded. This makes the revelations that have emerged about the industry since Mr Lee’s downfall all the more damaging.
——From 《Sex, drugs and spy-cams》, The Economist, Mar 30, 2019
标题为 Sex, drugs and spy-cams，spy-cams 就是用于偷拍的“间谍摄像头”。标题可能来自经典老歌 Sex, drugs and rock&roll，歌名标题写歌手丑闻，挺配。（张海露Eric）
Though Seungri denies the allegations, he nevertheless made a grovelling public apology.
（Though……, he nevertheless do sth……：即使……，他仍然做某事。grovelling apology，土下座。）The analogy has become even more apt since things all started to unravel spectacularly for Mr Lee.
（The analogy has become even more apt since ……：自从……，这个比喻变得尤为贴切，有迹可循）k-pop offers fans a polished and sanitized version of sex and glamour.
（k-pop为粉丝提供一种粉饰和消毒过的性感和魅力。）to ensure that fans can project their desires onto them unimpeded
（以保证粉丝们能无阻碍地将欲望投射到他们身上。）This makes the revelations that have emerged about the industry since Mr Lee’s downfall all the more damaging.
（This makes the revelations all the more damaging. The revelations have emerged about the industry. 这次揭秘事件曝光了整个行业。）lewd banter
（下流的玩笑）They also seem to implicate the police in their schemes, alluding to a senior officer who “has our back”.
（implicate someone in scheme,把谁牵连进阴谋中；allude to，暗示，间接提到）“All publicity is good publicity”是个常见说法，也常说成“There is no such thing as bad publicity”，意思是说即使是负面宣传也能增加产品知名度。（张海露Eric）
YG Entertainment has seen its valuation plunge since the scandal broke.
（丑闻爆发以来，YG娱乐的估值已经大幅下挫。）
Not all publicity is good publicity, especially to k-pop business, which is hiding a skeleton in the closet. The recent scandal of some male Korean artists has made YG Entertainment's valuation plunge. This revelation implicated Seungri Lee, who is a member of world-known k-pop group Bigbang, and his associates in offences involving drugs, tax evasion, provision of sexual services to potential investors.
It's nothint new about how the entertainment circle objectifies women. Good looking and attractive body are the first and most important measures of women artists. Though the women artists don't like that, they nevertheless will try the plastic and aesthetic techniques and surgery, to ensure the audience can project their desires onto them frantically.
In fact, the entertainment business builds a world of pervasive misogyny. The audience, the sugar daddies, the male partners, the women forsaking their own values, all those people who presume loving women actually love the feeling of possessing women, or what they could trade by selling women. What they really want is an expensive thing.
