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Just Dance If You’re Over 18
The Korea Media Rating Board has decided that the pop superstar’s hit, “Just Dance,” is “inappropriate for minors.”
The board took up the matter after several conservative non-government organizations and Christian groups filed complaints and demanded that the show’s sponsor, Hyundai Card, pull out of the project, saying that Lady Gaga encourages “inappropriate behavior” for young people, according to the Korea Herald.
Photo: AP Photo
Bambi Awards, Filmpark Babelsberg, Wiesbaden, Germany
The inappropriate behavior includes homosexuality and making light of religious ideas and figures. It is not the first time a Korean concert by a foreign artist has been age-restricted. Shows by Marilyn Manson, 50 Cent and Jay-Z in Seoul banned teenagers, too.
“Just Dance” received an “R” rating from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family last November due to its promotion of clubbing and drinking. As it is against the law for a teenager to hear an R-rated song, they are banned from buying tickets.
The Seoul show will be the first stop on Lady Gaga’s upcoming world tour, and is the only one so far that will restrict ticketholders with regards to age.
“It’s a disappointment,” an official at Hyundai Card told the Herald. “I don’t think Korea is any less open about foreign artists and culture than other Asian countries, so this decision is rather a surprise. And we are sorry to announce the news to the teens who have already purchased their tickets.”
However, the company is not going to apply for a new rating and any ticketholder who cannot attend will receive a full refund.
Christian groups expressed their relief upon hearing the KMRB’s decision, but at least one popular music critic blasted it, saying there are many other things “in our pop culture” that could be considered inappropriate for teens but “artistic expression” is not one of them.
Lady Gaga herself seemed to be resigned about the whole matter, but tweeted her thanks “to all the adults in Korea who are speaking out for underaged who want to come to the BTW Ball.” In a second message, she commented that “parents should be given more credit to determine what’s good for their children.”