[Trigger Warning/Content Warning: Cyberbullying, Bullying, and Depression]
Celebrities are prone to criticisms, may they be a good or bad. But most of the time, they try to stay away from bad publicity as that could ruin an actor's career. The saddest part, though, is if they go through depression and do something extreme. Given the unreasonable standards of society as a whole, public figures usually get criticized for their looks and appearance, and specifically, their weight.
As celebrities, entertaining people is their main job, and if a lot of people admire them and praise them, it could increase their morale as a person.
But recently, an anonymous netizen sent a message to Hong Sun Young, sister of Hong Jin Young, and exposed it to the public, thus creating awareness that constructive criticisms are honestly okay but hurling derogatory remarks and attacking someone personally definitely aren't.
The actress showed several screenshots of the private message sent to her by the anonymous sender. The message was so hurtful because not only she felt harassed but she was compared to her sister Hong Jin Young.
The actress was criticized as someone who has "no talent," "unlikable," and "not prettier" than her sister. Several screenshots were posted by the actress on her Instagram to express her feelings of sadness as she was shamelessly privately bullied.
In this time of depression brought by the pandemic, it has a lot of negative impact to the whole world where there are a lot of uncertainties. And coping to this is so hard and when something negative is added like this it adds to the emotional struggles.
Furthermore, the messages contain the following harsh statements:
"Can't you please stop appearing on TV? I'm telling you [this] because even though I try not to watch you, you keep appearing in articles online."
"I swear on my mother's life that you're really ugly, even if you were to lose weight."
"I beg you, please. If someone like you with no talent comes out on television, there are so many others with talent who can't just because they are not blood-related to a celebrity."
This is how the actress responded to the hurtful messages:
"I got hurt for the first time in a while. What did I do so wrong... Anger doesn't really help... When I think of you every time you say something harsh as I'm on TV, I feel pain. But you've gone too far this time. We were probably people who loved each other in our previous life? Please stop hating me... I didn't do anything wrong but if you're remorseful just by looking at me...I'm a human too...so, it's...yeah.
She added, "You, who keep hating me... If you meet me in the streets, buy me chicken breasts. Be healthy. I'm gonna be home for now... [I'm] depressed all of a sudden. Sigh."
Having a sibling in the entertainment industry gives the possibility of being compared to each other. The two may be in the same realm, but their lines of work are totally different. Most importantly, they have their own charms and uniqueness, and no two individuals are ever the same. Understanding and respecting differences go a long way.
Hong Sun Young became popular after making steady appearances on SBS's "My Ugly Duckling" together with her sister.
