A analysis of Momolands “BAAM”: A exploitative bundle of... fun?

It has to be said: BAAM is a good music video. It’s very poppy, cheerful and playful. The girls, themselves look impeccable. It invites you to forget your worries and dance to the tune. The music might sound a bit like something you have heard before but so does many summer “bangers”. It’s catchy.

There’s something more important going on here though. Momolands fans, who call themselves “Merry go rounds” are busy dancing but they are neglecting a important issue - the costumes.

While Momoland are trying to make a joke by dressing up as a supposedly Mexican man, in real life “President” Trump is forcefully removing Mexican Folks and separating their children. The stereotype of Mexican Folks that Momoland is perpetuating is normalizing the every-day violence against innocent migratants at the US border.

Left: A scene from Momolands new MV where Hyebin is wearing a supposedly comical Mexican outfit. Furthermore, she looks angry and forms her hand as a gun, subtly conditioning the viewer that mexicans are angry and violent people.

Right: A real life child being violently separated by U.S. border control.

While there are too many examples in the music video to list them all, here is one more. When wearing a mock traditional philippine folk costume, complete with straw hats, Daisy is holding a fruit to her head while looking confused and angry. It’s might seem like a classic joke, but when doing it while imitating another culture is very insensitive. When she’s doing this she is actively supporting a very harmful stereotype of the “Stupid asian rice farmer who can’t even tell a squash from a phone”.

Momolands appropriation of other cultures is clearly not ethnically sensitive nor respectful. They seemingly want to use ethnic minorities as comedic gimmicks. But examining their titles makes their neo-imperialist tendencies even worse. “Bboom Bboom” and “BAAM” are the exact sounds millions of the very people whose culture they are appropriating every day have to live in fear of every day. At this rate, we can only wonder if they will name their final release “The final solution”.