Many K-pop stars have become memes because of their over-the-top or relatable reactions. One of those stars is GOT7 (갓세븐) member Jackson Wang (王嘉爾/왕잭슨), whose “shocked face” meme has become synonymous with the singer – but what was the story behind his reaction?
Jackson and his GOT7 members recently appeared in an episode of “IDDP” on the 1theK YouTube channel. For the show, the idol group dived into their profiles and shared their reactions to some of their past viral stories. When talking about Jackson, GOT7 brought up his viral “shocked face” meme, which originated from J.Y. Park’s (박진영) 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards performance with MAMAMOO’s (마마무) Hwasa (화사).
Jackson explained his thoughts during the performance and why he made that bewildered expression. According to the star, the face wasn’t a face of shock but was him processing the scene. For those unaware, the JYP Entertainment founder was performing his 1994 song, “Don’t Leave Me”, whilst wearing a vinyl bodysuit, which is an homage to his iconic “plastic pants” look from the song’s cover image.
The 30-year-old said he wasn’t shocked at first but was trying to make sense of the situation. However, that was when the camera filmed him, which immortalised his reaction. Funnily enough, Jackson said he wasn’t taken aback by the performance when he made that face but felt embarrassed after understanding the “art” behind his former boss’ unique performance.
Jackson’s reaction went viral after the performance, and J.Y. Park himself uploaded the meme on his Instagram account. Some even dubbed the moment one of the highlights of the award ceremony. While it has been five years since the performance, the singer’s reaction is still widely used amongst K-pop fans on social media when they want to react to something confusing or surprising.
It seems Jackson from that night didn’t know his reaction would become one of K-pop’s most-used memes. Perhaps we can add this to his already extensive list of accomplishments.
Watch GOT7’s “IDDP” episode and the original video of Jackson’s meme below:
Source: YouTube
