THE HYPER-REALITY OF MARRIED ARMYS BASED ON SYMBOLIC CAPITAL COMMODIFICATION

BTS fans' dreams about the members are high-level, hyper-realistic dreams. The great desire to interact, get attention, and become a life partner for the members is recognized by female fans. This study aims to describe the hyper-reality constructed by fans who identify as mothers (fan-moms) of BTS members, idealizing them as life companions. The symbolic capital of the members, continuously commodified through appearances, is the primary key to building this hyper-realism. This study uses the concepts of hyper-reality, symbolic capital, and commodification. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, with critical constructionism as its underlying paradigm. The unit of analysis consists of texts on social media related to the K-pop group BTS. The results suggest that the symbolic capital of the BTS members is a crucial factor in the fans' devotion to the artist. They forget that the artist's symbolic capital is a 'polished' form that circulates capital flows due to the high traffic of conversations and views on social media, purchases of albums, et cetera. It is undeniable that fan mothers, who are already at a productive age, can make significant purchases of goods and engage in brand activation related to BTS members. The brands that collaborate with the members are 'splashed with fortune' as an implication of the love (and competitiveness) of mother fans for the artist. Ultimately, the fan-mom and the members were in a commodification vortex they were unaware of.