Who came up with this Mukbang nonsense?

People are not inherently bad. But do you know what they are?

Disturbingly weird. Have you heard of Mukbang? The concept, pronounced ‘Mook-Bong,’ is a South Korean invention, roughly translating as ‘eating broadcast.’

Someone sits at a table, turns on the camera, and eats. Dining alone is anathema to South Koreans. That leaves you with two options: take the food home and eat away from prying eyes, or open YouTube and find a Mukbang streamer you like. Does it make sense?

Not to me. I only learned about that side of Mukbang today. I had no idea channels like that existed. I associate Mukbang with YouTube streamers stuffing their faces with the greasiest meals.

Some viewers find the idea of a beautiful, petite woman eating a week’s worth of food in one go appealing, for reasons I can’t quite fathom. Others gravitate towards morbidly obese streamers with seemingly insatiable appetites.

Experts have compared the phenomenon to onlookers revelling in a car crash. You also have individuals who use Mukbang to control their cravings. If your diet forbids sugar, watching someone else inhale 500ml of ice cream in 5 minutes is apparently the next best thing.

I suppose the objective is to live vicariously through these binge eaters. Again, none of that makes sense to me. But I can still see the rationale. What I don’t understand is people who watch Mukbang content for its ASMR component, the ones for whom the loud slurping, chewing, and crunching are supposedly hypnotic.

That was my first encounter with Mukbang: viewers who flocked to the likes of Nikocado Avocado because they were soothed by the mouth sounds. The mere thought makes me cringe. Is this a race thing?

Most of you nearly went bald during your childhood on account of growing up with a mother who kept slapping the back of your head because of how loudly you chewed. Can you imagine explaining to a black African that you follow your favourite YouTuber specifically because of how loudly he slurps spaghetti?

Accusations of witchcraft would soon follow. The Mukbang industry is growing because it’s lucrative. Popular Mukbang streamers make tens of thousands of dollars every month by simply eating on camera, which is why health experts have raised the alarm.

Chen Ziyi died just a month ago because she would eat large amounts of food during her broadcasts. Then she would make herself vomit afterward. If you always wondered how she could maintain such a small physique despite the enormous amounts she ate, now you know.

Her eating habits created devastating health issues that killed her at 24. One website noted that Chen once ate 70 eggs during a single livestream. Then there is Wang from Shenyang, who was 140kg when he died at 30.

His passing was blamed on a cardiac event triggered by health conditions related to the significant weight he gained because of his career as a Mukbang streamer. Some health experts believe that audiences are partly to blame for Mukbang-related illnesses and deaths. Mukbang streamers are like drug addicts.

They start by eating relatively reasonable meals on camera. But as their fame grows, they feel compelled to raise the stakes by increasing their portion sizes. How else can they keep viewers interested?

The streamers take the lion’s share of the blame. But some have suggested that their viewers are not entirely innocent. At the very least, they should be classified as enablers. My argument is not nearly as sophisticated.

In fact, I feel like everyone is overthinking this conversation. Mukbang content should disappear for one reason and one reason only: it is gross. Surely, we are better than this.

katmic200@gmail.com

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