this is my stupid “theory”
Alright, so here’s my dumbass theory on 부작용 (Side Effects) M/V
DISCLAIMER: this is only my opinion and I might be completely wrong, so don’t take it too seriously, this is just speculation, but bear with me and my weird mind cause this is gonna be a long trippy journey lol
First of all, Yellow Wood refers to a poem by Robert Frost called “The Road Not Taken” and this is my main source in trying to understand this whole concept of Clé 2. The poem refers to some existential questions that concern the human being, such as life and death, one’s choices and the unscapable passing of time. The narrator faces two possible ways to go, but he has a hard time chosing one, feeling sorry that he can’t travel both, but eventually he decides on one even though he spent a long time trying to see where the other leads to. Yellow Wood is mentioned right at the beginning [Two roads diverged in a yellow wood] and it’s considered a metaphor for our “autumn years”, when we get to “harvest” everything we “cultivated” when we were young, and it’s also a time to remember and reflect upon our deeds. We see the yellow wood (a tree) that symbolizes this “passage” on the teaser as soon as they step out of the elevator. This means that SKZ is now more mature and wiser than they were before, and are looking back on their choices (Hellevator, anyone?). However, they know that for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction, and these reactions are the Side Effects of their choices.
NOW THIS IS WHERE THIS GETS CHALLENGING BECAUSE I NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS MESS THAT’S INSIDE MY HEAD, HOLD MY HAND AND LET’S GO CRAZY TOGETHER!
we all know by now that this MV is focused on Hyunjin, right? we’ll talk more about this later on, so let’s analize the elements on the video first
The opening scene shows a bus with a lion (Miroh, anyone?) and a license plate that says “AD 2540”. The only explanation for this in my point of view is that this is probably Anno Domini (referencing a long distant distopic future). Anyways… we also see some sort of security system being displayed on the screen as if they’re being constantly watched (it shows up again when they trespassed the road and it reminds me of Miroh too)
We see them not taking the bus, since the MV is the development of their second choice on the teaser, and walking together with Hyunjin behind them. What called my attention is that not only we see two freaking moons (alternative universe, parallel universe, alternative reality??), but we see that the road is blocked!!! how did that bus stop there if there’s no open road? Besides, the elevator seems to go down on the teaser, so they were actually up in the sky? it seems like it since it looks like there’s more of that elevator structure upwards
It’s morning when they begin their journey by themselves (there’s reference to morning as well in the poem, and it symbolizes new beginnings, new things coming), and this is where SKZ are heading: a new path
We see them with nine dancers wearing black clothes and a mask, probably signifying their double selves that have taken a different path because they mirror their moves like a shadow
The cart’s gas is almost ending, but what makes them stop is a flat tire, weird, huh? as if they were supposed to end up there somehow…
Felix sees something outside the cart that makes him happy and interested, but Hyujin seems to breakle his bubble (would he be hipnotized??) and they fight, probably because Hyunjin knows more than he shows… what could Felix see on an open field that’s so appealing? Maybe whoever is watching them is also manipulating their reality? Don’t know…
Throughout the MV we see the scenes changing to yellow shades and in this one we clearly see the duality between SKZ and their doubles
Don’t know if it’s on purpose, but here’s another feline on the door
After being forced to stop, they face a closed road and they seem to be pondering how to take this road. Seungmin grabs a camera and Hyujin is quite pissed that he’s taking pics. Why? Here again I think that Hyunjin is probably the one that’s more “lucid” in this whole alternate realities thing, but why taking pics would annoy Hyunjin so much? Would pictures mean evidence? Hmm….
Once they start fighting, we see shades of yellow again taking over the scene. In reality universe stories we know that once you decide something, other possibilities open while some close, and to me the yellow symbolizes the side effects of their actions, the paths they’re closing and opening according to their choices.
They step on a map that shows a yellow area, the elevator, open road, and the closed road they’re at, so they’re probably trying to figure out their own path without guidance of any sorts, they’re gonna find out their way out by themselves
SKZ drives until it’s dark, and Robert Frost has another poem that is called “Acquainted With The Night” that deals with themes such as isolation, insomnia, existence, and depression. The narrator says he’s outwalked the furtest city light/ and he’s heard an interrupted cry/ not to call me back or say good-bye/ and that a clock against the sky proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right/. According to the Owlcation website, the “poem echoes the descent into a dark place where time has no meaning and words are useless […] there may be a sense of hopelessness, a sense that some kind of threshold has to be gone through to regain confidence and light”. Jisung is looking at a city (light) that seems to be up in the clouds, probably the place from where they came down on the elevator, but now they have to face this hard dark path to reach the light again, to go up once more.
They see the bus they didn’t take and they are seen by the driver through the rearview mirror, but the bus doesn’t stop for them, showing they can’t go back to walk the path they already left behind (although we see SKZ on the bus too, the ones on the left side of the screen on the teaser, I’ll call them v.2). Some say that a bus is a metaphor for our own internal conflicts and experiences like our emotions, thoughts and memories that are “passengers” in our bus (= mind), but SKZ is not the one driving their bus, hence they’re not in control of themselves. SKZ v. 1 is outside, being left behind while SKZ v.2 are just passive passengers, sleeping soundly and unaware of what’s happening on the outside.
We see them on the road with a storm behind them, symbolizing that a huge disturbance will happen. Frost also has a poem that can be related to this, it’s entitled “Storm Fear” and it shows how the human mindset can be changed by the environment the person is in. We see this in Felix’s part in Side Effects: I won’t change, always yeh / I used to shout that, but why am I / According to my surroundings / Countlessly being changed?
As a verb, we see storm on the dictionary as “moving angrily or forcefully in a specified direction”, and that’s how they run afterwards (although I don’t get why Minho has his back turned - maybe denial? I don’t know)
And here we can clearly see that there’s a distortion of their reality (and a fragmentation when 부작용 shows up on the screen).
Soooo…. what does all of this mean?
In my opinion, they’re being affected by their choices. In Miroh we see them saying It’s not hard in this rough jungle/ It was me who ran into it, I’m okay/, but in Side Effects we have I threw myself with trust in me/ But why am I being swayed?/ But why am I just being hurt?/, meaning that probably the path they chose was harder than they thought and they can’t live up to their own expectations, wondering if they can actually do everything they screamed they could (we see this in Felix & Hyunjin’s lines in Side Effect). In Miroh, Jisung says that they’re running through the maze like a beast and avoiding all the familiar paths because it’s a new challenge, but this challenge now is weighing them down and their bravado (atittude intended to intimidate) can’t last anymore now that they’re more experienced and going through hard times.
The way I see it, they’re now in some sort of a limbo, an in between place (a maze, Miroh), constantly facing multiple paths that may lead them to the exit (they had an Entrance song in Clé 1), but they’re on their own, trying to figure everything by themselves, and they’re still lost and confused because they’re chosing unfamiliar paths. They’re changing, although they’re trying to fight against it and remain the same as they were before, but it’s impossible not be affected by the surroundings (they’re being watched and controled).
But in my interpretation, they’re gonna figure out that taking the harder and uncommon path is gonna be worth it, and I say this because of Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”. The poem ends with the narrator saying that:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- (the man facing his own internal issues)
I took the one less traveled by, (he’s breaking patterns for not walking the same road everyone else walked on)
And that has made all the difference (by ‘rebelling’ against the system, doing what few people has ever done, he’s securing his individuality and free will).
And that’s how Stray Kids are gonna break free and be in control of themselves again.
If this long dumbass theory is right or not, Clé 2: Yellow Wood to me seems like SKZ is trying to show they’re more mature and independent, even though they have to face hardships and confusion in a path they wanna take without help to show us their true colors (and that one of them is probably a huge Robert Frost fan lolololol)
Now a couple of things I don’t quite get in this MV: why is Hyunjin the one that’s more aware of everything? why was he on the grass on the last scene? was he dreaming? foreseeing their future? what?! and why SKZ is looking at him in a weird way? (especially Jeongin, who hugged him in the cart and smiled too much.. Jeongin was the one on the control room in Miroh, maybe he’s working on both sides?). And the key at the end is another path they might walk? another road to “unlock”??? are they unlocking worlds?????
I NEED ANSWERS STRAY KIDS!
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