hiatus

k-pop album reviews & mv analysis

[mybiasisquiet]

are you willing to sell me the WINNER S/S 2014 album. mine got destroyed in a tragedy and it was really sentimental to me.

Hello! I'm not sure how old this ask is since I don't really check here anymore. While I would be willing to part with it, it's no longer in good condition, and since it's so heavy I don't think the cost of shipping would really be worth it to sell.

[mybiasisquiet]

Hello , I was reading your theories and are so interesting :0 , I have a question some people are often say that Red Velvet are the Red Force the one's who control and causes the illuisons and keep trapped the EXO boys , do you believe this theory is true or nah?

Hi! I’m actually not super familiar with this theory. Could you send me a link?

[mybiasisquiet]

Red Velvet’s Bad Boy MV (Music Video Analysis)

The views presented in this theory are a part of my own individual interpretation of the video, which means they are subject to error. Lyrics taken from kpopviral. 

The Treachery of Images: I’ve just posted an analysis for Peek-A-Boo, which deals heavily on the inversion of male fantasy. The theme carries over into this video. Though the title is “Bad Boy,” no boys are present. The focus on the video is entirely femininity, which makes sense when taking into consideration that the term “bad boy” is almost always defined in opposition to the “good girl.” Take Grease for example. Sandy is a good girl who has met a bad boy, and the film concludes with her transformation over into a bad girl. In this dichotomous presentation of femininity (meaning girls are only either innocent or corrupted), the bad boy is the means by which the girl is transformed. Good girls are seduced by bad boys, and ruined. 

Here, however, Red Velvet has more agency than that. The lyrics address the bad boy in question as they attempt to seduce him. 

You must be confused, you can’t even imagine

You can try to get away but there’s no room at all

The answer’s decided, you follow me naturally

I choose you, I already chose you

Though they play out both the roles of the “innocent” and the “corrupted” they ultimately seek to destroy the constraints these images place upon them.

As the video opens, the members sit in an empty hot tub while wearing school girl uniforms. The uniforms are typical of representations of young girls, both used to show innocence and eroticism, so we are introduced early to the dichotomy at hand. The image of the hot tub, as well, is suggestive, though empty. The voyeurism of girls (even clothed) in a hot tub is disrupted by the falling snow, and the book. 

The theme of voyeurism is present throughout the video, especially as the camera essentially “intrudes” upon the private setting of Joy and Seulgi in bed, confiding in one another. These voyeuristic and homoerotic elements play into the male fantasy of what happens at sleepovers, acted out by the camera. 

Like with the snow, this image is interrupted by the inclusion of the book.

The book cover reads “Ceci n’est pas de la levre,” mimicking Rene Magritte’s famous painting The Treachery of Images. The text translates to “this is not a pipe,” which appears paradoxical at first. However, it is not a pipe, but the image of one. Though the book’s French is not correct, it should say something along the lines of “these are not lips.” What it stamped on the cover are not lips, but the image of lips. 

The treachery of images is that we forget they are images. We believe them so wholly that we take representation as truth. This theme is central to the understanding of the video. We must remember what we are seeing isn’t trustworthy: it’s just an image. This is so brilliantly put in terms of femininity with lipstick rather than the male-coded pipe. 

What we see throughout the video are not true images of femininity, but constructed images and conceptions. This can extend beyond the theme of femininity I’ve focused on, to just the simple image of being in the public eye. An “idol image” is not a complete and full person, though people often make this mistake. 

Here we come upon one of the main settings of the video. A red bed sits in the middle of a road in an icy place. Four of the members lie in bed. (I think Joy is missing, but there’s no reason I can think of why Joy specifically would be missing, so I’m going to assume it’s not important.)

This scene presents a set of contradictions. The setting is cold, while the bed is a symbol of rest and comfort. There’s a suit case, and a street, which imply movement and temporary stasis, but the bed, again, implies permanence. Cold versus comfort, temporariness versus permanence in this dream-like setting communicate their conflicted emotions concerning the images rendered of them. They are uncomfortable and comfortable at once, tempted both to stay and to leave.

The girls sleeping in the bed, again, tie into a voyeuristic theme. Their unconscious state makes them vulnerable, as if they are unaware of the camera and lack the agency to break free of the watchful gaze of the camera. 

In black and white, suggested to be on a different time line than my previous screenshot, Seulgi walks toward the bed alone with a suit case in hand. This symbolizes her entrance into this isolated and emotional landscape. The suitcase indicates her intention to stay, at least for a while, before the eventual decision to leave. 

Much of the video takes place in this setting. The girls are dressed in stark contrast to their earlier sleep over attire. Where that was the image of innocence and soft femininity, here they display something closer to the “bad girl” image. 

This setting is also decorated with female mannequins. They are approximations of the female form (a representation and not a truth), and they are idealized and commercialized objects meant to sell clothing. These mannequins represent the battle of representational and true female identity–they present an ideal body but are not an actual body. Where women are often made over into idealized, commercialized objects (typical in the k-pop industry especially), we must remember that the image of such women are only images, and that people exist behind them.

Additionally, though I haven’t captured this in the screenshot, the platform on the back is on wheels, again suggestive of impermanence. 

This is the third key setting of the video. With tables and a staircase and a front door, the room appears at first to be a home. However, there is a luggage cart in the corner, revealing the potential domestic setting to be a hotel lobby. The hotel carries on the theme of impermanence, and ties back to the suitcase Seulgi carries. 

Here Yeri displays the sleep over image of soft femininity. 

She presses the typewriter key and the screen ripples. 

She falls into this “bad girl” image–the transformation complete in one moment. She is the innocent made corrupted at the press of a key.

Throughout the video, the girls whisper in each other’s ears. They confide in one another, but we do not hear what is said. The camera (often pictured in this video as a polaroid) captures images and is unconcerned with the things they say. The image of femininity is unconcerned with actual thoughts and speech of women–they can speak and confide in each other in private circles, but they are not meant for public speech. Yeri’s utilization of the typewriter implies an attempt at language, at communication, which amounts to the act of rebellion. The desire to be heard is the “corrupting” force. 

The members sit around a table in the hotel setting. They have the books on plates, and they read the books despite the blank pages. As will be seen a few screenshots later, the only book with text in it is the book with the lips on the cover. The reading of the blank books signifies the expectation to swallow empty ideas because they are presented in a convincing light. The books are physical, real, and from the opposite side you can believe they contain knowledge, though the inside is blank. These books give the image of knowledge without knowledge. 

Only the book in Wendy’s hands is effective. The other books still read “this is not a lip” on the cover, and this statement can be taken literally. True, there are no lips on the cover. The paradox doesn’t work here. Only paired with the image of the lip can the book call attention to the treachery of images and communicate true understanding and knowledge. 

The five of them walk with destructive items in their hands–bats, spray paint, etc. We see these items appear throughout the video. Keep in mind for later 

Wendy, having possessed the book that called attention to the treachery of images, has a camera placed before her. She burns it, destroying the thing capable of capturing images. In the destruction, she alerts the others of the problem with the structured images, as Seulgi and Joy are entranced and fan the flames. 

Despite burning the camera, the images remain, as five polaroids are tucked into the book. One for each member, these polaroids represent the conceptions and images that surround them. Though they have destroyed the camera, there is a certain sentimentality in saving the images–they’ve grown attached to them. They hide them away for safe keeping in the very book that condemns their treachery. They know the danger of the image, but it is not entirely constrictive. It’s familiar, just as the bed is comforting, just as they might be tempted to stay. This is another instance of the struggle of whether to break free from the image or not. 

The girls begin to destroy both the mannequin and the hotel setting. This destruction, especially through vandalistic means such as graffiti, is a “bad girl” action. At first, the destruction appears simply rebellious and typical of the personas they embody. 

Additionally, Wendy knocks the camera out, sending it spinning. This calls attention to the fact that we are watching the video through the lens of a camera. The things we are seeing are mere representational images. 

The mannequins, as well, have been knocked over, and all they represent as been displaced. 

Irene covers Yeri’s ears in the approximation of hear no evil. The eldest protects the youngest. This reflects the fear of influencing young girls, a fear that reveals the belief in their inherent corruptibility. 

Fun fact: they used to think women were so impressionable that if they looked at something bad while pregnant, it could lead to a deformity in the child.

The assumption of being so easily influenced supposes they lack the agency to interpret the information they hear correctly. 

Seulgi stands in the black and white bed setting, aiming gun at seemingly no one. 

As Wendy burned the camera, she now holds a lighter. 

Seulgi squirts strawberry syrup onto a white cake and the stuff drips over the sides. On first glance, it looks like blood, which is a purposeful mislead. It’s hard to catch the edge fo the bottle in Seulgi’s hand. We are supposed to think it’s blood when it is nothing more than syrup. 

Unlike in Peek-A-Boo where we see violence practiced, Yeri shooting the crossbow and cutting the boy’s cheek, Irene slicing Seulgi’s cheek, all of the violence in this video is sublimated. Seulgi points a gun but it’s at no one and she never pulls the trigger. We see the shocking image of blood and it’s revealed to be nothing more than syrup. Irene poses with bolt cutters, but we never see them used. We see Irene and Yeri posing with spray cans, but the destruction is in the background already performed. Later, when the room burns, we only catch a glimpse at the flames. The destruction and violence are shown in glimpses and never in full–subverted. 

This plays into the treachery of images, how little we see and do not see, and how much we can assume with just the glimpse of a thing. 

Seulgi stands on the table, blowing fake money. The fake money is the illusion of luxury and not the thing itself. Though she dispenses it, none of the girls reach for it. Later, they stand under it in marvel, as it were falling snow, but they do not collect it. They understand it is worthless. 

Wendy sleeps with her head down. Behind her, a member passes by while a shadow hand reaches out. A second later, Wendy’s eyes open. This connects to the sublimated violence, being unaware and stalked. It also calls attention to the theme of sleeping and waking-what happens while you sleep and what is necessary to wake to awareness. 

Earlier, Seulgi had the gun pointed at no one. I think it’s necessary to point out that Seulgi very clearly has the gun pointed at the viewer, at the camera. She has aimed her gun toward the constructed image. 

Where they were asleep previously, the girls sit up in bed and they seem aware of the snow for the first time. Their agency is expanding. 

Here, more voyeuristic and posed images of homoeroticism play out. Irene and Joy are frozen in a near kiss. They coyly whisper in one another’s ears. This is not a natural closeness. Yeri and Seulgi look knowingly into the camera, calling attention to the fact that this is for the benefit of the camera. 

Seulgi picks up the suitcase and leaves. 

The bed in this setting, an object of permanence, is replaced by a car. It’s an object of agency, giving them the ability to come and go as they please. 

Wendy tosses her lighter, and the place goes up in flames. The setting indicative of their bad girl image is destroyed. 

They demonstrate the agency to come and go, to preserve and to destroy.

The video ends as the girls open their eyes, staring up at the camera while still dressed as innocents. In the end, they present their own individual identities, unified by the innocence of the sleep over setting and the graffiti on the floor. Though they perform the destructive act, which is a “bad girl” thing, they end the video in complete awareness and in the state of innocence, navigating between the two roles in the suggestion of unity. They are capable of both goodness and individual will. The act of destruction was not simply vandalism typical of one role, but the expression of will and individuality. They destroy the image that would divide female identity in half. They can destroy and preserve and be good. They can be awake and aware and innocent. They aren’t good girls gone bad, they’re simply girls capable of complexity and agency. 

[mybiasisquiet]

Red Velvet’s Bad Boy MV (Music Video Analysis)

The views presented in this theory are a part of my own individual interpretation of the video, which means they are subject to error. Lyrics taken from kpopviral. 

The Treachery of Images: I’ve just posted an analysis for Peek-A-Boo, which deals heavily on the inversion of male fantasy. The theme carries over into this video. Though the title is “Bad Boy,” no boys are present. The focus on the video is entirely femininity, which makes sense when taking into consideration that the term “bad boy” is almost always defined in opposition to the “good girl.” Take Grease for example. Sandy is a good girl who has met a bad boy, and the film concludes with her transformation over into a bad girl. In this dichotomous presentation of femininity (meaning girls are only either innocent or corrupted), the bad boy is the means by which the girl is transformed. Good girls are seduced by bad boys, and ruined. 

Here, however, Red Velvet has more agency than that. The lyrics address the bad boy in question as they attempt to seduce him. 

You must be confused, you can’t even imagine

You can try to get away but there’s no room at all

The answer’s decided, you follow me naturally

I choose you, I already chose you

Though they play out both the roles of the “innocent” and the “corrupted” they ultimately seek to destroy the constraints these images place upon them.

As the video opens, the members sit in an empty hot tub while wearing school girl uniforms. The uniforms are typical of representations of young girls, both used to show innocence and eroticism, so we are introduced early to the dichotomy at hand. The image of the hot tub, as well, is suggestive, though empty. The voyeurism of girls (even clothed) in a hot tub is disrupted by the falling snow, and the book. 

The theme of voyeurism is present throughout the video, especially as the camera essentially “intrudes” upon the private setting of Joy and Seulgi in bed, confiding in one another. These voyeuristic and homoerotic elements play into the male fantasy of what happens at sleepovers, acted out by the camera. 

Like with the snow, this image is interrupted by the inclusion of the book.

The book cover reads “Ceci n’est pas de la levre,” mimicking Rene Magritte’s famous painting The Treachery of Images. The text translates to “this is not a pipe,” which appears paradoxical at first. However, it is not a pipe, but the image of one. Though the book’s French is not correct, it should say something along the lines of “these are not lips.” What it stamped on the cover are not lips, but the image of lips. 

The treachery of images is that we forget they are images. We believe them so wholly that we take representation as truth. This theme is central to the understanding of the video. We must remember what we are seeing isn’t trustworthy: it’s just an image. This is so brilliantly put in terms of femininity with lipstick rather than the male-coded pipe. 

What we see throughout the video are not true images of femininity, but constructed images and conceptions. This can extend beyond the theme of femininity I’ve focused on, to just the simple image of being in the public eye. An “idol image” is not a complete and full person, though people often make this mistake. 

Here we come upon one of the main settings of the video. A red bed sits in the middle of a road in an icy place. Four of the members lie in bed. (I think Joy is missing, but there’s no reason I can think of why Joy specifically would be missing, so I’m going to assume it’s not important.)

This scene presents a set of contradictions. The setting is cold, while the bed is a symbol of rest and comfort. There’s a suit case, and a street, which imply movement and temporary stasis, but the bed, again, implies permanence. Cold versus comfort, temporariness versus permanence in this dream-like setting communicate their conflicted emotions concerning the images rendered of them. They are uncomfortable and comfortable at once, tempted both to stay and to leave.

The girls sleeping in the bed, again, tie into a voyeuristic theme. Their unconscious state makes them vulnerable, as if they are unaware of the camera and lack the agency to break free of the watchful gaze of the camera. 

In black and white, suggested to be on a different time line than my previous screenshot, Seulgi walks toward the bed alone with a suit case in hand. This symbolizes her entrance into this isolated and emotional landscape. The suitcase indicates her intention to stay, at least for a while, before the eventual decision to leave. 

Much of the video takes place in this setting. The girls are dressed in stark contrast to their earlier sleep over attire. Where that was the image of innocence and soft femininity, here they display something closer to the “bad girl” image. 

This setting is also decorated with female mannequins. They are approximations of the female form (a representation and not a truth), and they are idealized and commercialized objects meant to sell clothing. These mannequins represent the battle of representational and true female identity--they present an ideal body but are not an actual body. Where women are often made over into idealized, commercialized objects (typical in the k-pop industry especially), we must remember that the image of such women are only images, and that people exist behind them.

Additionally, though I haven’t captured this in the screenshot, the platform on the back is on wheels, again suggestive of impermanence. 

This is the third key setting of the video. With tables and a staircase and a front door, the room appears at first to be a home. However, there is a luggage cart in the corner, revealing the potential domestic setting to be a hotel lobby. The hotel carries on the theme of impermanence, and ties back to the suitcase Seulgi carries. 

Here Yeri displays the sleep over image of soft femininity. 

She presses the typewriter key and the screen ripples. 

She falls into this “bad girl” image--the transformation complete in one moment. She is the innocent made corrupted at the press of a key.

Throughout the video, the girls whisper in each other’s ears. They confide in one another, but we do not hear what is said. The camera (often pictured in this video as a polaroid) captures images and is unconcerned with the things they say. The image of femininity is unconcerned with actual thoughts and speech of women--they can speak and confide in each other in private circles, but they are not meant for public speech. Yeri’s utilization of the typewriter implies an attempt at language, at communication, which amounts to the act of rebellion. The desire to be heard is the “corrupting” force. 

The members sit around a table in the hotel setting. They have the books on plates, and they read the books despite the blank pages. As will be seen a few screenshots later, the only book with text in it is the book with the lips on the cover. The reading of the blank books signifies the expectation to swallow empty ideas because they are presented in a convincing light. The books are physical, real, and from the opposite side you can believe they contain knowledge, though the inside is blank. These books give the image of knowledge without knowledge. 

Only the book in Wendy’s hands is effective. The other books still read “this is not a lip” on the cover, and this statement can be taken literally. True, there are no lips on the cover. The paradox doesn’t work here. Only paired with the image of the lip can the book call attention to the treachery of images and communicate true understanding and knowledge. 

The five of them walk with destructive items in their hands--bats, spray paint, etc. We see these items appear throughout the video. Keep in mind for later 

Wendy, having possessed the book that called attention to the treachery of images, has a camera placed before her. She burns it, destroying the thing capable of capturing images. In the destruction, she alerts the others of the problem with the structured images, as Seulgi and Joy are entranced and fan the flames. 

Despite burning the camera, the images remain, as five polaroids are tucked into the book. One for each member, these polaroids represent the conceptions and images that surround them. Though they have destroyed the camera, there is a certain sentimentality in saving the images--they’ve grown attached to them. They hide them away for safe keeping in the very book that condemns their treachery. They know the danger of the image, but it is not entirely constrictive. It’s familiar, just as the bed is comforting, just as they might be tempted to stay. This is another instance of the struggle of whether to break free from the image or not. 

The girls begin to destroy both the mannequin and the hotel setting. This destruction, especially through vandalistic means such as graffiti, is a “bad girl” action. At first, the destruction appears simply rebellious and typical of the personas they embody. 

Additionally, Wendy knocks the camera out, sending it spinning. This calls attention to the fact that we are watching the video through the lens of a camera. The things we are seeing are mere representational images. 

The mannequins, as well, have been knocked over, and all they represent as been displaced. 

Irene covers Yeri’s ears in the approximation of hear no evil. The eldest protects the youngest. This reflects the fear of influencing young girls, a fear that reveals the belief in their inherent corruptibility. 

Fun fact: they used to think women were so impressionable that if they looked at something bad while pregnant, it could lead to a deformity in the child.

The assumption of being so easily influenced supposes they lack the agency to interpret the information they hear correctly. 

Seulgi stands in the black and white bed setting, aiming gun at seemingly no one. 

As Wendy burned the camera, she now holds a lighter. 

Seulgi squirts strawberry syrup onto a white cake and the stuff drips over the sides. On first glance, it looks like blood, which is a purposeful mislead. It’s hard to catch the edge fo the bottle in Seulgi’s hand. We are supposed to think it’s blood when it is nothing more than syrup. 

Unlike in Peek-A-Boo where we see violence practiced, Yeri shooting the crossbow and cutting the boy’s cheek, Irene slicing Seulgi’s cheek, all of the violence in this video is sublimated. Seulgi points a gun but it’s at no one and she never pulls the trigger. We see the shocking image of blood and it’s revealed to be nothing more than syrup. Irene poses with bolt cutters, but we never see them used. We see Irene and Yeri posing with spray cans, but the destruction is in the background already performed. Later, when the room burns, we only catch a glimpse at the flames. The destruction and violence are shown in glimpses and never in full--subverted. 

This plays into the treachery of images, how little we see and do not see, and how much we can assume with just the glimpse of a thing. 

Seulgi stands on the table, blowing fake money. The fake money is the illusion of luxury and not the thing itself. Though she dispenses it, none of the girls reach for it. Later, they stand under it in marvel, as it were falling snow, but they do not collect it. They understand it is worthless. 

Wendy sleeps with her head down. Behind her, a member passes by while a shadow hand reaches out. A second later, Wendy’s eyes open. This connects to the sublimated violence, being unaware and stalked. It also calls attention to the theme of sleeping and waking-what happens while you sleep and what is necessary to wake to awareness. 

Earlier, Seulgi had the gun pointed at no one. I think it’s necessary to point out that Seulgi very clearly has the gun pointed at the viewer, at the camera. She has aimed her gun toward the constructed image. 

Where they were asleep previously, the girls sit up in bed and they seem aware of the snow for the first time. Their agency is expanding. 

Here, more voyeuristic and posed images of homoeroticism play out. Irene and Joy are frozen in a near kiss. They coyly whisper in one another’s ears. This is not a natural closeness. Yeri and Seulgi look knowingly into the camera, calling attention to the fact that this is for the benefit of the camera. 

Seulgi picks up the suitcase and leaves. 

The bed in this setting, an object of permanence, is replaced by a car. It’s an object of agency, giving them the ability to come and go as they please. 

Wendy tosses her lighter, and the place goes up in flames. The setting indicative of their bad girl image is destroyed. 

They demonstrate the agency to come and go, to preserve and to destroy.

The video ends as the girls open their eyes, staring up at the camera while still dressed as innocents. In the end, they present their own individual identities, unified by the innocence of the sleep over setting and the graffiti on the floor. Though they perform the destructive act, which is a “bad girl” thing, they end the video in complete awareness and in the state of innocence, navigating between the two roles in the suggestion of unity. They are capable of both goodness and individual will. The act of destruction was not simply vandalism typical of one role, but the expression of will and individuality. They destroy the image that would divide female identity in half. They can destroy and preserve and be good. They can be awake and aware and innocent. They aren’t good girls gone bad, they’re simply girls capable of complexity and agency. 

[mybiasisquiet]

Blood sweat and tears bts

Hi! Sorry I took so long to reply--I’ve been away from tumblr for a while. 

I actually started doing a post for this video a really long time ago and I just got to a point where I was stuck, and I lost motivation. 

If I ever figure out the hiccup in the future, I’ll post it. 

[mybiasisquiet]

Red Velvet’s Peek-A-Boo MV (Music Video Analysis)

The views presented in this theory are a part of my own individual interpretation of the video, which means they are subject to error. Lyrics taken from kpopviral.

Restart a game! This video is about the inversion of male fantasy played out in the guise of a lethal game involving one full moon, five beautiful ladies, ten thousand pizzas, and one unsuspecting delivery boy. 

Though the video is essentially from Red Velvet’s perspective, imagine what it would be like from the delivery boy’s. You’re young (and hormonal). You have a sucky job delivering pizzas. But on one particular delivery, you come to a house full of beautiful girls and instead of simply taking the pizza, they take you in as well. They welcome you into the house. They play games with you. Nothing makes sense, and you don’t expect it to--because this world is one you’ve only just been initiated into. It’s alien and feminine and here they pay attention to you. It’s a complete male fantasy. Similar plot lines can be found in pornos. However, here it doesn’t end with pubescent boys feeling special, but with the savage twist of his death. Red Velvet has set an irresistible trap, luring boys to their death--a game they’ve played again and again--inverting the male fantasy.  

The video opens with Yeri and her crossbow, the five of them standing under a full moon. We see that the pizza boy has escaped, now trying to call for help. 

Essentially, we’re seeing the end before it begins. This introduces several key elements of the video--namely, expectation. We know what should happen, and our expectations of what is to come have been formed. However, it is the aim of the video to play with those expectations, and invert them. While he appears to have been delivered to safely, we know this is not the video’s true end. 

As well, take note of the full moon. This acts a plot marker, keying us in on the timeline of the video. 

The video truly begins. We see a house in daylight in what appears to be the idyllic California.

The moon is a crescent in the sky, signifying there is still some time before the events of the video’s opening. 

The door to the house opens to the members sprawled out across the room--unanimated and otherworldly. They look like dolls or puppets or sleeping children. Suddenly, their eyes open. 

Early, the video establishes their unity. They are dressed similarly. They open their eyes at the same time. Throughout the video, we see them moving as a unit, their heads snapping in one direction or another, trusting each other enough to stand still as they’re being fired at. 

The awakening is spawned by the opening of the door, as if their unity and power is connected to the house. The home is their sphere, their trap. Though Irene ventures outside the home at the end of the video, we understand it is for the purpose of hunting the boy. She returns. They are connected to the home in such a way that suggests a powerful feminine force in relation to domesticity. 

However, this is not traditional domesticity where they are shown to care for home or family. They are unmarried. They are not mothers. They do not clean, or cook. They only have each other, and this unity gives them power. Though they are confined to the house, it acts as their lair--a trap of their own making. 

Irene is shown “shaving” Seulgi in our first glimpse of practiced violence. Of course, there is no need for Seulgi to be shaved as she has no facial hair. Irene is practicing for a man to take that place--an act of violence disguised as an act of service. Seulgi has a cut on her face, and the barber scene recalls Sweeney Todd, the “demon barber.”

Wendy and Joy sit opposite one another, a pizza between them. They carefully observe the jewels in their hands before carefully placing them on the pizza, as if placing pieces on a chess board. This approximation of chess introduces the theme of games seen throughout the video, present in the lyrics especially. 

We decided you’re it

It’s gonna be fun, we’ll let you play with us

We are gonna play until

The moon is hanging on the jungle gym

A pizza boy arrives. Yeri takes the pizza from him, and we see the shot from his perspective as the others emerge ominously behind her. In this moment, they select him as their victim.

But the moon is not full (it’s not even pictured). The timing isn’t right. So the boy is allowed to go back to his car and leave. 

Restart a game!

The members run past display cases with the shirts of their previous victims within them. This firmly establishes that this is a game played out time and time again. 

Now that they have selected their newest victim, they prepare. They practice with the crossbow, their skill evident as they practice on one another and are unharmed--the ax soaring past Seulgi’s head. 

Having prepared appropriately, the moon full present in the painting, Irene calls in another order of pizza. She runs down stairs to greet him. 

He arrives once again, smiling eagerly as Irene peeks through the window. 

Having invited the boy into their home, the girls circle Joy as she sits amongst candles on a piano. It’s indiscernible to outsiders, but clearly ritualistic. 

The boy peeks through the curtain.

They catch him watching. 

And soon he has taken Joy’s place. 

They performed the ritual with Joy knowing full well that he was going to spy on them. Joy was bait, a way of introducing him to the ritual, which is now performed as an initiation. 

Having been “initiated” into their group, he sits on the floor with them and smiles. He believes they’ve accepted him, that he’s been made privy to their strange and secret world of games and ritual. He doesn’t understand what is actually happening, that he is being drawn in. 

They play hide and seek like children. Though I couldn’t a good screenshot, the full moon can be seen out the window. As the pizza boy plays their strange games he assumes must be normal for them, he misses the obvious signs of wrongness. He ignores the other shirts in the display cases, even as he comes to stand, ironically, directly in front of one. He doesn’t find the dozens of pizza boxes around the house strange. He’s entranced by their beauty and the novelty and the fact that they’ve shown him something he hasn’t seen before. They’ve made him feel special, and that feeling blinds his reason. He truly believes magical women exist for his benefit--all else can be excused. His inflated sense of self important and his misunderstanding of women are his fatal flaws. 

Under the ruse of a jello eating contest, the members and the boy gather round a table. He’s blindfolded. The clock strikes midnight and he digs in, where the members sneak away. 

And return with weapons. The hunt has begun. 

Before they all return, he takes off blind fold to find Wendy standing before him. She’s glancing away, as if on the look out for the others. She appears to have betrayed them, empathizing with the boy--him, where she has been complicit in killing all the others--and is now going to save him. 

But in the next shot, it’s Seulgi. 

And then it’s Joy. 

And Yeri. 

The fact that every member occupies this role emphasizes the fact that this is a role. They are deepening the fantasy, giving him the hope of escape. She betrays her friends for him. He’s special in a way all the other boys weren’t. She chooses good for him, is redeemed for him. 

It’s all an act. At one point Wendy plays this role, during another game it’s Yeri. They all have done this before, and they are all shown at different points here to express how many times this game as played out. As well, it emphasizes how interchangeable they are. He doesn’t need to single one out that he is drawn to, because their individual identity doesn’t matter. Any one of them can play his romantic interest because he would accept any of them for the fact that they have singled him out. 

They all stand on the steps (though we know later Irene will be in the car with him). This emphasizes their unity once more, showing that though one of them plays the part of the betrayer, they are ultimately together. 

Yeri shoots the crossbow. 

It sails close to his head. 

And scratches his cheek. She’s just missed him. 

After their effortless practice, where Seulgi was completely unharmed, we know that Yeri would not have missed if not on purpose. 

They let him get away. 

He’s apparently gotten away, now with special knowledge of the feminine and Irene as a souvenir. He’s apparently safe, able to call for help. They have let him fulfill the fantasy to the fullest extent, now inverting it as Irene gets out of the car. 

As well, you can see the other missing delivery boys plastered on the side of the phone. 

In the end, he’s been added to the collection. 

[mybiasisquiet]

Red Velvet’s Red Flavor MV (Music Video Analysis)

The views presented in this analysis are a part of my own individual interpretation of the video, which means they are subject to error. This post is based off of the MV from the SMTOWN Youtube channel. The video is very quirky and I’ve been kind of disconnected from the fandom lately, so if the members mention anything about the meaning of the video, please go again and message me. 

Fruit: So, Red Velvet has come back with a rather...unique concept. Each girl has been assigned a different fruit based on their color: Irene is watermelon, Yeri is grape, Seulgi is pineapple, Joy is kiwi, and Wendy is orange (why couldn’t they have just made Wendy blueberry?). The song is called Red Flavor, so it makes sense to assign them each a fruit that would give them a specific flavor. But that doesn’t explain why each member is interviewing a fruit version of themselves...my theory is that the video is a coming of age story. The most important thing about fruit is that it has to be ripe for it to reach its best flavor point. As the girls age and mature, they “ripen” and reach an age where they can enjoy the sweetest part of life. 

The video includes scenes where the members are interviewing their respective fruits. It appears like a newscast, with ticker tape, and a different member translating in sign language. 

The ticker tape reads: I wasn’t that sweet when I was young. As I grew, I became full and ripe. 

Later, the video switches things around, having the kiwi interview Joy instead. 

Or a watermelon interviewing a watermelon.

And then finally reveals multiple versions of Seulgi interviewing herself, and even running the production. As they interview the fruit, they are really interviewing themselves. The surreality of fruit interviews and multiple Seulgis can be attributed to an almost subconscious state. Rather than literally interviewing fruit, each member is figuratively reflecting on their past selves, reflecting on their own stories, their youth, and their current lives. 

Keep in mind the subject matter of the ticker tape interviews. 

I wasn’t that sweet when I was young. As I grew, I became full and ripe.

Back when I was a child, I wasn’t tough like this, I was very weak. 

That I have to say goodbye to my friends.

I used to dream of becoming jam when I grew up. 

During my childhood, I was very mischievous.

(I wanted to be) Ice cream!

Sometimes I’m not even sure who I am.

As an only child, I always used to play alone. 

I haven’t included everything, but the things included in the interview show a reflection on childhood emotions and aspirations, and a comparison to current life. As children they faced hardships, like having to part with friends. They experienced weakness and loneliness. They dreamed of becoming things like jam and ice cream in accordance to the fruit theme, showing somewhat unrealistic aspirations for the future. As they grew and matured, they could become strong and “full and ripe,” but they might still experience issues of identity, as with Yeri’s interview line: Sometimes I’m not even sure who I am. This reflects the transition from childhood to young adulthood.  

We see a childhood photo of one of the members. I have no idea who it is or if it’s even an actual childhood photo, but it’s shown during Irene’s clip so for the purpose of this post I’m going to say it’s Irene’s childhood photo. The childhood photo explicitly introduces the comparison of youth. 

A few seconds after the shot of baby Irene, we see a little sprout being watered. 

And then immediately after we get a shot of a child being rained upon. The juxtaposition of the childhood photo, the growing plant, and the child all show the connection between growing fruit and growing children. 

A couple seconds later we get a shot of a giant orange tree, in contrast to the small sprout. Again, there’s contrast between youth and maturation. 

Then we see Irene recreating a childhood photo. 

And Seulgi dressed as a school girl being reprimanded for her hairstyle. The ticker tape reads: I always got reprimanded in school for having inappropriate hair styles. 

In reflecting upon their childhood, they imagine their present selves in that childhood context. Even though they act as they did when they were children, we know there’s something off with someone Seulgi’s age being reprimanded like a school child. In reliving their childhood memories, it only serves to show how much they’ve really grown and matured. We know that Seulgi won’t be chastised anymore for her hair, just like we know that Irene doesn’t wear her hair in watermelon pigtails and that Yeri doesn’t want to be jam anymore. 

The coloring book pages and 100% grade also reflect childhood. 

We see Wendy dressed in a cap and gown while playing on a skateboard. It’s a mix of childlike playfulness with young adult themes like graduation. This reflects the meeting of a childlike attitude with their current state of maturity in young adulthood as they move from one phase of life to another. 

Throughout the video, the fruit is being picked, put into baskets, and having stickers put onto them. The fruit is being removed from their place of growth to be shipped out. The fruit is ripe and ready for consumption. 

Just as the members are themselves reaching a stage in life where they can reflect on their childhood and still look forward to what is to come. They have reached the sweetest part of life. They’re ripe and ready to face the world that is to come. The adult-like nature of the party reflects this coming adulthood, as well. (Also, the little patches on Wendy’s dress are grocery store bags...like for fruit.)

[mybiasisquiet]

Hey I love your theories, and I know this is a lot to ask, it's a lot easier said than done; but I would really love it if you could make a theory or post that ties together all the music videos for BTS. I know you have theories on most of the videos but I'd love to see how they all come together based on the ultimate theory you have right now! I dont expect anything tho!

I’m so glad you’re interested in a post from me, lol. I’ve been so disconnected and lazy lately. So I appreciate the sentiment.

Although I will keep an ultimate theory post in mind for the future, there are two potential barriers to this. First, I already have a lot of posts planned. I have two posts that are half written that I need to finish (Blood Sweat and Tears, Fool) and a bunch of things in a queue. Writing posts has just been very difficult for the past few months because of school. I’m an English major with a minor in Art History. This means that I write a lot of essays. I mean a lot of essays. In the past few weeks as the quarter ended I wrote about six or seven essays. I’m only in four classes. Not to be dramatic, but that’s like 46 pages. So I do a lot of writing, and it’s incredibly tiring. I’m an aspiring author and it’s hard to even write things for my novel because it’s so exhausting writing for school. I would like to say that because the quarter has ended that I’ll be able to write more posts, but I just don’t know how much energy I’ll have because I’ll be working the whole summer. This isn’t meant to guilt you or anyone who wants to make requests, you’re free to send me whatever messages and requests you like. I just want you to know realistically why I might not be able to do it. I don’t want you to get your hopes up. 

As for the second barrier, if I were to make an ultimate theory post, I’m not so sure it would be what you were looking for. I would not include all of their videos. It’s my personal opinion that nothing before I NEED U is connected, and side videos like DOPE and Fire are not connected either. Of course, I don’t really have any hard evidence for this, and I’ve definitely read interesting and compelling theories that link all the videos. What I think happened was this: BigHit planned and released I NEED U and then realized how successful this comeback was, so they continued with the concept, which led to the Prologue, Run, Young Forever, WINGS, Blood Sweat and Tears, etc. Of course they could have planned I NEED U and Run together from the start, and then just carried it into WINGS. (I do not mention the Spring Day and Not Today videos because...don’t shoot me...I don’t really like them. I haven’t watched them many times, and I haven’t yet watched them with the intent to analyze them. Although Spring Day is most probably connected). 

I know that there have been hints at previous videos, like Danger. I don’t personally think that that matters. There is a noticeable tonal shift in their videos beginning with I NEED U. The videos that come before feel like a different world. I don’t think these videos were included in the concepts we now expect from BTS. Referencing back to them is an attempt to create connectivity between them all that I don’t think was necessarily intended from the beginning. The videos that come after can always reference back to past videos, which makes them appear connected, but they cannot change the past videos themselves. It does not mean that those videos reference the concept we’re analyzing. 

Again, I don’t know everything, I don’t know what goes on at BigHit, I could be totally wrong. And just because a theory might not be absolutely right, it doesn’t mean it can’t be thought provoking and interesting, so I don’t dismiss those theories that connect everything that I don’t necessarily think are correct. And I’m not opposed to writing theories I don’t think are absolutely correct so long as they’re interesting. But in this case, I don’t think I would do that. 

So if I do write an ultimate theory post it will include I NEED U, the Prologue, Run, Young Forever, WINGS, Blood Sweat and Tears, Spring Day, maybe the Japanese versions (though I have a similar opinion that those might not be connected because I know that Japanese production doesn’t always relate to Korean productions). My general opinion for the connectivity between these is that we’re seeing the same story played out in different ways. It’s been so long so I’ve forgotten some of the stuff I’ve written, so I really hope I don’t contradict anything I’ve said. But I NEED U/Prologue/Run/Young Forever are all one story. WINGS is the bridge between the previous story and the next, which is Blood Sweat and Tears. Then Spring Day is the next story. So rather than a linear connectivity, I think it’s happening in cycles. That’s my general theory, but if I do an ultimate post it might shift because I would be doing a lot of research before writing. 

Anyway, this has been longer than maybe necessary. Long story short: Will I do the post? Maybe. 

[mybiasisquiet]

Hello , can i know , whats means that hangul word ?

Hello, I’m so sorry I didn’t respond to this sooner...I think this has been sitting in my inbox for a while now. I’m not sure if this is exactly what you’re asking, but Hangul is the Korean alphabet. 

[mybiasisquiet]

Hello all, 

For those of you who may or may not be interested in a post about WINNER’s Fool, my internet problems are finally over! (Long story short, I haven’t had internet for the past three weeks and I almost died). I’m celebrating Easter this weekend, so I don’t know if I can get to it right away but I’ll do it throughout the week. (Again, just to clarify, not a return from hiatus, just felt like doing it)

Probably not everyone observes, but I hope you have a great Easter and Good Friday. God bless you guys :) 

[mybiasisquiet]

I’m half done with the post, but I have an essay due so I’m prioritizing that. Hope to have it done soon though?

[mybiasisquiet]

Ahh yes, we've come to this point again.

If you are not a college student, I am sorry to inform you that 97% of the college experience is thinking you'll have free time and then not actually having it.

I'm sorry for anyone who was looking forward to the Fool post that I haven't been able to finish it yet. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

And now I must return to working on my essay that was due today. Yay. Education.

[mybiasisquiet]

Hello all, 

For those of you who may or may not be interested in a post about WINNER’s Fool, my internet problems are finally over! (Long story short, I haven’t had internet for the past three weeks and I almost died). I’m celebrating Easter this weekend, so I don’t know if I can get to it right away but I’ll do it throughout the week. (Again, just to clarify, not a return from hiatus, just felt like doing it)

Probably not everyone observes, but I hope you have a great Easter and Good Friday. God bless you guys :) 

[mybiasisquiet]

I’m half done with the post, but I have an essay due so I’m prioritizing that. Hope to have it done soon though?

[mybiasisquiet]

Hello all, 

For those of you who may or may not be interested in a post about WINNER’s Fool, my internet problems are finally over! (Long story short, I haven’t had internet for the past three weeks and I almost died). I’m celebrating Easter this weekend, so I don’t know if I can get to it right away but I’ll do it throughout the week. (Again, just to clarify, not a return from hiatus, just felt like doing it)

Probably not everyone observes, but I hope you have a great Easter and Good Friday. God bless you guys :) 

[mybiasisquiet]

izumiiiz replied to your post “Hello all! I hope you have all been doing well. I don’t say this as...”

Yessssss of course!!!!!

Good to know :) 

[mybiasisquiet]

junghoep replied to your post “Hello all! I hope you have all been doing well. I don’t say this as...”

yes please, i was thinking about your posts when i was watching actually lol

This is good to know :) 

[mybiasisquiet]

Hello all!

I hope you have all been doing well. I don’t say this as a return from hiatus…but I’m interested in doing a theory/analysis post for WINNER’s Fool.

I wouldn’t be able to do it right away (my internet will be out for about a week), but I wanted to know if this was a thing anybody was interested in?

Let me know :)

[mybiasisquiet]

So this happened....Thank you all... I didn’t think this many people would ever be interested in my dumb theories, especially with how often I’m on hiatus. But thank you all and everyone! Thank you for all your likes and reblogs and tags and following me and any amount of support you’ve given me. I value each and every one of you. 

[mybiasisquiet]

I don't know if you'll ever see this, but I hope you're doing well! Your blog kind of motivated me to get my own up (I also write about MVs), so thank you for that and pls stay happy and healthy.

Ahhh my heart is waaaarmmmm. Thank you for your kind words, I’m so glad that I was able to help you in some way. I would love to check out your stuff? Send me your URL? Only if you want to, though. No pressure. 

(As a little bit of a clarification, I still use tumblr, I will see messages/anons, I’m just not actively maintaining this blog, i.e. writing posts, because of time/energy/motivation issues. But I can still respond to whatever messages you wanna shoot my way, it just depends on how long it takes me to respond, lol)