Can you analyse the kadi moment from Nature Republic today???
Hello anon,
Of course I can! Someone previously asked me to do it also so here it is:
The video: (x) (x) (x)
Some gifs of the moment:
I know some of you might be thinking ‘uhhh this is a baek_soo moment??’ Well, that’s what it appears to be. But go back, watch the videos.
First, I’d like to point out that both Kyungsoo and Jongin were the only ones that were very unreactive. When the situation was chosen and Baek chose Kyungsoo for it, both Jongin and Kyungsoo were the only ones who didn’t laugh out loud and move around. Instead they stayed fairly still with fake smiles so that they wouldn’t look too off. With this in mind, if you watch the video again, and you see the moment after Baek chooses Kyungsoo, it almost looks like exo is laughing at kadi (this isn’t for sure though so take with a grain of salt).
Now the main/only real focus is (with no doubt) Jongin, who seems to be the ‘give away’ of this kadi moment. It’s almost impossible to not see that Jongin is very unhappy with this set up. A little after they move over to the center, Jongin says something or laughs into the microphone, and you’d think he’d uncross his arms because there is no need for him to put such a guard up, but instead he reaffirms this arm cross and becomes the only member to be really close to the action happening between baek_soo.
Crossing the arms is a defensive gesture. This is a form of self protection of something. By crossing the arms or reaffirming crossed arms, a barrier is formed that is an unconscious attempt to block out what we perceive as a threat or undesirable circumstances. Arm crossing is also a form of showing disagreement towards an action or words.
Then, Jongin proceeds to move around his tongue (albeit inside of his mouth), he does it very evidently, and forcibly when his tongue is pushed through the front of his teeth. This is a good sign of uncertainty or possibly even disagreement (which definitely seems suiting for this situation). He also does something called protruding his lips but I can’t really tell which of the three ways he’s doing do to the quality of the video so I can’t really comment about it.
I’m guessing that Kyungsoo could tell Jongin wasn’t happy about it because he literally looks at Jongin and waits. Jongin then looks away from Kyungsoo towards Baek then back at Kyungsoo before giving a nod. Then Kyungsoo listens to him and kisses baek’s forehead.
What makes that so much more interesting is that, Jongin a split second from baek_soo’s moment, looks away. Many people have been saying ‘he’s looking at the monitor don’t make such a big deal out of it’ but my question is, why would he look away when he’s literally right in front of them?
The gesture of looking away when a specific situation happens, is usually because the person can’t handle what’s right in front of them. Whether it’s because it’s too good to look at or too frightening to look at or too discomforting to look at. Based on Jongin’s previous gestures and the situation in itself, it is definitely not the first two but the last one. But why would Jongin find it discomforting if all the other members didn’t? Why is it that he had to look away since Kadi are just bros right?
Anyway, then we get the (now iconic) tight lipped smile from Jongin. This is what sold the show for me in this indirect kadi moment. The tight lipped smile is when the lips are stretched tight across the face to form a straight line and the teeth are concealed. It sends the message that the person has a secret or a withheld opinion or attitude that they will not be sharing with you. Then he smiles so that he doesn’t show this off which just confirms it even more. By forcing a fake smile onto himself he proved that his tight lipped smile was because he was (most likely) hiding an opinion/attitude that he didn’t want exposed. He knew this which is why he did it so he wouldn’t look off since all the other members were smiling and laughing.
Another little bonus point I want to add: Baek kept the microphone inbetween him and Kyungsoo in the form of a barrier with his arm. Of course baek_soo are close friends but due to this gesture he made, obviously not close this close. This barrier he formed between himself and Kyungsoo is a form of defense or protection. This is commonly one armed barrier across the chest is usually done when the person is hesitant, unsure or negative about what they are hearing or the situation they are in. Of course you could give the excuse that he had it there because he had to talk but he never spoke during the forehead kiss. If they weren’t ‘just bros’ and they were more than bros, Baek would have freely let his arm down to show he was open to the gesture rather than keep has hand there. sips tea at baek_soo shippers who are calling kadi shippers delusional
Well there it is, a mini analysis about this now iconic kadi moment! I hope you enjoyed anon and the other blog who asked me to do this! May we get bless with more kadi moments like this moment and this moment: