BTS Theory - (WINGS) Solving the mysteries behind the short films ~ STIGMA
[Hyyh Theory (MUST READ!) / Intro + Begin Theory / Lie Theory]
STIGMA short film : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i34dFsjRY4
« It was the first fissure in the columns that had upheld my childhood, which every individual must destroy before he can become himself. Such fissures and rents grow together again, heal and are forgotten, but in the most secret recesses they continue to live and bleed »
This quote is Sinclair explaining how his first sin « fissured » his « egg ». He's saying that a person must completely destroy the egg (bright realm) in order to become himself. But those sins, even if they're forgotten years later, they'll never completely disappear and will remain as scars.
The first scene is starting with V carving something onto a garage door. This scene actually took place before Taehyung killed his father. If we look at the clothes, he has a nirvana tshirt and they're the same type of clothes he was wearing during RUN era, which means in the past, before he committed the murder. It throw us back to that scene where he was doing grafitti on a garage door with Rap Monster but they want to show us that Rap monster is not here with V this time. He's alone.
It looks like he's carving the words « Abraxas » the name of the god of good and evil. In the novel, Demian argues that Jehovah, the Jewish God, is only one face of God; it rules over all that is good, but there is another half of the world, and an infinite god must encompass both sides of this world.
This is what Demian said : « In the same way, they praise God as the Father of all life, but when it comes to sex life, on which life after all depends, they simply bury it in silence and as much as possible declaire it to be sinful, the work of the Devil![...] my opinion is that we should honor everything[...] the whole world, not just this artificially detached, official half ! And so, alongside the divine service for God, we must also have a service for the Devil. I think that would be proper. Or else, people would have to create some new God, who would also include the Devil within Himself. » They will later discover that a God like this actually exists and its name is Abraxas. The symbol of Abraxas appears as a bird breaking free from an egg or a globe. It's going to become their own little symbol of a better world.
But I found something really disturbing. If you look at the video closely, it seems like he's actually trying to erase the word, or cross it out. Why would he cross out the thing he and « Demian » (I guess Rapmon, or BTS in general) believe in ? Well one thing I didnt mention in my Hyyh theory is that, before V killed his father, I believe that the members were on bad terms. Something happened. They either argued or started to get annoyed with each other, or maybe they just spent less and less time together. This is why V kept remembering the good times they had and how close they were in I NEED U, but also their problems and how they started to draw away from each other. I think it's started with Suga and Jungkook. They were obvious with the fact that they had a really big fight. Jungkook couldn't keep up with Suga's attitude anymore and Suga was also annoyed by Jungkook's behavior. And then it continued with Jihope. Jhope was getting sicker and he couldn't live without being constantly on drugs anymore, and that made Jimin feel even more lonely. And then we have Vmon, the ones who couldn't stay away from each other and always did stuff together. Rapmon started not being here anymore. He was getting more and more alienated. Why is that ? We'll see that in Reflection (rapmon's short film) theory. V who loves his friends more than anything felt disappointed. He was here alone, erasing the word « Abraxas » to express his anger. But he suddenly got caught by the police. Rapmon is not here with him this time, and V is not in is usual state of mind. He acts like he's confident and doesn't give a shit about police. He enters the police car and then we have this theatre theme once again with the moving set. We saw with Jungkook's video that when you're not involved in the action, it means you're able to have an objective point of view of the situation, of your life. But here V gets really involved, like when he resists to the police for example. If they're very involved it means it is not from an objective pov anymore but an emotional perspective.
The policeman starts to interrogate him and this is when we actually realize that he's not that confident anymore. He's scratching the table as a sign a anxiety. The careless boy image is just an act, behind his mask he's afraid. His bad boy character is an escape. He puts on this character because he's angry at his family. He's angry at life. He wants attention. As we saw earlier, he doesn't run away when the police catches him. He surrenders with a smile. He doesn't have the attention and care Rapmon used to provide him when he was with him so he's lost and confused. Being caught by the police is a form of compensation for that. He wants people to listen to him and take care of him. While answering the policeman questions he suddenly appears running desperately in the middle of nowhere. The song starts playing. He's wearing his outfits from the Begin concert trailer, which symbolizes the fact that it's the old, more innocent taehyung that we're seeing right now (before he killed his father). Everything is dark around him and he's crying. This must've happened after running away from home, probably because of his father again. The poor boy living with an abusive father can't take it, so he just runs towards nowhere. There's nothing around him. It's a metaphor symbolizing how there's no one there for him, no one understands him, he has nowhere to go.
The policeman asks about his parents and he looks away. And all of the sudden, his innocent self is getting beat up by something invisible. Him getting beaten up represents all the suffering he endured living in the dark realm. They beat up an innocent boy without him even doing anything bad, they beat him up until he became a mess.
We see that eye again, it's the same eye that was in Jungkook's video. It's also parted in two. One part of him wants to break free so bad but the other bad part is haunting him. He thinks about eve. Eve in the novel is Demian's mother. She's sinclair's role model, mom figure, and eternal love. She knows everything and she's his protector. She console him, help him, take care of him.
V wants someone like Eve, someone to rely on. Someone who'll always be there for him. That's why her image appears in the eye. But the thing is, he doesn't have an Eve.
He anwers the policeman « I don't have such things » to the parents question.
He's lying on the floor, all beaten up. And then we suddenly get a glimpse of Rapmon's telephone booth. V needs Rap monster.
In the next scene, he's lying on the floor next to his sister. His father's alcoholism is punctuated here. His father is located at the left part of the screen, in opposite of Taehyung and his sister on the right part of the screen. Their father is the dark figure haunting their lives. It's so strong that just seeing the policeman drinking water bothers him, because it reminds him of his father drinking alcohol (since they just talked about his parents). He says « why were you like that to me ? »
We can think that he's talking to his father, but it can also be him talking to Rap monster. Remember that Rap monster was getting further away from V and there's a possibily they might have had af fight. He's asking Rapmon why things became this way, why did he leave him alone.
He's lying on the floor when a white puppy suddenly comes to him. The white puppy symbolizes the pureness of the good realm. V, who entered the dark realm way too early, takes the white puppy and hugs it. He finally gets to experience the good realm that he never had, but as soon as he's in it, the stigma cage comes down and traps him. The good realm doesn't like people like Taehyung. They get rid and emprisonned people who rebel, people who are different from the others, people who have the mark. Cain's mark.
He was living in a dark realm, with his abusive family and did everything to get out of this chaos. He ran away and discovered that there's actually another realm, which seems really nice. But his naivety lead him to think the good realm would accept him. I said in my hyyh theory that taehyung was the most influencable and the most easily manipulated. But that's understandable since he never had someone to rely on, to trust, until Rapmon who took care of him later. He never had a normal education.
The good realm deceived him with its happy and perfect appareance, and ended up caging him because of his identity. V's holding on so hard to the small amount of happiness and innocence he's left with, but the puppy eventually goes away.
V finds himself alone. He's been neglected not only by his family but by society too. He feels more betrayed than ever.
In this pic he's looking towards the top right side. Symbol that he wants to break free of the egg, he's really near. But his demons are stronger than his will (dropping the beer bottle on the floor) and that would lead him to kill his father later.
They added clips of V cutting his hair from Danger, into this short film. Cutting off hair in ancient Asia (Japan, China, Korea & possibly some other Asian cultures) symbolizes being banished or rejected from their home. He's been neglected by his family and also by the good realm. In the more modern age, cutting long hair into a short cut means to forget the past, leaving the old and starting anew. Maybe that's what taehyung wanted to do, he wanted to forget his past with his abusive family and start a new life but he didnt succeed. It kept haunting him and he ended up taking his father's life.
V asks the policeman if he can make a call. Probably Rapmonster. Even though they were in bad terms, V thought that Rapmon would come in a situation like this, since it was kind of important. He didn't really have any one else to trust completely. He remembers Rapmon as the one solving all the problems and finding solutions everytime. The leader. His Demian.
But Rapmonster didn't answer.
If Rapmon is not there for V, that means he litteraly has no one. That would mean EVERYONE abandoned him.
V ends up leaving the police office somehow (he won't get in prison for carving something on a garage door) and returns home. The same life continues. His father is still an alcoholic abusive father. V's clothing style changes. He wears darker clothes (I Need U).
Knowing that he has no one on his side anymore, he eventually ends up committing the worst. He doesn't care anymore. He becomes crazy and stabs his father.
The beginning of the prologue, after V killed his father, as I told in my hyyh theory, shows V calling Rap Monster. Even though he didn't answer his call at the police station, V tries to call him again one last time. His world just broke into pieces and he has no idea what to do. Rap Monster probably didn't answer this call either. V doesn't hang up though. He leaves a message. He tells him he misses him and wants to see him.
This is why after he falls asleep, in the prologue video, he dreams of Rapmon actually coming for him, and be like « Hey ! What are you doing ! ». Because this is a dream where all of V's fears are reassured (hyyh theory). So he dreams about being with his friends, getting along with each other and laughing like the old times.
This video, Stigma, is like V explaning the reason why he ended up killing his father. He feels horrible and he hates it. In my hyyh theory, I explained all the mental journey he went through in order to accept the fact that he murdered his father. Thankfully, when he wokes up after Run, he was finally ready to take complete responsabilities. But even though he's ready, his scars will forever continue to live and bleed deep inside.
« I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry my sister,
Even if I hide it, even if I disguise it, it isn't erased
So cry, please dry my eyes.
The light, please illuminate my crimes
Deeper, Darkly, I feel like I'm dying
Please punish me, Please forgive my crime
He's explaining to his sister what's going on in his mind and why he acted like this. It’s his way of saying « Look ! I was not okay ».
The more we go deep into the video and the more he's revealing about himself. He starts with little things like his name, his age, etc.. until we end up knowing the root of his problems and the reason he killed his father. He desperately wants people to understand him, to have pity of him and to take care of him. He needs attention. He wants his sister to understand why he comitted this act. And wants her to know that he's ready to pay the cost.
Why didnt Rap Monster answer any of V's call ? It's a mystery for now, and the only hint we have is this phone booth. I looked up at phonebooth symbolisms and it is said that the phone booth is an expression of public but limited communication. Hence, if you dream of a phone booth in an incorrect or complicated location, you will face the momentary rupture of an affective relationship for matter of business. The phone booth here is surrounded by sand. I thought that was really weird but it makes sense that way. And if we also count the fact that there's chains all around the booth, I think it is safe to think that vmon obviously have communication problems for some reason... We'll know why in the Reflection Theory.
⚫ Awake + Final story timeline
