Jimin’s journey in the Bangtan Universe #13: Defiance, not defeat
#0: Intro
#1: The one who laughed the loudest
#2: In this place of eternal mayhem the party never stops
#3: Youth is not coming back
#4: An impression of being stuck
#5: “I’m trapped inside myself and I am dead”
#6: The forbidden fruit
#7: Darkness crept in
#8: A deal with the Devil
#9: A picture, a painting, rain, fire and tears
#10: A redemption and/or salvation arc
#11: Isolation and the slightly unsettling serenity
#12: Time warp
Bangtan is back with a new album, title track and music video. I was wondering if there’d be enough material for me to do another chapter of Jimin's journey, after all I have already talked about the symbolic relationship between JM and water at length. But upon a closer look, I'd say there is.
The MV is one of those half-narrative, half-conceptual videos that tend to illustrate, not necessarily advance the BU storyline. Other such MVs would be the Japanese versions of Run and BS&T.
There is the surface-level plot that has to do with Jungkook, a disappearing flower and a masked man which doesn't necessarily correlate with the BU narrative, at least directly. In fact the way the video ended before anything was explained or resolved in any way makes me think that there might be a continuation to the MV story coming up at some point.
I've seen fan explanations going around about what the video and especially JK's behaviour in it might mean that seem plausible enough. I myself am not even going to try. I was left wondering whether or not JK should be seen as a hero or a villain in the MV (something that seems to be re-occurring point of interest for me). J-Hope seemed absolutely terrified of him while Suga was wholly indifferent to his stalking. JK's expressions throughout the video are ambiguous.
Either way, in addition to the surface level plot of JK visiting all the different members, etc. any fan who has been following BTS's videography thus far will recognise a lot of symbolic nods towards past music videos, short films and HYYH notes.
JM's portion of the MV begins with him alone in a big blue room, just staring dispassionately at a sink and a faucet with the water turned on. The small sink as well as the chair, mirror and barre immediately link the scene back to the HLR, the dance studio where JM collided with the female dancer and his desperate attempts to wash blood off his arm afterwards.
In fact in the new notes that accompany the LY: Tear album JM goes into some detail about what happened immediately after the accident scene shown in the HLR. Seems JM had an episode of sorts that left him completely unaware of his own actions. He only comes to at the sink when the damage is already done. The way I see JM's dull stare in the Fake Love MV is as a representation of that mindless moment when JM was still unaware where he was and what he was doing.
Even beyond this easy association with the events depicted in the HLR, the room JM is in is absolutely rife with allusions and references to Hoseok. The wall shows the faint outlines of the forest painting seen in the Mama SF and the floor seems to follow the same pattern as in the room HS is hiding in. Even the paint splatters on the walls of the room can be traced back to HS through his Wings SF and the Boy Meets Evil trailer video.
I have talked about the links between HS and JM at length already, about how their stories seem to intertwine, how their relationship throughout the narrative can be read as both antagonistic and affectionate, even romantic. I don't think the Fake Love MV really sheds any new light on their story per se. But one thing that has been kinda implied already, but now with the release of the video and fresh HYYH notes is becoming more and more obvious, is that their partnership isn't really equal. In his notes, apart from the occasional reference to his illness, JM is mainly preoccupied with HS, about being good enough for his hyung and JM’s fear of losing him.
On the other hand, in his notes HS talks about dancing, his mother and his dancer friend, not JM. The only time HS ever mentions him in his entries is when he describes JM fainting on the bus stop, and even that entry was more about the experience of being shoved aside by JM's mother than about JM himself.
None of this is meant to be a critique of the character HS in the storyline. By all accounts the two of them are close friends, spend time together and HS has shown genuine affection for JM through his actions over the years. He's just not that preoccupied with the boy the same way JM is with him. If there indeed are any romantic feelings on JM's part, it's most evidently one-sided.
As part of the MV storyline we see JK visit and occasionally observe all the members in this decrepit house they are separately staying in. The way JK's visit upon JM is edited makes us believe that the two of them are perhaps looking at each other but in terms of their eye lines, I think it's an illusion. JK is shown looking directly downwards through a small window on the floor while JM is looking somewhere to the side and up.
The way the light is hitting JM’s face here made me think back to the Japanese MV for Run, and to the somewhat triumphant JM who seemed to have fought his way out of his watery prison and everything it had come to represent. Even if the triumph ended up being short-lived.
In my opinion the absolute emotional highpoint of the MV is the sequence following immediately after the interlude of JK discovering a secret pathway through a waterfall. In it we see a large body of water rushing into the room with JM, contrasted with an image of a giant fireball exploding in the room with Yoongi. As a third element there is also the image of HS pulling himself into a foetal position on a small mountain of Snickers bars.
The Snickers scene is an obvious reference to HS's memory of being abandoned by his mother but as a whole, HS in this MV acts as a strong contrast to JM and YG. While the two latter seem quite indifferent to both JK's visit and the immediate danger they are put in, HS throughout the video comes across quite terrified and pained. Here I unfortunately don't have a explanation to offer for HS's behaviour and what that difference might represent.
As for JM and YG, I have seen quite a few fans interpret the scene as an obvious repetition of what took place in the INU MV and even as a symbolic death for the two characters. I have to say I disagree. I am absolutely fascinated with the little smile YG gives the roaring fire threatening to engulf his room entirely.
JM too, while not really showing any particular emotion on his face, doesn't seem taken aback. His posture and his lack of reaction to the water tells me he isn't worried. And why would he be? It's not like it’s even touching him.
Here I think my interpretation leans back on the umbrella symbolism introduced to JM's storyline with the LY: Her album.
The umbrella seen in the ending of the HLR might not have been able to keep JM dry but I’m still assuming that is what the item is supposed to symbolise: A defence against the water that has throughout the BU narrative threatening to engulf him whole. He might not be there yet in the "real-life" but I see JM's stance in this sequence as defiant, not defeated. He himself was the one to turn the faucet off.
For me at least the biggest BU revelation of this comeback has to do with the Flower Arboretum and everything it symbolises. The place was first introduced as a clue to JM's story in the Lie SF but only in a very vague, throwaway fashion. Now with the trailer for the Fake Love MV it was brought back in a big way: JM exchanges a photo of the arboretum for the aforementioned umbrella and as mentioned above, the same image can be seen on wall of JM's blue room.
The actual information about the arboretum can be found in the newly released HYYH notes. The Flower Arboretum is the place where something happened to JM when he was 8 years old and his illness is the result of this. We aren't told what that something is but based on all the hints given I think it's safe to assume it was something profoundly traumatic for the boy. It is those events at the arboretum about which JM lies to his doctor, pretending not to remember anything. He is absolutely terrified of the place to the point of the very thought of it being enough to trigger a panic attack. At this stage I don't want to speculate what actually took place. Details to follow, I'm sure.
Incidentally, when I was googling whether or not seizures can be a symptom of PTSD (they can), I learned that they can also be a symptom of Münchausen syndrome, the illness HS was seemingly diagnosed with in the Mama SF. Whether or not this is significant, I don't know.
Finally, the last thing to address is the revelation of JM and YG's connection in the BU. The link has always been there, on a symbolic level. JM burning something in the INU MV seemed to tie him thematically to YG's burning room and the juxtaposition between JM's water and YG's fire has obviously been a powerful thematic and visual tool throughout.
In the Wings era the two were coupled together in a very intriguing way and it seems we finally have the "real-life" equivalent to their interactions then: YG is the only one among the group of friends aware of JM terror regarding the Flower Arboretum. In the notes he describes a time when JM was almost thrown into a panic attack over Taehyung's innocent suggestion to visit the place. YG sees JM's silent distress and gently steers the conversation to talk about the beach instead. Three years later when JM decides to go back to the arboretum and confront what happened to him there, he asks YG to join him. Whether or not he does is yet to be disclosed.
I can't obviously be sure but in light of these new revelations I see the constant covering and uncovering of JM's eyes in the Wings era media an allegory for JM's attempts to overcome his trauma. When JM decides to go visit the arboretum, he spends days sitting at the bus station, letting buses pass him by without the courage to actually get on. Finally YG joins him there, feigning boredom. Instead of confronting JM and directly asking him about the arboretum, he starts talking about other things, seemingly distracting JM from the issue at hand. It is this distraction provided by YG that allows JM to finally focus and take the decisive first step.
Or that's how I interpret it anyway.
