Slide To Me and Surveillance
Thank you to @dyketeez for inspiring this train of thought.
I've read and participated in really interesting discussions of Yunho's Slide To Me mv. There are some fair critiques about the direction and composition of the mv, but the main theme that we all seemed to draw out is surveillance. Of watching and being watched.
As soon as he enters the hotel, Yunho knows he's being watched. The act of being observed changes his behavior, his comportment.
Yunho looks at the camera, and we follow him into the elevator.
(a hotel is a liminal space, neither private like a home nor completely public)
What's so interesting is that the "gaze" of the mv shifts from the overhead camera (passive, neutral) to something other: suddenly, he's looking at us (active, personal).
More than that, he's looking down at us. Then he rolls his eyes.
Yunho recognizes he's in the presence of a watcher, and he's expected to perform. He begins to draw attention to all the features atiny find most attractive: hands, lips, eyes.
Yunho does a good job projecting benign disinterest in this scene. You can tell his "character" is simply going through the motions.
We follow Yunho to his hotel room and he tries to shut us out, but to no avail. We are suddenly inside his room and find him dancing. He's dancing and it's so wonderful, and then CUT! he's on the couch staring at us.
It's such an abrupt edit that I wonder if it's intentional. Like, no, we're not here to see you dance, sir! Time to serve face!
We go back and forth from Yunho dancing to close-up shots of Yunho's eyes, hands, and mouth. His gaze as we watch him dance turns defiant. While on the couch, he begins to look a little disgusted.
Cut to: the morning after: Yunho in bed, as we watch (from a loverβs distance) as he touches his long, graceful neck with his long, graceful fingers.
Cut to: Yunho, frankly addressing our gaze. But then the veneer drops: he's exhausted and clearly wants us to GO AWAY! But we wonβt and it drives him nuts. Heβs stuck here, with us.Β
The camera's gaze does some interesting things in the next series of shots: weβre right up in his face, weβre swooping from below; weβre watching Yunho watch himself in the mirror.
Mirrors are a recurring visual motif in the lore
Dressed in a nice suit and striding down the hall, Yunho meets our gaze head-on. Here we go again.
In the hotel lobby, he performs his choreo and his gaze follows us. He's performing for us now, unlike when he was in his hotel room the previous night and had a few moments just for himself.
The mv seems to suggest that time is looping, or that the same incident occurs: we follow Yunho back down the hall to his room. This time he's dancing, his movements more expressive and dynamic than the smooth, polished choreo of moments earlier. It's like he's trying to repel us. But it doesn't work.
Cut to: Yunho opening the elevator to find us waiting for him
Cut to: Yunho in his hotel room, agitated and bothered
Cut to: Yunho watching us stalk him down the hall
Cut to: Yunho waking up to find that we're above him, watching
There's a dreadful sense that something's about to break. Yunho is losing his infamous composure.
He stops performing for us. He ignores us in the elevator; he rolls his eyes when the camera gets right up to his face; he stomps around his room, avoiding us; he submerges himself in water to block us out. Can he reclaim himself? Can he be rid of our gaze?
(this reminded me of the movie Inception as one of the ways those characters "wake up" from a dream)
I'm curious how much of this messaging is intentional or if I'm applying too much of a meta lens (ha). Yunho filmed this amid a period of self reinvention: acting, modeling, recording soundtracks, etc... As my wise moots have pointed out, these have all been efforts to distance himself from dancing, which is arguably his strongest talent, but one that he knows is not enough to sustain his own personal brand as an idol, especially as other members have successfully branched out.
I think this mv really articulates this tension for Yunho, who became an idol because he wanted to challenge himself and is now possibly experiencing a moment of crisis.
I also think this mv says something about how Yunho struggles with the weight of expectations, both ours and his own. As I've discussed with other users, Yunho seems to have a keen sense of what atiny want from him, and especially hotteoks. He knows we like his big hands. He knows we like when he gets "angry" and "villainous." He knows we like when he gets sexy but doesn't show too much skin. He watches us just as much as we watch him.
Still, the expectations of fan service are draining, and Yunho, who already strives to be what others need from him (dance leader, happiness maker, loyal friend, good boy) is straining under this additional pressure deliver what he thinks we (atiny) want from him. It's a commentary on how all idols must trade parts of themselves to succeed in this business.
The music video asks: is this what we want from him? Then, here, have it. Have it all. Take it all.
