Jimin’s journey in the Bangtan Universe #10: A redemption and/or salvation arc
#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
As for what is going to happen next, I don’t know. From what I’ve gathered, based on the year-end and awards show performances, interviews, etc. fans are speculating that topics like society, consumerism or mind-control might be some themes to be explored. The overall consensus seems to be that the next chapter is going to be darker, ether in topic, tone or expression.
There’s also the whole symbolism of a doorway, open eyes and “a magical time” as seen in the KBS Song Festival intro VCR. It’s not a huge stretch to connect it back to JM’s Wings era theme of constantly uncovering his eyes.
But it might as well not be linked to that. A blindfold is not the same thing as a mask. However, as mentioned before, the MMA performance certainly very strongly implied that it was JM who was wearing a mask and that it was because of fear.
The doorway is an older BTS symbol. It’s part of the official logo for the group and doorways were already seen in a VCR for their Wings concert tour. The video consists mainly of the members walking and running around a dark room but towards the end there are seven doors that open. All the other members pass through except for Jungkook.
At the final concert stop of the Wings tour, another version of the VCR was revealed. In this version there are no roaming spotlights, instead the lights seem to converge in the middle of the space where JM goes to stand. The other members gather around him and he looks over his shoulder.
His expression when he looks over his shoulder is ambiguous. Due to the dramatic angle of the shot, the lighting as well as the ominous soundtrack, some have considered him a bit villainous here. Based on everything we’ve seen thus far, JM’s journey in the BU up until now, everything that happened in the HLR and his comments in the behind-the-scenes video for it make it certainly a possibility.
The corresponding image is of DNA-era JK, standing in front of a rendering of the Serendipity/DNA wormhole/vortex-thing, looking back over his shoulder as well.
So are we supposed to see JM here as threatening towards JK? He certainly is a dark contrast to JK’s bright pastel-y world. When they look at each other the lights quite literally go out of around JK.
JK doesn’t seem fazed though. The VCR ends with the doorways but this time he walks through to join the other members.
In the wide shot of all the members having passed through the doorway J-Hope is cut out of the frame entirely. I don’t know if I’ve just seen a faulty copy of the video or if it’s originally supposed to be like that.
The beginning of the new VCR is different from the original as well. We begin with all the seven members wandering around the aforementioned pastel DNA world. JM keeps away from the camera but four members get a closeup with a screen of sorts behind them. Interestingly enough all four are linked to JM either by person or by the object projected on the screen.
There’s J-Hope with his cake and Suga with his lollipop (references to the HLR) who were both paired up with JM in the HYYH/HLR and Wings eras, respectively. The third is RM who is not linked to JM in the narrative but by the image of an umbrella on the screen. As far as I can tell, there are no umbrellas in RM’s HLR storyline. So its inclusion, paired up with RM is unexpected.
The fourth member featured is JK and the object on his screen is flowers. The most obvious connection here is the little bouquet of flowers he was holding towards the end of the HLR. The link to JM comes from the Serendipity MV where we see flowers similar to those in a vase. Curiously enough JK and JM were photographed together in a field of flowers for the HYYH part 1 concept photos.
I’m no botanist but I don’t think the flowers are necessarily the same, however they’re similar enough for it to be noticeable. They’re unassuming wild flowers, something you might find on a field, a forest or at a “Flower Arboretum” perhaps?
The other traffic sign pointing to the the same arboretum at the same distance of 2.1 km was seen in a 2015 concert VCR. In the forefront of the shot J-Hope is eating a chocolate bar which is another reoccurring BU reference.
The flowers in Serendipity could be dismissed as an coincidental production design prop but what makes them noteworthy is that they weren’t even in the room at the beginning of the of the MV. The vase of flowers very deliberately appears there only once the earth quite literally starts shaking under JM’s feet.
I haven’t talked about Serendipity in these analyses even though it’s a beautiful piece of video art focused solely on JM. Reason is that I don’t see it connecting to or referencing the BU that strongly. In many ways the world of Serendipity and JM in it seem to be the complete opposite of his character as he is in the “real-life”. I can definitely see symbolism introduced here being brought back to the main narrative in the future, especially if JM gets some sort of redemption and/or salvation arc after his “bad guy” phase. But at this stage I can’t know what is going to be significant and what is not, so for the most part I leave it alone.
One thing I will point out however has to do with the aforementioned beginning of the MV when his room is still without the flowers. Something about the colouring in that very first shot in his room, the way the overexaggerated lens flare is making light ripple around the room, the slow sluggish way JM turns his head as well as the boxiness of the sofa he is sitting on makes me think of it as a subtle visual signal to him being back in the tub and under water, or metaphorically, in a bad way mentally.
This reading would certainly make the magical world of Serendipity with its discovery of joy, colour and love a special, bittersweet little respite in his otherwise bleak BU storyline.
As for the context of JK’s bouquet in the HLR: We see him walking the corridors of the hospital, carrying the bouquet, visibly excited. However by the end of his scene he is revealed to be standing dejectedly in an empty hospital room. Obviously whoever he was hoping to give the flowers to has already left.
The common understanding about this scene is that he is bringing the flowers to the girl he met while he was recovering from his accident, as seen earlier in the video. Thing is, nothing in JK’s interaction with the girl actually leads us to believe there is a special connection there. They meet and seem to spend time together but there are no cinematic cues to suggest there being a blossoming young love affair there, no smiles or glances shared. In fact in the one scene where they are shown sitting outside, JK seems to be paying more attention on his music and Yoongi’s lighter than her.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that there won’t be more of their relationship shown develop in the future. But, as it stands I’m more inclined to think we are once again being lead astray on purpose, that things aren’t necessarily as they seem at a first glance. We don’t even know for sure if this scene is taking place before or after his accident.
Nevertheless, I think one reason why I’m seeing a possible connection from him to JM is in the way JK’s storyline at that point is being intercut with JM’s in the climax of the HLR. JM is first seen crying in the bathroom and later out in the rain. All the members’ storylines are coming to a head so edits back and forth all seven are hectic but the cut goes straight from JK to JM twice. In their separate scenes both boys are hoping to see someone or something they in the end don’t, and the disappointment visible on their faces seems to create a parallel between the two.
But all this is just pure speculation on my part. We won’t know until later.
Still, I’m gonna leave it with one more contrast and compare:
This one intrigues me. There are possibilities.
Next up >>
#11: Isolation and the slightly unsettling serenity
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