#alien stage analysis

To me, this is the thesis of Alien Stage. For each duo and in more ways than one.

For Ivantill, Till might never have loved Ivan romantically, though we do have indications he may have. Either way, he didn’t love Ivan the same way Ivan loved Till. He didn’t obsess over Ivan the way Ivan did Till. He didn’t want to accept Ivan’s sacrifice the way Mizi accepted Sua’s sacrifice, but Ivan forced it on him. Till’s love was different from Ivan’s, but does that really matter? It was love, too.

Interestingly enough, Luka has both Hyuna and Hyunwoo’s hearts. Despite everything, Luka lived. Hyunwoo initiated the fight between them, and Luka reacted violently, which led to Hyunwoo’s death. Luka was shot at, and Hyuna took the bullet, killing her. Luka has lived in spite of everything because of their deaths. Hyuna loved Luka, but her sacrifice was one made partially out of revenge. Luka may have loved Hyunwoo when they were friends as kids, but he still killed him. He may have loved Hyuna, but he still hurt her. But it was love. Nonetheless, it was love.

And, of course, Mizisua. Mizi didn’t love Sua in a way that propelled her to sacrifice herself for Sua. Sua’s love was the kind that made it impossible for Sua to live without Mizi. If you recall their mental strengths, Sua’s is extremely low while Mizi’s is strong. Mizi knew Sua couldn’t handle if Mizi died. Mizi underestimated just how much Sua’s death would ruin her, but she was willing to bear it so Sua didn’t have to bear losing her. She might not have been willing to die for Sua, but she gave Sua a gift, too. She let Sua give Mizi her sacrifice. And that’s love. That was love.

Even Mizi’s monologue about Hyuna is riddled with the weight of this theme.

Mizi is bitter because Hyuna fought for so long for humanity—a wider concept than Mizi can perhaps even comprehend, having lived isolated and then in ANAKT her whole life. She fought for something that seemed to mean so much, and then she threw it all away for Luka, a man who Mizi seems to loathe and whom she thought Hyuna loathed too.

Mizi is angry because Hyuna’s love, Hyuna’s sense of justice, required sacrifice. For humans, and for Luka. Mizi’s lingering bitterness over Sua’s decision transfers to Hyuna, because why? Why does your love demand you to die for it for nothing?

But it wasn’t for nothing.

Because even though Sua sacrificed herself for Mizi, and Hyuna risked her life to save her and then died for Luka only ended in Mizi’s death by her own hand—Luka either dying and being replaced or continuing to be imprisoned by the aliens for entertainment—

Even if Hyuna’s love for humanity and belief in their freedom only led to children in museum displays rather than stages—

It mattered.

Mizi still destroyed the competition that ruined her and Sua. She still cemented Ivan’s sacrifice by saving Till.

Hyuna still got her justice. She stopped running. Even if Luka remains trapped, his life still means something.

this is about till finally letting go of the rage and fury he's been using to run himself ragged, the fuel he needed to keep going, the sustenance he had, and realizing that ivan was just as terrified and hurt and abused. ivan, someone who picked on his wounds and annoyed him all the time and played the cards so that he'd be in favor of the aliens, something till resented because he tried so hard to lash out and rebel, was just a scared kid doing his best, too. it's about realizing that mizi is just like him, too.

they were all just fucking kids, man.

it's like— there's a reason that ivan disappears when till come to terms with his feelings and he comes back when till's falling apart again. ivan appeared to have it all together but in the end even the one who left him with scars was the one who suffered just like him. and i dislike that people are going "we're free!" over till letting go of his feelings for mizi— this isn't about shipping or ivantill.

In Wiege, we finally get some answers regarding how he was born and raised. This scene, in particular:

It's obvious that Luka broke into this place without permission, given that he's holding something that he's likely used to rip the capsules with naked bodies inside. His left hand is on the switch, and the scene ends with aliens reaching out to him.

This is the first instance of Luka's rebellion that we get to witness.

His body is frail, there are many frames of him being connected to the monitoring devices. It paints a picture of him being highly dependent on the support that his owner provides. One might think this is why he wouldn't dare to against the rules.

Which is why I find the second frame so interesting.

His room is covered in posters of a known "human terrorist", and he kisses Hyuna's image in front of the cameras. He isn't afraid of getting punished for it, and that makes me wonder if the owner knowingly indulged him in this one obsession, under assumption that it'll keep Luka compliant.

Sure, he may seem bold on stage. And his defiance towards those who challenge him is one of his most unique traits. But determination and aggression do not equate to confidence.

In fact, he's pretty submissive around those that aren't actively trying to annoy or hurt him. He apologizes for accidentally bumping into Acorn and is quite shy around people. This leads me to believe that his aggression is more of a defense mechanism than it is real confidence.

Behind the tough exterior he uses to protect himself is an emotional mess.

This official comic is what really inspired me to make this post. It's titled TILL Behind. I personally interpret it as a sort of behind the scenes into Till as a character and artist.

In the comic, he struggles to correctly sing the lyrics of Unknown (Till The End...). He becomes frustrated and appears to break down in tears, saying that he's garbage. I found this rare moment of vulnerability very interesting. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall ever seeing him praise himself or his work either. I think he's a lot more emotionally unwell than he let's on.

So...where do these feelings of inadequacy originate from? Well, let's take a look at how he's been treated throughout his life.

From a very young age, Till has been handled like an especially bitey dog. The stickers on the glass of his adoption cell in this image are extremely dehumanizing. The discount sticker is essentially saying that he is even less than what humans already are to the aliens. To the aliens, he is nothing but a hassle.

To be viewed so negatively for simply being human and defending yourself must have been incredibly damaging. Even more so because he was still a developing child.

And then he was entered into a competition where if you weren't good enough, you would be killed. I'm sure that didn't help.

This is stated quite bluntly by Urak himself in the Guardian Interview. Urak literally says that if Till weren't as talented as he was, he would be dead. Till does not matter to them outside of his musical talent.

There's a lump under his shirt.

And then the hands snake up from his collar.

The sleeve of the hand appears to be white.

There are four hands. Till is trying to pull off Ivan's.

even though he canonically seems to think lowly of himself and is shy, ive seen a lot of people see him as a cocky guy who gets angry a lot and bullies others, which does.. not make sense at all, considering that he is LITERALLY called timid when it comes to stats.

i also dislike the misconception that till was mainly at fault for how the ivantill dynamic ended up so hurt and messed up. ivan was the one who, from till’s perspective, was always teasing him, and also takes his stuff and crushes the gifts that he gives to him. and till didn’t even hate ivan either (which is something that we all know). both of their clouded judgement affected the relationship.

im making this post to say that i feel like its sad to see how much till’s trauma and his mental state is brushed aside unless shoved in the face of the audience. ivan will show up ONCE in an official art and people will make an angst fest, but till will be shown self harming himself and it gets shrugged off.

i love ivan, i do, but i really do think that till being a reactive abuse victim to his abuse isn’t a reason to ignore how sensitive he is and how much he suffered. someone being able to stand up for themselves doesn’t mean their hurting doesn’t matter to them.

I mean, it is. But not fully.

Wiege is about a cycle.

"Wiege" means cradle - it's been told many times. A cradle.. the ANAKT garden, protecting the children, keeping them safe. But a child can't walk out of a cradle.

In Wiege, both Luka and Mizi lost everything they had, except that for Mizi, it took so much time, gradually suffering, building up more and more, while for Luka, it took a second, a blink, and his whole sky dawned on him. He's seen Hyuna, was in her arms.. and then he was left alone, again. Forever, this time.

But this isn't their sorrow alone.

The generations after them will have an unlucky winner that will be left alone as well.

So will the after.

And the one after.

And again, again, again.

Luka and Hyuna represent the pain of a couple that had the courage to branch out: Hyuna escaped, Luka won. And guess what: they cycled back to the same place. They can never escape: in this Universe, humans cannot escape. Even when they try to find their own Gods, the aliens demolish whatever idea of escapism they had.

And so they have done before this season, and before that.

It's never ending - even when someone feels safe, something intervenes.

Alien Stage never ends well. No matter how plausible it seems for something to go the characters' way, it never happens. Because it's not according to what they want. It's all directed by the creatures that have taken over their free will, rights, and transformed them into pets. I've recently started to be almost unwilling to call them pets; even animals shouldn't be treated the way they are.

In Wiege, little Luka kills his clones, in cold blood, it seems, only then realizing what he's done. The aliens approach him without weapons or hostility: that's what they wanted, isn't it? In my mind, that's how I interpreted it. Him being forced to show his superiority, by killing, essentially, himself. By killing his personality. I think that's the moment where it went wrong for him.

And I think we all know how Sua was treated like a doll, an ornament, how Till was thrown around, beaten up, and then used. Mizi and Ivan are just 2 lucky ones between probably billions of pet humans. In the end, even if Mizi was lucky, her owner still only called her "Creature."

So, Wiege isn't only about the misfortunate couple that withered today: but about every misfortunate couple since the beggining, whose plans were crushed.

With zombie stage clearly mirroring alien stage, I think it’s important to note that the alien audience is now replaced with a mostly male one. It’s probably supposed to reflect the actual idol industry but the implications go way further than that.

At the end it’s revealed that just like alien stage, participants are eliminated directly on stage following a round. The alien audience was one thing—creatures that don’t fully understand our nuances, behavior and psyche watching us die on stage for their entertainment—but the human audience is another entirely. You don’t need me to point out how sadistic it is for the human audience to watch former humans be butchered and dismembered live on stage. But I do want to highlight there’s an even more twisted aspect of having the audience be men—a group that has historically led systemic violence and oppression against marginalized groups—instead of equal parts men and women. If it was equal parts then you can say the audience is a stand-in for society but if it’s just men, that’s saying something. Having the audience be predominantly male really adds to how disturbing zombie stage is because it directly reflects how feminine suffering is sensationalized by men in real life.

Women have always been defined by their attractiveness and even more so their tragedy. Think about Marilyn Monroe and how she’s been remembered. Although she led an amazing acting career, her story is often overshadowed by the pain she experienced to the point where it’s become intrinsically intertwined with her legacy as a Hollywood sex symbol. Her story was used as a stepping stool for many news outlets to profit off of at the expense of understanding her as a person. And even decades after her death, men still list her feminine fragility or fleeting beauty as one of the defining qualities of an attractive woman.

Dressing these idols in frilly dresses won’t hide the fact they’re actively decomposing. It won’t hide the fact that they were human once with feelings and memories and history and now you’re watching their bodies be butchered like black market meat. You get off on seeing these beautiful women dance on stage for your pleasure because it makes you wonder how can they turn something as tragic and violent as death into something worth admiring, right? How they can be half dead and yet their unaffected smile makes your heart beat ten times faster than theirs could anymore?

This reflection is deepened by the element of lesbian fetishization too. Sua and Mizi don’t kiss for the fans (obviously, you KNOW Sua was gonna do that regardless) but still having the male audience be present for that turns it into an even more controversial spectacle on top of the already grim circumstances. You literally hear them chant “wooo—“ full with suspense up to the moment they kiss where they scream “yeah!” as if they were waiting for that so very hot exchange between two women not because it was a celebration of love but because it felt deliciously forbidden to watch. Zombie idols are one thing but female lesbian zombie idols? That’s even more alluring to someone who’s already drawn to their exploitation because it adds another layer of controversy. Another reason to objectify them. Vivimeng are a lesbian couple so I’m sure they’ve had their fair share of experiences with this—having their relationship be nothing more than a voyeuristic fantasy to straight men—and it’s not a stretch to say this was intentional.

All of this is to say that vivimeng replacing the alien audience with a male one is worth mentioning. Perhaps it’s not a one to one comparison but there’s considerations to be had about this artistic decision. The aliens don’t understand us. They don’t know human ethics, human emotions, human connections etc. They saw humans as pets and as an extension of that, we became disposable sources of entertainment. But these men know our pain. See it. Understand it and yet they continue to sensationalize, romanticize and glorify these fucked up circumstances by being adoring voyeurs to the girls’ detriment. Even in death, no woman can escape exploitation. Especially not beautiful ones. That’s what’s so striking to me about this.