#monsta_xshownu

At first I hope everyone watched the MV, if not you need to catch up, because it's really beautiful and awesome! Monsta X is one of my favorite Kpop Groups and they seriously surpassed themselves in my opinion. It immediatly became one of my favorite music videos and songs just after the first few seconds! x3

So after watching this for a million times and doing some research I came up with a theory I really wanted to share with you. Be aware that this is my OWN and FIRST theory and interpretation after searching for it. So I'm sure there're still errors or it's not accurate enough. If you have any other ideas or additions feel free to leave them here but please be nice to me and others! :)

A rough Story Overview: In the beginning you see Monsta X driving somewhere, which set in the present, you can see Kihyun wearing a blindfold and the other members looked quite sad, emotionsless or just in their own minds. Between them were some scenes of Shownu walking through a forest and Wonho running through fog. The Song beginns with Hyungwon covering Kihyuns eyes and a following scene where Kihyun looks clearly desperate due to his lack of sight. After some scenes it's clear that Minhyuk and Kihyun had an accident and Minhyuk is feeling guilty for it, the others blame him for this accident.

So there are now two theories which are quite common and clearly to see. In This MV Kihyun got either 1. blinded. Or 2. killed. I will go with the second theory of Kihyun being dead and take a closer look into the symbolism of this MV: The Blindfold Since the Blindfold is one of the most important things in this MV I look at this first. Apart from the justice the blindfold is also a symbol in Tarot. It's the represent of: - Victim - Resistance to Clarity - Denial - Disortion of Reality - or Limited Views Yes, in the end Kihyun is the victim of all, he did nothing wrong and suffers that his friends are fighting and blaming each other because of him. They didn‘t want to clarify or resolve this problem in the beginning and just tried to find someone they could blame this on. Antoher victim, to let out their own desperation in this case, is Minhyuk who drove the car he and Kihyun sat in. All of them, Kihyun himself included, denied his death. They didn‘t want to believe what happend and couldn‘t let go of him. The Blindfold symbolically is a kind of barrier, to all of them, especially in an emotional way. It also represents the darkness in this MV which is the counterpart of light. Darkness can also mean death. Most people are afraid of being in the dark. It stands for being helpless and lost and so is Kihyun who can't find peace (as you saw with when he tried to orientate in the kitchen ), because his friends couldn‘t go on, so he's watching over them. But the most important symbolic meaning of the Blindfold, is, in my opinion, that taking off one's blindfold means AWAKENING or REBIRTH. So at the end where all Monsta X Members learned that they need to move foreward, to let go of all the blames and despair. Letting go of their friend‘s death (which is also represented by the light but this will be explained later) Kihyun took his blindfold off to symbolise he‘s found peace, that he's now able to realize his own death and the chance to reborn again.

The Forest In several scenes you can see a dark forest. Forests that often appear in fairytales represent the conncection beween the spirit and the body, it's also a symbol of being lost and not finding the right path. So it means that the Members are lost and aren't able to find a way out of this mess.

The Fog

You can see a person (I guess it was Wonho) running trough the fog and also I.M and Jooheon are walking there together. Fog prevents us from seing our way (like the Blindfold too), it's difficult to move in there and it has a similar meaning as the forest. But I think the Fog represents even more the symbol of not being able to move forward or having something in one‘s way that prevents one from doing that. It also means confusion and the blurring of reality and irreality. It doesn't matter how long Wonho has been running for, there just doesn't seem to be an end. I think it also can mean a blank or blocked mind and I found out that the spritual meaning of the fog could represent your unconsicous mind. So all your emotions, feelings and problems you want to ignore are sent to your unconsicous mind but it's not possible to ignore them forever because one day you need to face them, that's what the Members are trying to prevent, since they're afraid of facing the problem.

Water The Water only apeared in some Shownu scenes but I sill want to explain my interpreation of it. Water can be see as a symbolism of circualtion, since it represent both life and death. I also found out that it can also be a symbol of our emotion capicity.

Canyon The Canyon appeared together with Kihyun, it's a place were two mountains are coming together which can represent a conflict. It could be also like a prison for Kihyun which he can't escape yet because it seems like he's caught by the mountains.

Lights Along the Blindfold it's another important symbol since it represent the Music Video itself (Shine Forever). It is again spiritual and represents hope and beauty for example. It's paired to the darkness and often defeats it. Light is also standing for Life and Godness. But the most accurate thing I found was, that when you are about to die, that you see light in the darkness and that it means that you now are going to heaven. Seems to fit, huh? The way the Members have placed the lights look like an eye which leeds us to the next symbol.

The Blue Eye Not many meanings I found seemed to fit into this concept but I found out that the Eye means Focus, Vision, Opening and Awarness. Furthermore I was confused about the eye being blue, since Kihyun‘s eyes aren't blue, though if we follow the first theory it could represent being blind but after I looked for some meanings I found out that sky blue stands for Spirituality, Infinity, Serenity and also Peace. It's the color of Trust, Responsibility and Loyality. It's like a way to calm down if we look into the sky, lying on our backs (like Minhyuk did) and with this color we also connect Freedom, it stands for the Spirit, Devotion and the Sky. I think it can also mean Life or Rebirth because you open your eyes for the first time when you're born so the eye at the end could also mean Kihyuns rebirth.

The Members So now I want to go deeper into the actions of each Member. Hyungwon and I.M These two didn't have as much screentime but I think they're the neutral Members especially Hyungwon, because he didn't attacked Minhyuk neither does he seem to blame him. He's the first Person who woke up and stood up of the couch to place the lights which he and Shownu found. With getting up and leaving Kihyun behind they finally began to accept his Death, so Hyungwon was the first one accepting this. But there‘s one thing which isn't clear enough for me and it's the scene in beginning where Hyungwon put on Kihyun‘s Blindfold. It would fit perfectly with the first theory if Kihyun was just blind but it‘d not match with my whole theory of him being dead. I guess this scene is also meant metaphoric, because if there‘s a meaning for taking the Blindfold off then there's for sure a meaning for put it on too. Maybe it's just to show Kihyun‘s death or that Hyungwon put the blindfold on Kihyun because as the neutral Member he sees that the others are fighting about this so he knows Kihyun‘s soul is suffering? But that's just a conjecture. I.M is leading Kihyun when they‘re getting out of the car and are going somewhere, also Kihyun is holding onto I.M. He's there for him, like a son for his mother, and wants to leed him until he find his peace.

Jooheon, Wonho and Shownu It seems to be these three who are full of anger against Minhyuk. Wonho watched Minhyuk desperately hitting the car wheel and I guess: Minhyuk never got the courage to tell them that he was the one driving the car. They had maybe just known that Kihyun died in the car accident. But Wonho seemed to have noticed that and put the puzzle pieces together so he got really mad. Jooheon saw this and caught him. He told Jooheon what happend and both of them wanted to confront Minhyuk with this, but it seemed he still keep silent and did't want to tell them everything. Shownu who hadn‘t had any idea what was going on stopped Jooehon, who seemed to still scream at Minhyuk and blame him for Kihyun‘s death. After hearing this Shownu changed sides and hit Minhyuk instead. Also Wonho is the one whose running trough the fog, which I mentioned before. It meant that something is in your way or it could be your unconsicous mind. Maybe he tried to escape the truth and prevent not to see it? Near the end we see him lying on the ground around the fog and then in the living room- Did anyone notice that - with Kihyun - there are only 5 Members on the couch? (Shownu and Wonho are missing) So it can mean that theese two are the last members who can‘t accept Kihyun‘s death. (They‘re also the members who seem to be lost in the forest/fog, since Wonho is still lying on the floor where the couch is standing.)

Minhyuk As said at the beginning Minhyuk was the one who probably caused the accident. We can see that he pulled the unconscious Kihyun out of the car and laid him on the ground, you can clearly see the gulity on his face and I don't think he ran away, instead he wanted to find help but it was too late for Kihyun already. Even after all Kihyun is not mad at Minhyuk, after the fight with Shownu and Co. he even comforted Minhyuk. (Once more it would fit with the first theory because it seems like Minhyuk doesn't want to look at Kihyun, but even this could be seen in a symbolic meaning of Minhyuk being too afraid to look at his mistake) Also he reached out his hand to the sky in one scene as if he wanted to reach for someone who isn't there anymore.

The Mother Last but not least, yes, it's the nagging Mother Kihyun and I don't know if I'm the only one but after the whole MV and realizing that Kihyun is the mother of the group, it gives me an even deeper feeling than before. It's an unofficial position in Kpop but it's there, like a real Mother these Members know how the others really feel, they take care of them, even nagging at them, give them love, comfort them and like no one else they suffer when the other members suffer and that is Kihyun. No matter what their „children“ did, they can't be mad for long and they're the support they need, they're the light for the ones who „shine forever“ no matter who they are. So losing their Mother the rest of the members are like lost children (as they even sing that in the lyrics)

When everyone left the sofa and left Kihyun alone, he noticed that and went after them finding himself in the middle of lights. (I think it approved my theory that no one can see Kihyun because they could've just taken him with them since he coudn't see what they were doing anyway.) I already mentioned for what the Eyes stand for so the members placed the lights like an eye to symbolize that, with this they also showed respect to the dead person like it could be kind of ritual.. Also in the beginning we saw how all Members went to Kihyun who stood in the middle and now it's the same but they‘ve turned their back on him, saying goodbye to their friend, they're finally able to close this act and move forward. Kihyun looked around, knowing all his friends are there. Minhyuk is the last who finally turned around. Knowing Kihyun is able to take off his blindfold and finally release his soul.

So this was my Shine Forever Theory/Analyse...Well, I hope I did not forget something. xD I think it was more like an „over-interpreation“... haha :D I‘d never analysed a musicvideo like this before but it was really fun doing that. :) Hope you all liked my theory and please always support the Members of Monsta X! They really deserve it! <3