笨呆子

Okay, so I finally gathered up my thoughts on the 19+ ver./Original ver. of BTS - I NEED U. (If you’re easily triggered by suicidal/depressive themes, please don’t watch the MV)

Symbolically, the MV shows different stages of depression that some people suffer in their lives. That is pretty much clearly implied in the whole MV. It’s horrible, but it’s the truth. That being clearly portrayed, let’s talk more on what actually happens in the story/plot of the MV… (Warning, this is REALLY a long post)

First off, it is implied that all these boys are good friends that get together from time to time and just have fun. Escape life’s troubles even for a bit. In general all of them have each of their own sufferings, some are not implied specifically what reason or what pushed them to be at that depressive point, but it starts off from there. 

Jin is seen in a white room, alone, looking depressed as well, but not to the point that gives of hopelessness like the rest of the members looked like, but instead it was more out of grief.

Here’s probably the reason why… all of the incidents that happens to the rest of the members are all connected. 

Note that this is based on the events happening that pieced together, and not how they were shown chronologically in the MV.

First, J-hope overdosed himself on the drugs, and has gone outside, wandering while walking on the roadside waiting for it to take effect.

Wandering. Jungkook is also wandering around the streets, walking in the same manner as J-Hope, his mind was in an automatic state. It ended up with him getting beaten up by thugs.

Beating… connects to V’s perspective. His father beats his mother, hence explains his pent up anger. V grabs a bottle of alcohol and attacks him till he eventually murders him. 

Blood. Brings us back to Jungkook. After being left battered up, he continued to wander about, unfortunately meeting his end by getting run over by a car.

Let’s now jump to Rapmon’s side.

He is portrayed as somehow a guy that doesn’t give a shit. Doing the daily routine at his work in the gas station as if his mind is dead. He is currently putting gas on a vehicle. Looks familiar? That vehicle is the same one that runs over/or will run over Jungkook. 

Most of the scenes, Rapmon has a lollipop in his mouth.

As the person in the vehicle throws money off to him before driving off, Rapmon purposely drops the lollipop. It is actually a cigarette. My guess is that it’s either a representation of him thinking that the feeling of smoking is just as sweet as candies, OR he’s suffering schizophrenia, and thinks that the cigarette is really a lollipop. 

Right after this scene is a cut with fire everywhere. This might symbolize that an explosion happened in the gas station because of this. With Suga however, he deliberately started setting the room on fire as he has reached the point where he’s already given up on life.

He turns to self-immolation as his escape. Burns himself to the ground.

Burning. The scene now cuts to Jimin, burning a letter, most probably from a lover that has left him. He drops it off to the side

…before proceeding to drown himself in the tub.

All 6 members actually die in the MV. J-Hope lies on the ground as the drugs finally took effect, Suga and Jimin commits suicide with the use of fire and water.  Jungkook gets hit by a vehicle. Rapmon may or may not have intentionally got himself caught in a gas explosion. V, for murdering, he will probably be sentenced to death. But what about Jin?

He is indeed grieving for the lives lost by all his members. And there were countless of clues signifying that this was indeed what he was facing. You see him shedding tears in between scenes where the members have gone rock bottom. You also see him lying on his bed as if trying he’s trying hard to forget. But the most significant ones are these…

Take notice of the flower petals he carefully laid on the floor. There are actually 6 petals. The same flower petals are seen burning later on as well. I give that this was him giving his final rites for the death of the 6 members.

There is also a scene where a flower grows to his left chest. 6 petals once again. 

Which signifies that they were still in his heart despite everything that has happened. This is literally what’s presently happening and is constantly being shown in the MV. Jin was reminiscing the times he had with the other members. 

And lastly, the scene where he finally opens a window, which gave off a radiant light on him. I think this was when he realized it’s time for a new day. It’s time to move on.

The MV ends with the 7 altogether. The last of Jin’s memories with them.

There is no defined timeline to the three videos. They are not telling a story, they're just focusing on one character's mind. We can consider it all as a dream. Everything we see is a creation of the imagination of one person. The scenes are either totally imagined, or altered by the feelings of the dreamer. Some scenes are even just poetical metaphors to symbolize in an artistic way what's happening.

Jin is the only character. He is the dreamer. He suffers from Peter Pan Syndrome obviously. He is afraid to grow up and doesn't want to live in a the adult world that is too violent for him. He feels like he doesn't belong in this world so he escapes from it. He imagines himself in an ideal and free of any worries dimension, with imaginary friends. These friends are more like pulses of his own emotions, desires. They do what he can't do because of his laziness and timidity. He gets deeper in his lie until the point where he realizes that even though he runs and runs, it lead him nowhere. He ends up feeling lonely when he gets that his friends are unreal. And he feels like a loser so, in the end he decides to grow up and become an adult. He burns his dream away and gets out of the water to enter the new life that awaits him.

These videos (and the whole "The most beautiful moment in life") are not here to tell a story. They're delivering a message. So, for it to be "worldwide" (understood by most of the people), they decided not to point out one particular case but more like a general case. That's why we can't exactly tell what's the problem and what made Jin like that. 

You have to remember that since their debut, BTS talked about dreams and about how society rejects those and put such a high pressure on kids to grow up without letting them decide who they are. This concept exactly focuses on that same matter.

BUT, until then, BTS never exactly mentioned how kids should deal with this pressure. They opposed, told that kids must fight but for the first time, BTS tells people that they must deal with society and grow up. 

Except that, we can't forget that inside "The most beautiful moment in life" era, BTS included one more title song : DOPE. Yep, this is related to the 3 other videos. If you focus on Dope's lyrics : 

"The media and adults say we don’t have willpower condemning us like stocks Why are they killing us before we can even try Why are you hanging your head and accepting it already? Don’t ever give up, you know you not lonely Our dawn is prettier than the day So can I get a little bit of hope? Yeah" 

"We live sickly in our studios, our youths may rot away But thanks to that, we’re running to success"