#blood sweat & tears demian

[thedramafilesblog-blog]

We’re not a blog that is dedicated to reviewing music (including Kpop), but because we absolutely adore BTS and their music, we decided to do a memo-style review of the Music Video (MV) for their Japanese Version “Blood, Sweat & Tears” (血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.-).

***Note: If this is your first time browsing the Drama Files, please read The Rules on how our Memo-style reviews work.***

***Note: We really wanted to analyze the Blood, Sweat, Tears Korean MV before, but we missed out on the opportunity. We thought this MV was very interesting as well, so we were really eager to share our theories about what they could possibly signify. There are definitely many theories, so we thought we’d propose ours. Our views are simply theories and purely speculative.***

Memo

Dear Reader,

There have been some questions regarding the recent release of BTS’s 血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.- (“BST”), particularly:

(1) Who/What does each member represent?

(2) How is the ending clip that is reminiscient of the “I Need U” MV connected to BST?

Conclusion

(1.1) J-Hope acts as a guide. J-Hope is Archangel Michael and Frau Eva from Demian.

(1.2) V is Max Demian (“Demian”) from Demian and the Devil/Lucifer/the Fallen Angel (“the Devil”) .

(1.3) Suga is Pistorius and the Old Wise Man (archetype).

(1.4) Jimin is Sinclair from Demian and Adam from the Bible.

(1.5) Jungkook is Icarus and Sinclair from Demian.

(2) This will be answered in a subsequent Memo.

Background

Please read the first post to understand how this MV fits in with the other MVs and the different types of reality in this MV.

Please read the second post for more information on Demian and other important concepts.

Please read the third post for a detailed analysis of Suga’s role.

Please read the fourth post to understand Jimin’s role.

Analysis

(1.1) J-Hope acts as a guide. J-Hope is Archangel Michael and Frau Eva from Demian.

Please read the first post to see this analysis.

(1.2) V is Max Demian (“Demian”) from Demian and the Devil/Lucifer/the Fallen Angel (“the Devil”) .

Please read the second post to see this analysis.

(1.3) Suga is Pistorius and the Old Wise Man (archetype).

Please read the third post to see this analysis.

(1.4) Jimin is Sinclair from Demian and Adam from the Bible. 

Please see the fourth post for this analysis.

(1.5) Jungkook is Icarus and Sinclair from Demian.

(i) Jungkook is Icarus.

Jungkook swinging on the swing

  We see signs in the Korean “BST” MV that show Jungkook as Icarus. We see the painting behind Jungkook, which is “Lament of Icarus” by Herbert James Derper. To the right is another painting about Icarus, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Look at Jungkook flying back/falling. Behind him is the painting, “Lament of Icarus” by Herbert James Derper and to his right, you see the painting, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

The myth is that King Minos hired Daedalus to build a palace and a maze (Labyrinth)to imprison Minos’ son, the Minotaur. Minos also imprisoned Daedalus in the Labyrinth because Daedalus gave Minos’ daughter, a clew, to help Minos’ enemy, Theseus, to defeat the Minotaur and beat the Labyrinth. Daedalus’ plan to escape was to build wings out of wax and feathers to fly away. He fashioned wings for both himself and his son, Icarus. He warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sea or the sun and to follow Daedalus’ flight path. However, Icarus did not listen.

Jungkook first starts off swinging on the swings in the Korean “BST” MV and then leaning back like he’s flying. After, he fully falls back and the swing is gone, meaning that he is like Icarus who chose not to listen to his father and flew too close to the sea. There are bits of what seem like white feathers floating in the air to represent the melted wax and feathers from the myth.

The paintings are even clearer and damn that move must have been exhausting for JK!

Remember how in the older BTS MVs like “Run” and “I Need U”, RM is shown with a lollipop in his mouth. Here, we see Jungkook with a blue lollipop in his hand. The lollipop, in a sense, is like our desires that we know aren’t good yet we still consume them. Lollipops can also mean a new adventure starting, which is true in Jungkook’s case as he is going through a transformation.  After we see Jungkook suck on the lollipop, we get a scene of RM showing a dropping sign with his fist and then we get transported down a level of a building to meet Suga and RM.

Look at the blue lollipop!

Eats lollipop then . . . tumbles down . . .

Drop down! (RM is in the same room as JK who was swinging on the swing there)

RM is also going through a big transformation as he drinks the green liquid, which is likely absinthe. I’m going over RM’s part and Suga’s part a bit here because RM and JK are closely connected in both the “BST” MVs. I won’t go into extreme detail with the two other members as this post focuses on Jungkook, but it’s still important to recall how Jungkook is linked with these two members. Here’s a little chart I’ve made, which has been used in a previous post.

RM influences Jungkook (see the black arrow leading from RM to JK) and in turn Jungkook and Suga both influence each other. I’d say Suga is more like Daedalus than RM because Suga in the “BST” MV tries to pull Jungkook away from temptation, whereas RM leads Jungkook to temptation.

In the “BST” MV, we still see signs that prove that Jungkook represents Icarus. In the beginning of the MV, Jungkook is lying on this white plastic sheet. The walls are all painted in bright neon colours, which represents the psychological reality. Then, he gets up from his spot and looks back to see a pair of red wings behind him. Icarus, as mentioned before, flew with wings made of feathers and wax. The red colour likely symbolizes that Jungkook has fallen and has been “tainted”.

(Remember to focus on Jungkook’s clothing in this “BST” MV. Jungkook here is wearing a plaid jacket. He also later wears a hoodie with the writing “Thirteen”.)

(ii) Jungkook is Sinclair from Demian.

I think it’s interesting to note that the whole BST is really a matter of perspective. From one member’s POV, another member is a certain character. However, when you view it from a different member’s POV, then one member can represent another character. Let’s try to apply it in this case.

Jungkook, in the Korean “BST” MV, succumbs to RM’s temptation. Jungkook is Sinclair and RM is Demian in that view. However, from RM’s POV, RM is Sinclair and Jin is Demian (This will be explained further in the next post).

In the external reality, Suga is still Pistorius to Jungkook who is Sinclair. Remember that Suga is the one trying to pull Jungkook away from the toilet like how Pistorius is instilling the standard biblical beliefs to Sinclair.

Also, Jungkook here is wearing a “Thirteen” hoodie. The number “thirteen” is normally seen as an unlucky number like Friday the thirteenth and receives a darker form of symbolism. Often, apartments or hotels will also not have a button for the 13th floor. In Norse mythology, the 12 Norse gods hold a party; however, Loki, the trickster, was an uninvited guest and was the 13th to arrive. Later, we learn that Hoor slayed Baldur, using a magical spear given by Loki. We also see from the Bible that the Last Supper comprised of 13 attendees (12 disciples and the Christ). Thirteen is seen as an omen as Christ suffers from a tragic fate.

Look at his hoodie’s word: “Thirteen”.

However, thirteen can have a brighter interpretation. For example, Christ and Baldur can be considered the enlightened guests. Therefore, the number, thirteen, can be said to be associated with enlightenment, ascension, and resurrection. We also see from an Egyptian tale that Osiris, the Egyptian God of life and death, was killed by Typhon, his brother. Typhon then stole Osiris’ body and chopped it into 14 pieces. Meanwhile, Isis, Osiris’ wife, could only find 13 parts of his body. Therefore, thirteen can be said to be the precursor of completion.  (See here for more info about the number, 13.)

Here, since the word “thirteen” is written in a font that looks like it’s burning, there seems to be more of an interpretation of resurrection. Phoenixes are known to be reborn upon burning in flames. Therefore, Jungkook can be said to be experiencing a rebirth after succumbing to temptation. I wouldn’t say that going to a “dark” side is necessarily bad, as I’ve suggested in my previous posts based on Demian‘s interpretation of events.

Going back to how Demian applies to the relationship between Jungkook and Suga, recall that in Suga’s post, Sinclair eventually says a lot of harsh words to Pistorius and Sinclair’s friendship with Pistorius comes to an end. Similarly, the toilet scene is like Jungkook pushing his “master” away and surpassing his mentor. Jungkook’s relationship with Pistorius ends and rejects the standard biblical ideas.

Jungkook is also tempted by RM, who acts as Demian, once he enters the psychological reality. RM brings the absinthe to Jungkook. Jungkook has taken a seat, which seems to imply that he has accepted RM’s offer. RM then makes Jungkook drink the absinthe and Jungkook goes through an interesting experience. Notice that Jungkook is wearing the “thirteen” hoodie when he’s in the psychological reality world. He gets transported on a truck that Jin has been driving since the older MVs and at the very end of this “BST” MV. Jin, at this stage, is already Demian, so it’s interesting to see that Jungkook, a variant of Sinclair, is being taken away by Demian to experience a different world.

Once Jungkook has experienced this mental change and transformation, he is brought back to the external reality where there is a black cloud hovering around Jungkook with the hoodie. The Jungkook wearing the plaid blazer is transported back to the external reality. At the end, Jungkook is a changed person.

Another evidence that Jungkook is Sinclair from his short clip. We see him lying on this bed, which is similar to his situation in the beginning of the “BST” MV. He is tossing and turning in this bed. Then we see him closing his eyes and there’s a burning piano, which has been mentioned in a previous post as being linked to Suga as Pistorius.

We see a narration of a quotation from Demian and Jungkook, in a white button-up with a sparrow hawk on his heart. This quotation “because it’s darkest at dawn right before the sun rises” is from BTS’ song “Tomorrow” and then the next one is “The fifteen year old me who didn’t have anything” comes from his song, “Begin”. Here, Jungkook is like Sinclair who starts off in a very sheltered, structured family. I think it’s interesting that this quotation was picked because “Tomorrow” is about following your dreams and struggling with these. It makes sense that that particular line of “Begin” was used because it sets the tone that Jungkook was young then.

Then Jungkook has this painting in his hand of a young boy. After, he starts painting this larger portrait of another boy and as he is painting, the scene of a piano burning is seen through his eye. The painting then bursts into flames.  Jungkook becomes very distressed upon viewing the portrait more. The portrait’s young boy seems to change in its appearance.

The changing painting is reflected in Demian as well. At first, Sinclair is inspired by Beatrice, a woman he meets after walking in a park, to paint. He tries to reproduce her face, but fails.  This is like that scene in Jungkook’s short film where he first sees a picture of a person and then proceeds to paint it.

After Sinclair lets his imagination do its work and he paints again. When the painting is complete, it looks half-masculine and half-feminine, ageless, and mask-like.  When he wakes up from another dream, he believes that the face knows him and calls to him. Sinclair notices this weird brightness at the painting’s forehead and its eyes and recognizes it as Demian. However, after placing the painting to his window and letting the light shine through it, he realizes that the painting is actually a reflection of himself, his daemon, and his inner self. This whole scene happens in a dream-like state, so whether he actually puts the painting to the window is up for debate.

This part of the scene in Jungkook’s short film has also been portrayed when he watches the painting burn and turn into another painting. Jungkook is struggling to believe what he is seeing and is crying a bit too. It first looks like Taehyung, who we’ve said is Demian to Jin, but then if you look carefully, it also seems to look like Jungkook. Jungkook realizes that the painting is actually himself, which is just like what we’ve seen in Demian.

In Demian, Sinclair then starts recalling his last meeting with Demian. Demian and Sinclair talk about Sinclair’s rebellious stage. Demian notices that Sinclair has been drinking and frowns upon that habit; however, Demian points out that sometimes a life of hedonism is a precursor to sainthood and refers to St. Augustine as an example of this concept. In his youth, St. Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle where he was related to several young men who bragged about their sexual adventures. He also had an affair with a young woman. It wasn’t until he was 31 did he convert to Christianity and wrote extensively in the areas of theology, sociology, and philosophy. He developed many ideas related to Christianity as well. Sinclair identifies with this example that Demian has given and believes that Sinclair’s life is headed in a similar direction as that of St. Augustine.

On the night of this flashback, Sinclair has a nightmare where Demian forces him to swallow this coat of arms above this doorway. He senses that this bird is bursting into life within himself and starts to eat his insides. After this dream, Sinclair begins to paint this bird.

After Sinclair finishes the painting, we see that he has painted a sparrow hawk. The sparrow hawk is trying to break free from this dark globe; it’s like it is hatching from an egg. However, this sparrow hawk is fully grown, and so this means that this painting is about rebirth.

Here, the egg is an archetype, formed through Sinclair’s collective consciousness. The egg has its origins to the Roman times where Bachofen, a late anthropologist, claims that it represents the two poles of the world. Therefore, the sparrow hawk, which is breaking out of the egg to be reborn, is breaking the world of false polarities, unreal, and the arbitrary.

Going back to the short film, we see that Jungkook is holding onto this picture of a sparrow hawk and staring at it. The final scene ends with Jungkook standing in the middle of the room and his shadow has grown wings.  These scenes are similar to those of Sinclair. Though we don’t see Jungkook going through a memory recall of a meeting with Demian, we have seen him waking up from nightmares before. We aren’t sure whether he has actually painted the sparrow hawk, but that sparrow hawk is just like the one described in Demian. Moreover, the fact that Jungkook has grown wings shows that he is going through a rebirth like in Demian.  This also indicates that Jungkook has activated the part of himself that wants to be broken free.

It’s interesting to note that Jungkook is also wearing a “sparrow hawk” button-up shirt. That’s a signal that supports the notion that he wants to be free from his past views. That’s why his eyes show the burning piano–a remnant of the old principles.

      Memo: “Blood, Sweat & Tears” (Japanese Version) Music Video Analysis Part 5 We're not a blog that is dedicated to reviewing music (including Kpop), but because we…

[bangtanprose]

A theory post, or a reflection, whatever you want to call it--

I’m prefacing everything with how hard BTS have worked, and how much they deserve to get the recognition and attention they are receiving for their blood sweat and tears; their art; their music. BTS have truly inspired many of us, and I think, even though many people think their story is based on who’s-dead-and-when, I do not think that. I think they are showing us their stages of maturing; the most beautiful moments in life.

I’m also going to note that when I am talking about the members, I am not talking about them as actual living breathing human beings, but the characters they are portraying. BTS are showing us a story and, while metaphorically it may be relevant to how they are feeling, there are many physical aspects which are purely fiction and products of their and Bighit’s imaginations, all coming together to make one clusterfuck of an amazing story, so to remain respectful to them as artists, I speak of them (Jin, Yoongi, Namjoon, Hoseok, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook) as their characters in music videos, not them with personal lives which I wish to respect. This is also why I am not going to touch on lyrics, as music is a personal art which, they have said many times, is written for themselves and their listeners, and that is why I am isolating the usage of their lyrics from this theory/reflection/whatever. Music is them, BTS, the boys we love in their live shows and interviews, cinematography and directed videos are their characters, the story of their imagination they wish to share with us.

I’ll also be referencing to many other MVs/short films that BTS have, not just Spring Day. I’ll be adding more when Not Today comes out, because I believe there will be more in there.

The ones who walk away from Omelas (have a pdf, if you have not read it yet) and Demian are stories which BTS have highlighted this era, and by no coincidence, they both lie on the shoulders of maturity, and growing up without the world being as crystal pristine as our innocent and naive youth believes. Omelas does not specifically link the realisation to one’s eyes cleared of youth, but this is why Demian is included. Demian isn’t the main character of Demian, but he is the best friend of him, Sinclair: the boy who suddenly sees the world is not a realm of peace and there are many, many, evils, but Demian is the older boy he meets, mature and understanding, and holding Sinclair through his time of uncertainty. Omelas sees the suffering of one child and although the city is great and bearing fruits of celebrations, one child suffers, and through adolescence, children learn about this kid wasting away in its own excrement for their happiness. Sometimes they cry and wail and shout “how is this fair!” but some go quiet. Some cease to speak, and one day, they walk out of Omelas, the city of perfectness and comfort balanced on the shoulders of a child that is death ridden, sores covering its thighs.

Do we see the moments of realisation Jin was having in Run? He did not run with the rest of them; he drove their cars and held their petals. But he never walked away; he wants to treasure the moments (taking polaroids, filming them) he is living with his friends. He sees the child of Omelas suffering, but he stays, because, after all, Omelas is the perfect city, and no one knows anywhere else.

But we do not know who the child is, nor Demian nor Sinclair, nor dearest Eva, a character so minor in the book that we could also bring other characters like Kromer and Beck and Pistorius into the equation.

Fast-forwards to Wings, and Demian is brought in. The short films demonstrate each different parts of the different characters. Jungkook’s short film is a dream sequence, much like many of those about Demain that Sinclair has. If one was to jump to conclusions, it could be easy to assume Jungkook is Sinclair, as we also saw maturity blossoming in him in the Run era – he stares blankly at the camera while his friends party, until they disappear. But I am not here to give a direct answer. I am here to open an idea so people can contribute and add to this, with whatever they think. He is also crying, crying as a portrait bleeds and he is pleading for his hyung; the video is heavily linked with that of Yoongi’s, with the burning piano and the car crashing. It was heavily debated around the time of its release who the main portrait was of (which, if anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear, as I'm also intrigued by the idea that it could be them all), but we also need to think about all our senses. We hear water and fire – associations? Jimin, to water with his suicide attempt back in I Need U. Yoongi, setting a room on fire, or Namjoon, dropping a cigarette on the gas station. And the wings which distract him? Taehyung, the fallen angel of the Blood Sweat and Tears era. There is something to be recognised between the sound of wings and Taehyung being illustrated as someone who has, or, more likely, had wings. So is Jungkook looking back upon these moments, or is he dreaming before they happen? Remember, in Demian, Sinclair dreams a lot of Demian before he even meets him and draws his face when he is conscious. Nothing happens for no reason if we’re thinking analytically. Perhaps, if we want to assume Jungkook is meant to represent Sinclair, then Taehyung is the idea or friend that is stopping this process of fulling maturing like Demian. Taking it back to Omelas, Jungkook is seeing too much happiness in his friends (Run), so there is something he must not be seeing (the child, suffering at the weight of a city’s happiness), which he soon sees in his argument with Yoongi. Jungkook is maturing and gaps are forming in his mind, before he has seen the whole picture. Then, he sees the true suffering of his friends, and takes the first baby steps out of Omelas.

But if we believe Jungkook is Sinclair, then who is Demian? Many believe Jin – for most of the HYYH, he is the one who is separated from the rest of them heavily. He films what they do. But are we sure Jin is meant to be Demian? Is he not clinging onto the youth and treasuring its moments while it lasts? In Awake, Jin’s short film, he is not paired like any of the others. Jin is well and truly alone. He is also unwell, shaking and hallucinating as he sees the members in polaroids. He is locked in a room that he wants to escape and claws at the walls and he is burning the petals, assumably symbolising the same petals we saw in I Need U. Now, there’s a thing about the lilies which could shift theories either way – lilies symbolise that the soul of the departed has received restored innocence after death (source). HYYH shows us the youth of BTS. If I Need U is a song about happiness within sadness, then Run is about sadness within happiness, as Jungkook has said (source). There has always been their innocence, yes, but each member is well aware of unhappiness. I’m not saying that the happiness we see in these videos means they’re dead, but it is something that should be kept in mind. As I’ve said before, I, personally, do not think this story is about death, but growing up and maturing. If we’re going to amp up the meaning of Omelas, it could read a little more like: the lilies symbolise that the soul of those mature, can still be happy once they have walked away from Omelas (the utopian city BTS have built themselves in their friendship, and innocence). Jin in Spring Day is seen picturing with his fingers at the bottom of an encasing staircase as the other members run up the stairs, occasionally checking on their hyung at the bottom. He is frowning, however, like he does in Awake. He’s taking a picture of what is leaving him, like the candles extinguishing as soon as the flash hits them.

Maybe Jin is the one stuck in innocence. Drowning, falling, all while he is awake. But he leaves the room when the sound of a train passes, and he walks down the corridor, around the corner. I think this is the acceptance. Acceptance that he cannot grow old and mature while his lifeline lays in what once was. Jin boards the train. Away from Omelas. Where he can grow old, with those he loves most and has separated himself from long enough to get sick because they have matured without him, but left the door open for him. Jin boards the train away from Omelas where he can grow old with his best friends; he burns the lilies and destroys the idea that they will still be innocent on the other side of their youth.

Another thing which I have seen people speculating is that Taehyung is the child suffering for the weight of Omelas’ happiness. It’s easy to assume this, from the scenes of him being caged in Stigma, but I don’t think so. They are all suffering in some way. Taehyung placing his head on the lines of a railway track does not have to mean it is his suicide, like him jumping off things in the prologue and BST does not mean so either. He is self-destructive. We see him walking along the lines later on in the video, and in the train with the rest of them at the end. Perhaps, like Jin, Taehyung is slow to mature. He is still living recklessly, like we see him in Stigma. But there is a point where he becomes locked in this type of living, unable to escape but his friends (the dog, the snow, white, dog) are able to. I’ve seen screenshots from the Spring Day on other theories, and Taehyung, at first in the scene where Jungkook goes through the last door, is not there at the beginning of the shot, but appears in the shot of them running from behind. Is this to do with the angle of the shot, or is Taehyung the last one to mature? Was it to do with the phone call he made in the prologue?

This leads me to the pairings, and how I think they are interpreted into this idea.

To start with, I’ll talk about Taehyung and Namjoon. We assume (according to the prologue), after Taehyung kills his abusive alcoholic father (OR just has bloodied hands), he calls someone unnamed, but referred to as ‘hyung’. He asks to see him again. If we aren’t going to straight away assume that the bloodied hands come from his father, then we can rule out it being the murders of most members since none of them particularly have a bloody ‘death’/attempt in I Need U as we do not know if the car actually hit Jungkook and killed him, despite references to it in First Love and Begin, and it could have very easily been non-fatal. The blood on his hands might not have been his father's. Jungkook is definitely a possibility, and this is just something I have realised as I am writing this, because in Reflection we hear and see a lot of shattering glass, and in Stigma we see one shot of the same glass shattering. But that’s for Jungkook – back to Taehyung and Namjoon. In Run, they are partners in crime, running from the police and causing havoc and getting arrested together. But in their short films, the next step on, they are very much separate. Taehyung is getting arrested on his own for petty crimes, the graffiti of Abraxas is something which should not be ignored, either, as Abraxas is the god who is both good and bad. The Devil and God in one being. Perhaps this shows Taehyung as understanding the concept that all is not good for him, as we see him caged and his last hope runs away. Did something happen to Namjoon that meant Taehyung can no longer see him, or be with him? My vague, very vague, idea of this timeline would be that Namjoon matured and left behind the petty crimes of adolescence and his point of realisation could have been the murder of Taehyung’s dad. In Reflection he hears the phone ringing but the phone box is locked and written over it is ‘LIAR’, in red paint. However, this could also be a second phone call, or not even from Taehyung. In the Japanese Run MV, Namjoon is holding the phone in a phonebox, but then he drops the phone from some kind of emotion. Was that the phone call in the prologue? Perhaps the chains around the phone box in Reflection are the barrier between maturity and immaturity that Namjoon cannot break, even though he wants to help Taehyung out of this complex. He wants to answer the phone call which is Taehyung's plead for help; he wants another chance to help Taehyung. If we want to go the other way, the reflective metaphorical and emotional way, is Namjoon calling himself a liar because he holds a hatred only for himself, because he lied to himself for many years of his youth that this is all okay, because we are still in Omelas, and he left before he could help anyone else. Nonetheless, Namjoon left Taehyung behind even if he never intended to, and Taehyung continues his petty crimes alone. Until he boards the train, with his best friends.

Now, Hoseok and Jimin. I haven’t really mentioned them much, have I? In Run they are together, but in what looks like hospital beds. In Lie and Mama, this is taken a step further with Hoseok emitted to a psychiatric ward, with an illness noted as Munchausen syndrome, and I must note I do not take psychology, but from quick research (source, the NHS is the british health service, so the most reliable source I could find) it is a disorder where the person suffering from it is not ‘ill’ so to speak, as in nothing is physically or, only sometimes, mentally wrong with them, but they feign being ill and purposefully try to catch illnesses. This could be because they have problems establishing their own identities, or forming meaningful relationships, and, as a result of feigning illnesses, they can adopt an identity that means they will have unconditional support and acceptance and have their own place in a hospital if they are emitted, allowing them into a social network. So this alone tells us a lot about Hoseok, as well as raising a lot more questions. Hoseok is given pills and they are for a placebo (they do nothing) effect, but he hallucinates and illustrates his erratic behaviour as the effect “kicks in”. Now I’m sure there’s a relevance to this, perhaps showing us that Hoseok has acquired a dependance on substances to stay sane, but we can obviously see that he is not. After his trip – his bright, blinding, infuriating for him, trip – he wakes up and can walk out the room. He sees the image of the trees Jimin pointed the camera towards (some kind of subliminal messaging between the two? Like Sinclair and Demain?), and takes a bite of his snickers, and walks away as the image transitions to a mother cradling her son. To go back to our set of stories, in Demian, Eva (the mother of Demian) gave Sinclair chocolate bars when he was upset. What I’m thinking is that something was taken away from Hoseok, some love, to the point where a simple reminder of it can make him feel better than any pill. Pills are a bad time for him, love is a good one, like the parallels of sadness and happiness we see in I Need U and Run. Of course you can see where I’m getting at – Jimin. Jimin was taken anyway from Hoseok, or the other way round, but nonetheless they are separated. Jimin’s short film denotes a similar atmosphere to Hoseok’s, in that they are both in isolation, somewhere away from other people and they are being watched. Jimin is shown a number of cards, shrugs at the first one (which is the same as Begin, and in the context of Not Today, Jimin has no hard feelings towards Jungkook, even perhaps he understands Jungkook has moved on and feels similar) before looking down at his lap, then falls backwards into a different sequence when shown the second. The second is also the one which we see concluding his short film, so my assumption is that this is meant to represent himself. So he falls back into his usual fate--his true self beyond the impersonal questions anyone can ask him; then he is shown a card inscribed with Eva all over – Hoseok? He reaches to the bed next to him, an empty, empty bed, and we see pills retracting from the glass like in Mama. He is then taken into a new sequence with his song, and we hear a gunshot at some point; in Demian, Sinclair was shot when he fought in the war, and found Demian in the bed next to him. Is, then, Hoseok feigning his illness so he can see Jimin again? I understand that is quite a…farfetched idea, like a lot of mine are, but I don’t think it should be ignored. Coming back to edit this after the Not Today MV, this signifies quite a bit. I’m still confused after Not Today came out as I am overthinking quite a lot of it, but I will explain my thoughts on that later on. Back to Hoseok and Jimin, they have both been taken away from each other in medical facilities, losing their sense of love as they are left cold, and, in the case of Jimin, out in the open.

So, last pairing, Yoongi and Jungkook. I’ve already spoken quite a bit about Jungkook’s short film, so I’ll now go into depth on Yoongi’s. The narrative is a little more obvious here, but there’s still a lot left unsaid. Yoongi is so in love with the piano that he will break in to play one, yet when he plays he loses interest, but then is drawn out of the shop by a whistle – the same one we heard in Begin – into the road. Now, the next bit is obviously the climax of the piece because a car speeds towards Yoongi, and he dodges at the last minute. We hear no sound immediately which indicates impact with another being, but after the vehicle collides with the shop, there are streaks of blood coating the floor. Another thing to note: there is a hand sticking out the window and holding the top of the frame as it goes past Yoongi. My thoughts are immediately back to the blood on Taehyung’s hands. Could this be it? He then runs back to the shop, back to his piano, back to his first love, but the piano is burning. I think, this could be interpreted as the idea that Yoongi is so desperately searching for comfort, but when he finds it, it does not stay for long. I believe Jungkook was the first one to find maturity, despite his age, so this shows that Yoongi is looking for Jungkook, so desperately, but he’s gone. Matured. There is also their sequence in Run too, where Yoongi is intoxicated and Jungkook is hugging him, wanting him to just stop. But he doesn’t and Jungkook punches him. Now, coming back to write this just after the Not Today MV has been released, I can already see that many people are going to believe that the drawing with blood on it in begin is Yoongi ‘shot’, but I don’t think that’s the assumption to come to. Jungkook punches Yoongi and there is blood on the stairs – I think that is what the blood splatter is supposed to show. Not a gun shot. I also believe that, yes, perhaps Jungkook was hit by the car, although it was not fatal. Like the piano burning, as Yoongi walks away from his first love, his first best friend, he loses Jungkook. Jungkook is hit by a car and he matures from then on. Yoongi is left behind. But there is also a sense of regret, especially in Begin. He wakes up from a nightmare about the incident, only to fall back into another one, plagued by imagery of Yoongi. I think he is saddened and feels like he has betrayed Yoongi by moving onto maturity, he sees that Yoongi has fallen into self destructive habits by setting a room on fire with gasoline, all while he is inside. Jungkook doesn’t want to accept this. He shakes his head while calling for his hyung, calling for him to stop, and then the wings distract him. As I’ve already mentioned these present the image of Taehyung, Jungkook sees more of his friends suffering. The drawing, before of Yoongi, turns into a bird, much like the kind of bird used to present the imagery of Sinclair maturing in Demian.

And for Spring Day, Jungkook thinks he is riding this train away from Omelas on his own. He sits in the carriage on his own, until the end, where he stirs from his rest and his hyungs are all with him at their destination. It’s not their final destination, as the shoes Jimin’s been holding all through the MVs are tied to the tree. I feel like this video explains the idea of the shoes better than I could ever of had, and I’ve seen a lot about the Sewol ferry disaster and spring day being a tribute that while the high school students may have never peaked to maturity and adulthood, they will not be forgotten. I know BTS like to delve into social issues, but I don’t think that they have intentionally isolated this incident. They might have intended to show this through their message of this youth will end and all will be okay concept, but there is still more to talk about, in terms of BTS’ concept and not including the Sewol ferry disaster, as, alike the creator of the video I linked, I am also hesitant to jump to the conclusion that this is exactly what they are trying to show. We know in the BST teaser pictures, Jin wasn’t wearing any shoes, and at the end of the Spring Day MV, there are only six people standing there instead of seven. Was Jin, somehow, left behind? Never there to begin with? The one who died (I know I have said I don’t think this is a matter of death in theories, but I’m not going to completely ignore it), and his spirit is living with them and, like the lilies the white shoes are symbolising that the soul of the departed has received restored innocence after death? Where he was sick in Awake, has he finally reached peace through death? Or has he moved on from them. Mature still, but left them behind as friends to find a new beginning. Like spring, Jin moving on does not have to be the definite end and then a beginning, but rather an awakening. He has lived through youth in every other season, but in spring, he is surrounded by something different: something, or somewhere, he was meant to be.

I also feel like I need to address Blood Sweat and Tears a little more for complete clarity – the line which sees the music video to a halt “he too, was a tempter. He too, was a link to the second: the evil world with which I no longer wanted anything to do,” along with everyone but Taehyung and Jin staying behind as the rest run out of the museum, the museum with which the painting “the fall of the rebel angels” is held in. My idea of this is that leaving the museum (Omelas) is them maturing, them avoiding the fate of falling as the angels of youth and rebellion – Icarus is also heavily hinted (if you do not know the story of Icarus, it is one of a boy who flew too close to the sun, on wings of wax, when he was too exhilarated by the thought of flying to remember his father’s warning, and plummeted into the sea), perhaps showing that if they continue to challenge maturity until they cannot go any further, they will fall. The wings they are given with the chance to fly out of from immaturity will melt. Taehyung, in this instance, is the tempter. He does not follow the rest, but stays with Jin and pulls him further into the idea that only youth is where he can be happy, hence, in Jin’s short film, there is “a bird fighting its way out the egg” and “who would be born must first destroy a world”, the egg, or world, is the one that Jin has been drawn into by Taehyung. If we want to take the religious incantations of Abraxas, too, we could say Taehyung doesn’t have to be a fallen angel. If Abraxas is the god of the Devil and God we know, then Abraxas recognizes both good and bad. There are no angels like other gods have, angels without free will. Taehyung could very easily be an angel of Abraxas. So, why did he lose his wings then? Because he started to only see bad when his friends left him. If the other members were his ‘wings’, the good side of life, when they have matured he is left in the immaturity where, for the lack of a better phrase, everything is shit. In his eyes, it is not fair, but isn’t Abraxas meant to be the god who is fairer? So he rebels. Rebels against the god of fairness because his situation is, by far, unfair. And he flew too close to the sun. He knows what he is bringing Jin into is bad, but when even his own God cannot be fair to him, there is a blur in his perception of moralities. He is the one who gives Jin the statue to kiss. By Jin kissing the statue, he is sympathising with Taehyung and staying with him, because Taehyung has tempted him into the idea that only all can be good when the rest of them were there at the time of youth. That is the world Jin must destroy before he can be with the rest of them. And I’ve already mentioned the wings representing Taehyung in begin, but yet again, Taehyung is the tempter.

This also relates to the many apples placed in the Wings era – like Adam and Eve, the apple, or, the forbidden fruit, is something the snake tempts them to take a bite of. In awake, the apple is on Jin’s plate but he does not eat it. He does not want to accept that there is a difference between good and bad: he heavily considers it, but in the end, he drops it on the floor. Jimin, in Lie, takes a bite out of his apple, freeing himself from the ‘lie’ he has caught himself in. The ideal life of youth untainted. In BST, we also see Yoongi and Jimin sat opposite to each other in a room, Jimin is holding an apple and Yoongi is holding a blindfold. Does Jimin realise the dangers of youth first, and help Yoongi? They are paired together in the short films, after all.

Talking of the pairings in the Wings transitions – Hoseok and Taehyung. Now, unlike Jimin and Yoongi, and Namjoon and Jungkook, Hoseok is not in a room with anyone else. In fact, the only interaction he has is the beginning with Taehyung, and later on alluded that the arrow he shoots splatters paint against Taehyung’s profile. In Mama, Hoseok pulls feathers out of the walls and becomes almost terrified at the sight of them – I know this could be overanalyzing again, but it could also be meant as a double meaning as well as Jimin. I think Hoseok knows what Taehyung is doing. He doesn’t want his friend to fall too far into this hole the murder of his father has launched him into. But Hoseok cannot help him because he is elsewhere (matured? In his own hell? In Mama? I’m not too sure) and he is living with the guilt that he can tear the feathers from Taehyung’s wings, but cannot bring him up. Icarus flew too close to the sun and his father could not save him, after all.

Another thing I question is if the order of which they exit the museum, is the order of which they mature. Jungkook and Namjoon, Hoseok, Jimin and Yoongi, and then Taehyung and Jin. According to everything else I’ve taken into account, it seems reasonable, yet as to why Hoseok seems secluded from the others in context of Spring Day too, I am unsure.

I guess I have to bring Not Today into this now, too. I don’t think anyone was shot. I think it was what it could have been, since Jungkook’s eye in the shot of him seeing him standing while the others have fallen is not his eye in that moment. What happened is “not today”. It’s what would have happened if BTS didn’t leave Omelas and stayed there until youth came as the death of them. Reality would have caught up with them. As for the formation of their running, I think it makes a lot of sense for it to be like it is. Jungkook leads, and Jin and Taehyung are just behind him because, in a way, those two are the ones closest to peaking maturity before they fall into the ideologies that youth is home and happiness. One thing I have noticed, however, is that it doesn’t appear Namjoon was “shot”. Whether this is a case of he should have been when filming the MV, I don’t think Bighit would have made that mistake, so I believe that the time from which that could have been is on the timeline where Namjoon and Jungkook were the only ones who had made it out of Omelas and on the train we see them on at the beginning of Spring Day.

One thing I am very sure of, however, is that BTS will take this concept further. I hope they do. I hope I can continue to question every detail because honestly, I find it fun. It’s something different. I’m a literature enthusiast who nerds out over essays, so obviously this is something I would enjoy. BTS have shown us the ways they can take this concept further and the potential it has, and I really hope they do. If anyone wants to talk about this theory/stream of consciousness, then please do. And If anyone wants me to go into depth about certain characters/pairings/concepts, then I would more than happily do so. This is such a wonderful idea, and I am unbelievably proud.

[thedramafilesblog-blog]

We’re not a blog that is dedicated to reviewing music (including Kpop), but because we absolutely adore BTS and their music, we decided to do a memo-style review of the Music Video (MV) for their Japanese Version “Blood, Sweat & Tears” (血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.-).

***Note: If this is your first time browsing the Drama Files, please read The Rules on how our Memo-style reviews work.***

***Note: We really wanted to analyze the Blood, Sweat, Tears Korean MV before, but we missed out on the opportunity. We thought this MV was very interesting as well, so we were really eager to share our theories about what they could possibly signify. There are definitely many theories, so we thought we’d propose ours. Our views are simply theories and purely speculative.***

Memo

Dear Reader,

There have been some questions regarding the recent release of BTS’s 血、汗、涙 -Japanese Ver.- (“BST”), particularly:

(1) Who/What does each member represent?

(2) How is the ending clip that is reminiscient of the “I Need U” MV connected to BST?

Conclusion

(1.1) J-Hope acts as a guide. J-Hope is Archangel Michael and Frau Eva from Demian.

(1.2) V is Max Demian (“Demian”) from Demian and the Devil/Lucifer/the Fallen Angel (“the Devil”).

(1.3) Suga is Pistorius and the Old Wise Man (archetype).

(2) This will be answered in a subsequent Memo.

Background

Please read the first post to understand how this MV fits in with the other MVs and the different types of reality in this MV.

Please read the second post for a background on Demian and other important concepts.

Here is some background information about Pistorius. In Demian, Pistorius is an organist whom Sinclair meets after his rebellious phase in boarding school. Sinclair also meets Pistorius after discovering a note in one of his books and the note talks about Abraxas. During one of his walks, he hears some unorthodox organ music and then meets Pistorius. Pistorius is the son of a well-respected clergyman and is a theologian as well. Pistorius sees mythology and religion as being connected, which made him inappropriate to act as a clergyman. Pistorius ends up becoming Sinclair’s mentor and teaches him in his room, before a fireplace. Although Pistorius shares interests in Abraxas and teaches Sinclair many concepts, Pistorius still chooses to accept/stay with the traditional view of Christianity.

Analysis

(1.1) J-Hope acts as a guide. J-Hope is Archangel Michael and Frau Eva from Demian.

Please read the first post to see this analysis.

(1.2) V is Max Demian (“Demian”) from Demian and the Devil/Lucifer/the Fallen Angel (“the Devil”) .

Please read this post for more information on V.

(1.3) Suga is Pistorius and the Wise Old Man (archetype).

Jubiemon J: We will first look at Suga’s character based on an analysis of Pistorius in Demian and then we will see how he fits in with one of the Jungian archetypes.

(i) Suga is Pistorius due to his connection with the piano/organ, his pairings with Jungkook and Jimin, and his short clip “First Love”.

First, in both “BST” MVs, Suga is always associated with a piano or organ. (Side note: I know in the MVs, pianos are used instead, probably because of an ease of transportation. However, in the Korean “BST” MV, we hear Suga playing the organ during one of the MV breaks. That’s why I say “piano or organ”.) Likewise, Pistorius is . . . an organist!

Suga the pianist in the Korean “BST” MV!

Suga in “BST” with the piano behind him!

Secondly, Suga has a mentor/mentee relationship with two of the members, Jimin and Jungkook.

This relationship works because of a couple of assumptions:

(a) A character’s identity based on Demian changes depending on the member’s relationship to another and that at some point, everyone starts out as a Sinclair. The only character that is fixed is J-Hope’s (See Figure 1: Chart of Relationships below.)

Figure 1: Chart of Relationships

(b) For the Korean “BST”, ““I Need U”, “Run”, and BTS 화양연화 On Stage Prologue, there are different timelines going on.

There will be a memo giving a summary of all the relationships. For now, we will just focus on the Suga/Jungkook and Suga/Jimin pairings as this post is about Suga. The arrow means “influences”. The red line means “connects”. J-Hope connects to everyone. Suga influences Jimin. Jungkook influences Suga and Suga also influences Jungkook.

Suga/Jungkook pairing

In the MVs for “BST” and “Run” and the short clip/teaser for Jungkook’s “Begin”, we see Jungkook and Suga being grouped as a duo. Jungkook is Sinclair and Suga is Pistorius.

In Jungkook’s “Begin” clip, Jungkook holds a drawing of Suga and there is also a drawing of Suga on the wall. We then see a painting in front of Jungkook. It’s hard to tell who that painting is of; it could be Suga, V, or Jungkook. (This will be explained in detail in Jungkook’s post.) In the chapter, Jacob’s Fight with an Angel, which is where Pistorius is introduced, Sinclair also looks at a painting that is of a half-male/half-female. The painting then continues to change forms and Sinclair also claims he had burned it. That’s similar to the short clip.

Now that we see that Suga is connected to Jungkook. We will examine their relationship. Suga and Jungkook only interact with each other in the external reality. In “Run”, Suga is the one that seems to want to start something and Jungkook is restraining him. I think that’s more or less symbolic that Jungkook is somewhat resisting change. It’s analogous to the scene in Demian where Pistorius challenges some moral beliefs that Sinclair held. Sinclair believes that murdering someone you hate is still wrong. Pistorius says that if we want to murder someone we hate, it’s because that person possesses something that we hate within ourselves.

Suga is able to dominate Jungkook who is left on the ground, injured. By Suga throwing a chair at the mirror that shows blue roses in a vase, he is breaking what seems to be the “unattainable”/”mystery” and lets Jungkook see more of the truth.

Blue roses don’t exist in nature. Blue flowers are generally rare (See here for more explanation.) Blue roses can mean mystery, the unattainable/impossible, new opportunities, and new possibilities (See here).

Notice how it’s the mirror that’s broken and not the actual vase of roses; that’s an important distinction because mirrors tend to represent identity, self-consciousness, as well as the “oppositional themes of reality and illusion, candor and deception, logic and disorder, narcissism and self-loathing, symmetry and imbalance, and flattery and harsh indifference” (See here). On one hand, we see a better self and the world that we live in, yet we also see our subconscious self. In art, mirrors are associated with self-knowledge and vanity due to the Narcissus myth. Moreover, in Christian art, mirrors mean the purity of the Virgin Mary (Look here). Breaking that mirror is also breaking the traditional sense of “purity” and destroying what we know as ourselves (ie illusion).

      Mirror breaking…not the vase + flowers!

Pistorius also says in the beginning of the chapter to Sinclair: “[Y]ou accuse yourself of taking a road different from most people. You have to unlearn that. Gaze into the fire [. . .] don’t ask whether it’s permitted or would you please your teachers or father, or some god. You will ruin yourself if you do that.” Pistorius is telling Sinclair that Sinclair must break free of what he once believed.

Sinclair eventually says a lot of harsh words to Pistorius like he is antiquated and Sinclair’s friendship with Pistorius comes to an end. Pistorius admits that he still chose to stick with the traditional view of Christianity. Pistorius explains:

I have the desire to become a priest, as you know. I wanted most of all to become the priest of the new religion that we have so many presentiments of. I’ll never be able to–I know that, and I’ve known it for a long time, though I never fully admitted to myself. […] But I must always be surrounded by I feel to be beautiful and holy, organ music and mystery cult, symbol and myth; I need it and I won’t give it up. –That’s my weakness. Because I know at times, Sinclair, I know sometimes that I shouldn’t have such desires, that they represent a luxury and weakness. […] But I can’t (p. 84, Jacob’s Fight with the Angel).

This is like in “BST” where Suga is the one trying to pull Jungkook away from the toilet.

Suga pulling Jungkook away 

Jungkook pushes Suga away.

Jungkook, in the Korean “BST” MV and in “BST”, ends up succumbing to Rapmonster’s temptation, the absinthe drink. This time it is Jungkook who ironically pushes Suga away and surpasses his mentor. Jungkook is Sinclair and Rapmonster is Demian here. Remember that in the external reality, Suga is still Pistorius to Jungkook, who is also Sinclair.

Suga/Jimin pairing

In the Korean “BST” MV, we only see Suga being paired with Jimin. Suga is the one that’s covering Jimin’s eyes or putting a blindfold on him. Suga is Pistorius and Jimin is Sinclair.

Jimin, as Sinclair, starts out having his eyes covered just by Suga’s hands. He is still not exposed to the harsh reality. Later we move from Rapmonster and Jungkook with the green smoke and up to Jimin and Suga, who are kneeling across from each other. Rapmonster, Demian here, and Jungkook, Sinclair here, are on a level lower than the other two. Pistorius never dives deeper and breaks free from traditional views of the world and Jimin, who is acting as Sinclair here, is at a point where he has just met Pistorius.

Also notice how Jimin is holding a red apple, while Suga is grasping a black blindfold.

Apple in Jimin’s hand vs black blindfold in Suga’s hands

Blindfolds are important symbols. In Law, Lady Justice wears a blindfold, meaning that a blindfold symbolizes objectivity and impartiality (See here). They can also represent resistance to clarity and mean the interplay between the conscious and the unconscious. Wearing a blindfold symbolises a lesser state of consciousnesses, while taking it off is like an awakening (Source).

The shade black is related to power, authority, death, mystery, evil, rebellion, and strength (Source). In art, the meaning of black changes throughout the periods: in the early Christian period, black was related to evilness, while in the medieval era, it symbolized royalty (Source).

In this case, I think that the black blindfold works to encompass nearly all of the meanings. Jimin is becoming more aware and objective as he wears the blindfold, meaning that he accepts Suga as his mentor. This is like how Sinclair starts to learn from Pistorius. However, by learning from Suga, Jimin is also in a lesser state of consciousness; like mentioned before, Pistorius is still attached to the traditional views of Christianity. There’s power through learning about oneself. There’s a sense of a rebellion from being different from others. There’s also death of one’s old self and mystery in the process of self-discovery. Others might view this change as being evil; hence, Jimin is holding onto that red apple. We know that red apples symbolize the apple from the Garden of Eden. Apples are temptation. Jimin is struggling with temptation here.

Okay, so the question that’s probably lingering in your mind would be this: How can we have two Sinclairs and two Pistoriuses? Remember that we’ve said that the scenes with Jimin, which are filmed in this blue-ish tint, represents the deeper self which is part of the psychical reality.

Blue tint!

In fact, Jimin represents all the Sinclairs that are searching for one’s shadow, so you can say that Jimin is an extension of Jungkook, Jin, and Rapmonster.

(Side note: There will be detailed posts about these members later, but for clarity’s sake, a shadow is the unconscious part that we don’t identify with and often associate as the “dark side”.)

If the Pistorius – Sinclair relationship is shown by Suga and Jungkook in the external reality, then that relationship in the inner/psychical reality is depicted by Suga and Jimin.

Finally, Suga is Pistorius because of what’s seen in his short clip: “First Love”. Although it seems like he starts out as Sinclair, he ends up being Pistorius due to his return to his burnt piano. Suga’s MV is positioned at #4 out of the 7 clips. Rapmonster first narrates these lines from the chapter, Beatrice, in Demian.

There are numerous ways in which God can make us lonely and lead us back to ourselves. This is the way he dealt with me at the time.

Beatrice is the chapter that comes before Sinclair meets Pistorius; this is important because it shows that at this point, Suga is kind of like Sinclair. In many ways, Pistorius and Sinclair are quite similar: they are both eccentric and alone and share different views from others. That’s why Rapmonster says those sentences from that chapter where Sinclair has his rebellious stage during boarding school. He goes to bars and gets drunk often.

In the short clip, we see Suga breaking into a store to play the piano until he suddenly stops.

He hears this whistling that attracts him away to the streets that are filled with darkness. A car comes towards him, nearly hitting him. Instead, the car crashes right into the store with the piano. The piano ends up burning. Suga is seen going back to the burning store after he thinks to himself: “Would I have changed? If I had chosen a different path?” (See here. To be honest, I can’t read Korean, so I just have to assume that this translation is accurate. Translation, to me, is an art and you have to be careful about the word you choose to use. In some languages, some words just don’t have the exact meaning in the other language.) Then, Suga watches the burnt piano and stays there.

This whole scene proves that Suga ends up being Pistorius because although he is also attracted to Abraxas like how he follows the whistling and ends up being on that dark street, Suga goes back to the burning piano. We know that the piano/organ is connected to Pistorius. We also know that Pistorius admits that he is not “capable of standing so alone and naked” (Demian). He can’t let go of the past. Suga is running back to what he’s familiar with and what he can’t let go. However, he has already been introduced to the other side and so his piano is burning. He realizes that what he is familiar with isn’t exactly everything that’s meant out to be and that the “New had to be truly new and different”. He recognizes too that he is better served to lead people to self-discovery. The questions too that Suga asks reflect his curiosity about change.

A last point is that in the BTS MVs, Jin is often seen driving a truck, Jungkook is also supposedly hit by a truck in one of the MVs, or the truck carries another member elsewhere. The truck is like a symbol for transporting the members off to somewhere else, to the deeper end. In dreams, a truck is a journey towards one’s goal and is seen as a positive sign (See here). In this case, Suga avoids getting hit by the truck and he also doesn’t fall into a pool of water. The bathtub of water is overflowing, but Suga isn’t in it. Suga is still stuck where he was.

(Side note: In Demian, there’s a lot of symbolism with fire. Pistorius teaches Sinclair concepts in front of a fireplace. Sinclair burns his painting and more. Likewise in the BTS MVs, we will see a lot of symbols related to fire like the cigarette lighter and burning piano.) 

(ii) Suga is the Wise Old Man (Archetype).

Jubiemon J: Suga embodies the “knowledge, reflection, insight, wisdom, cleverness and intuition” of the Wise Old Man (Source). When Jimin meets Suga, Jimin learns more about himself. Moreover, Jimin seems to have come to Suga for help in the first place.

Think of the Wise Old Man like Merlin from the legends about King Arthur. In “the phenomenology of the spirit in fairytales”  by Carl G Jung, he clarifies that “[t]he figure of the wise old man is observed to appear where insight is needed that the conscious is unable to supply. He continues to explain that in fairytales, the Wise Old Man shows up when the hero is desperate for help and often ask questions to the Hero. Suga also challenges Jungkook in “Run”; we see them fighting with one another. Suga is there when Jungkook is struggling from throwing up in the washroom as seen in “BST”.

    (Side Note: The Wise Old Man and Pistorius are thoroughly connected, so this is why this section is shorter.)

(Side Note: I’ve been really enjoying how the short clips have tried their best to integrate not only the meaning of each member’s songs with Demian. Suga’s song, “First Love”, is all about his love for his piano. He raps about how he fell for his piano and then gave it up. Later he returned to loving his piano. I wouldn’t say that Pistorius’ situation is exactly the same as Suga with Pistorius’ feelings towards religion; however, their circumstances are similar.)

As always, feel free to suggest which member you’d like to be analyzed next or to leave comments about your thoughts! Personally, I’m leaning towards analyzing Jimin next as he has been connected to Suga.

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