A Remarkable Approach, Which Had No Trouble Steering Me Towards A Different And More Enriching Perspective

A remarkable approach, which had no trouble steering me towards a different and more enriching perspective than the one I had before. Brilliant!

G.C.F. in Helsinki

Normally I’d stick to analyzing words and shy away from writing about a video or editing choices, but the overall response to Jungkook’s latest gcf (at least that I’ve seen) has kind of been disappointingly lacklustre, so I felt I had to throw in my two cents.

I’ve seen praise of how aesthetic it is or how his editing skills have become more polished, but the general opinion seems to be that gcf Helsinki lacks a story or that it was made mainly for work and therefore is missing something.

Of course, the video acts as a promo for the winter package, but it’s character is so distinctly Jungkook. And by god, I felt so emotional watching it the first time. If some of his earlier gcf’s read like stories, this one to me reads like poetry. A bit more subtle and abstract in its message perhaps, but not without meaning.

What I got from it was an anticipation of change and the members trying to realize themselves as individuals. This seems especially obvious to me if you think about where they are in their careers.

They’re facing military enlistment soon, and the end of their old contract. They have a new contract, but I don’t doubt that it will mean changes in how they work in the future. And the enlistment of some, if not all, members will certainly mean big changes to the group dynamic.

There are even clear references to coming war in the lyrics of the song JK chose: “why’d you spend your time leading the chorus, when the war was just waiting before us, as if you didn’t know.”

Thank you also to @aishirii (KMDestiny on YouTube) for pointing out that a large part of the gcf was filmed at the Castle of Finland, a sea fortress on the coast of Helsinki. Another reference possibly hinting at military enlistment.

And I don’t think this is a stretch, because it would be almost more odd if this wasn’t on all their minds.

Another reason I interpreted it this way is because of the clear division between before and after JK interrupts his own gcf with a sniff and a “sorry”. It’s almost jarring when the screen turns completely black and the song cuts out for this interruption, so you really can’t miss it.

Up until this point, this gcf had followed JK’s usual style. He shows his members as a group and individually with some silly moments thrown in where they pretend to fight each other. (If anyone thinks Jungkook doesn’t pay attention to lyrics just know that during this play-fight scene there’s a line that goes, “set away your hate”.)

Then comes the interruption and Jungkook seems to apologize for the silliness he just showed us. It’s almost like, “ok, I’ll get serious now.”

And after the interruption we only ever see the members on their own. They each get their own series of solo shots, but we never see them as a group again.

The couple shots there are of birds also mirror this.

Pre-interruption, we get the lyrics, “lose the sight of what’s to come, below or what’s above”, and on the “above” JK switches to a shot of three birds flying overhead as a group:

And immediately after the interruption, we get the shot of a single bird flying alone, mirroring how each of the members will be shown solo from now on:

Add to that the fact that Talos’s song used in the background of this gcf is called To Each His Own, and seems to be about making one’s own decisions and self-determination: “I’ll take the desert, you take the coast, to each his own.”

I’m sure with the changes headed their way they’re all trying to figure themselves out as individuals, who they are outside of BTS and the group.

The use of the colour in this gcf was also so transformational and seemed to indicate change.

Everything starts off bleakly grey and rainy:

But there are moments when the colours change and grow warm.

There’s a moment when RM smiles and the colour grading warms up, but the most stark is right after JK’s own solo shots. The black border transforms into a white one, the focus on the colourful leaves is shifting, and though the redness of the leaves indicates fall, this moment felt to me like spring suddenly arrived.

The shot we get of Jimin immediately afterwards is also filled with movement and colour with his bright red coat.

He ends the gcf on a similarly transformational shot, where the sunset/sunrise turns from greyscale to brilliant, warm colours.

I could ramble on, but there’s only so much I can say with confidence, and I think I’ve outlined the major themes Jungkook was toying with here. I just appreciated the heck out of this gcf and hope others will too, for more than just its aesthetic.

Someone in the comments of the video said "it's not a comeback, it's an artistic movement", and I couldn't agree more. This is a thrilling experience, to watch, to listen to, to feel, to connect to. I'm amazed at the transcendental power of this piece.

BTS , you have mesmerized me a second time. ✨

© SKY | Do not edit.

@stankris Thank you for another enlightening post ☺️

I felt my throat clench when I read the first part of Martha Graham's words you quoted. It rang so much across time, space and passion in any form as well. I'm sure many of us can relate and transpose it to many other fields, as long as they vibrate.

This is an incredible and inspiring lesson she gave, and that BTS have chosen to pay tribute too.

What I keep from this experience she went through and shared with the world, is that nothing has to end but everything can be transformed. It might demand struggle, personal hell even, scarring mourning. Yes, self-discovery is highly risky (Dante can relate).

I want to believe that everybody has their own purgatory waiting somewhere, like Martha Graham found her own. It might not be paradise indeed, but it's as close to heaven as it can get. I'm all for it, and I wish BTS, as individuals or as group, will find theirs.

Black Swan’s Epigraph

(Is it still called an epigraph if it’s at the beginning of a music video? I’m still calling it an epigraph.)

“a dancer dies twice – once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” -Martha Graham

This is a thought-provoking quote, and one that encapsulate’s the fear expressed in BTS’s Black Swan – the fear of growing numb to one’s art and losing one’s inspiration or passion, or being unable to continue it. 

But to understand why this epigraph was chosen, it’s just as important to look at the person behind these words.

Martha Graham is a legend who revolutionized the dance world, and essentially made modern dance what it is now. You can see why BTS, mold-breakers in their own respective field of art (kpop), might identify with her and her words.

She was also so passionate about her art, that when she retired from dance she sunk into a depression and turned to alcohol. Here is another quote from her:

It wasn’t until years after I had relinquished a ballet that I could bear to watch someone else dance it. I believe in never looking back, never indulging in nostalgia, or reminiscing. Yet how can you avoid it when you look on stage and see a dancer made up to look as you did thirty years ago, dancing a ballet you created with someone you were then deeply in love with, your husband? I think that is a circle of hell Dante omitted.

[When I stopped dancing] I had lost my will to live. I stayed home alone, ate very little, and drank too much and brooded. My face was ruined, and people say I looked odd, which I agreed with. Finally my system just gave in. I was in the hospital for a long time, much of it in a coma.

(Martha Graham, 1991 - Blood Memory)

When she spoke of a first death, she was scarcely being figurative – she loved dance so much that it almost killed her to give it up.

Luckily it didn’t and she went on to recover and continue choreographing dances, even if she would no longer perform them herself, until she passed away from pneumonia at the age of ninety-six.

I think the song Black Swan has a similarly consoling message. Even if they are afraid the end could be approaching in some form, there’s hope of a life after death.

Ego (wailing) : This was so beautiful! I can't! My heart is bursting with too many emotions!

Id (softly tapping the shoulder) : I know, I know. It's going to be alright...

Supergo: What's going on?

Id: Always that ongoing fic...

Superego: Oh, is it written now?

Write about what you’re afraid of.

Donald Barthelme (via quotemadness)