OMG it's a dream (Part I)
NewJeans' latest MV is a stab at reality
*This post is divided into two parts. Click here for Part II.
OMG.
This was how everyone around me, including myself, reacted after finishing NewJeans’ latest music video for—you guessed it—“OMG”.
If someone asked me to recount the narrative, I would respond: NewJeans is in a mental hospital where Hanni confesses she is an iPhone; Haein sports subway princess-wear; Dani rides a motorcycle; Minji acts like a doctor. Oh and to top it all off Haerin is a cat. In the midst of this mad-hatter situation all five girls dance to the choreography dressed in ward gowns and bunny hats.
What the hell does this all mean?
Fortunately, you don’t have to lose your mind over this. You have me.
Let’s get straight into it.
Duplicity, duplicity
Think of this music video as a mirror that reflects two different realities. At a glance, OMG is a love song—the girls gush about a guy who is willing to rush to their side no matter how far away or busy (멀리든 언제든지 달려와 / 바쁜 척도 없이 넌 나타나); he is “right there for [them] 24” . This same guy imbues the girls with a confidence and happiness that makes their hearts “be glowing”. Sounds like the girls have found a keeper.
Until you watch the music video that is. Whereas the OMG lyrics exude oh-I’m-so-infatuated high teen vibes, the music video is anything but romantic. There is no male protagonist. Just the girls dancing, laughing, and taking therapy sessions together. And in a way, this makes sense due to a simple reason.
The guy isn’t real.
Upon closer look, the lyrics to OMG hint at the guy’s imaginary presence. During the chorus Hanni remarks “I was really hoping that he will come through” in past tense, which implies that the guy never manifests in reality. Other lines such as “does this all make sense? (이게 말이 되니 난 물어봐) and “I’m going crazy right?” also allude to the fictive nature of their love interest. While it’s possible to argue that the above lines are expressions typically ushered on by serotonin (a love hormone), the music video suggests otherwise.
In other words, the girls are dreaming.
Dream motifs continue
Much like the two sides of a VHS tape, there are two sides to the dream that is mutually upheld by idols and their fans. If “Ditto” conveys the parasocial dreams of fans (e.g. Bunnies), “OMG” depicts the dream of stardom. Fame enswathes people like a dream; one can’t pinpoint when it begins and when it ends. All one knows is that one has been in the midst of it.
For NewJeans, their fame is manufactured by the dreams their fans project onto them. As many fans and theorists have already pointed out, Hanni’s odd epiphanic moment of “I am an iPhone” intimates that idols must take on the form wished by their fans. Like an iPhone that is always at our disposal, Hanni reflects how she will show, talk, sing and do what the audience wants (“당신이 보고 싶어하는 것을 보여주고, 당신을 위해 말하고, 당신을 위해 노래할 거예요”); Hanni is seen running on a vinyl record (aka producing music), reading a flood of (fan) letters, writing out “Please answer my call Hee-soo :(” in a manner that fulfills fanfic fantasies—actions that all arise in response to fan expectations. Such reflection culminates in the realization: I exist for you (“저는 당신을 위해 존재합니다”).
Who or what Hanni is doesn’t matter. She becomes the projection of her audience, which is why she responds in Siri’s voice when Minji misunderstands Hanni’s monologue to be a description of Siri. If Minji thinks she is Siri, then Hanni becomes Siri.
This revelation brings us to our next point: fame is a dream that has the power to consume its dreamer. A dream that blurs the line between who one really is, and what people expect one to be. In this MV, NewJeans suffer from amnesia; they have no memory of who they are, and are busy acting out roles they think are representative of who they should be.
NewJeans is essentially on a journey to recover and discover their respective identities. The confusion they feel is demonstrated by the following narrative devices:
a) in medias res: a fancy word for a technique that thrusts the audience into the middle of a narrative without any context. It’s up to us to figure out what is going on and thus reproduces the confusion NewJeans feel in viewers—why are the girls receiving therapy? Did something happen? Our disorientation mimics the emotional state of the idols undergoing an identity crisis.
left: Hanni right before sending the ringing alarm clock flying (10:10 AM/PM); right: Haein checking her iWatch alarm (12 AM) b) alarm motif: throughout the film we hear the echoes of a ringing iPhone alarm and catch a glimpse of Haein looking at her iWatch as the alarm goes off at midnight in Cinderella-esque fashion. Both alarms are signaling to the girls that it’s time to wake up from their respective dreams (more on this later). What’s interesting is that whereas Haein just checks her alarm, Hanni sends hers off flying with a powerful swing—a symbolic gesture that reflects her determination to continue her dream as an idol.
Haein sings “don’t wake me up from my dream” in Attention c) Haein’s “don’t wake me up from my dream” (꿈에서 깨워주지마) clip: is the second to final scene in a montage that whirls by like a glitching train before Attention era Minji says “that’s enough” (이제 그만). That the montage consists of clips from NewJeans’ past performances for Attention, Hypeboy, Cookie, Ditto and that Haein’s line overlaps with the dream-like theme of OMG is no coincidence. The girls are living a dream—the idol dream. A dream that eludes so many but is so fantastical that it can overwhelm the few that live it.
This is the end of Part I. Click here for Part II to continue reading the rest of the analysis.
I loved this music video! While I was a bit hesitant about the whole mental institution story line, I did notice it was a tribute to the film "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK." I'm fascinated with NJ's exploration of parasocial relationships, and what that says about us fans but also idols. They really are killing it!
There are a lot of allusions sprinkled throughout the video and I had fun unpacking the entire narrative, as convoluted as it is. Love the collab between Ador and Dolphiners Films!