This is part two of a series. Click here for part one.
T-ara continues their use of symbolism in the rabbit, which is a prominent symbol in both “Day by Day” and “Sexy Love.” After the initial expository scenes, the audience is introduced to Dani through a scene in which she is awakened by the apparent ruckus a rabbit is causing outside of her temporary shelter. This scene is used to illustrate Dani’s helplessness, but is also a foreshadowing of Dani’s later growth into the story’s heroine. In “The Child and the Shadow,” Le Guin discusses the need for animals in fantasy. According to her, the heroine or hero is easy pick out of a story, due to his/her affinity for acquiring animal guides. This is because animals are universal signifier for correct morality: “The animal does not reason, but it sees. And it acts with certainty; it acts appropriately."
This idea is illustrated in the rabbit, who both symbolizes and confirms Dani’s innocence.
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| Awwww |
Later, when her sister, Hyomin, finally catches the rabbit and brings it to Dani, the animal is passed to her, and she recoils, afraid and unfamiliar with the texture of fur. However, after a moment, she then smiles and pulls it into her arms, and it seems to accept her as well. There is a brief image of the trio, the two girls and their rabbit, relaxing in the foreground, while the dystopian city burns in the background. In this scene, the rabbit represents the bond between Dani and her sister, as they are nestled in a small safe-haven, framed by the looming environmental destruction. As a small herbivore, the rabbit also mirrors Dani’s position: the much hunted prey of larger predators, as illustrated in the juxtaposed scenes, in which the queen searches for Dani, never hesitating to kill for her cause. As explored in these opening moments of the video, the contrast between affectionate care-taking, as symbolized by the rabbit, and the ruthless, feudal loyalty that the queen commands are constantly contrasted throughout the rest of the video and its sequel.
Although the rabbit definitely symbolizes Dani herself, it also acts as a mental guide in a pivotal moment of “Sexy Love.” As earlier quoted, Le Guin says, an animal can “see” different from the way a human “reasons." This rabbit ability to “see” Dani’s true being is especially pronounced, as it features dark patches of fur around its eyes and ears. This is done to contrast Dani, who cannot “see,” in the typical sense, due to her blindness. Therefore, she needs a guide, and in this miniature-film, the guide’s role is doubled. It is her sister who physically guides Dani, protecting her from a multitude of various dangers, but ultimately failing due to human oversight: her strength is weak compared to her enemies, who outnumber and overpower her. While this scene takes a heartbreaking tone, with the music changing from action-befitting to a sad ballad as Hyomin screams for her sister, who is being carried away; it is also suggestive of a common human failing: one cannot always be the catcher in the rye, a protector of innocence.
However, according to Le Guin, animals do not attempt to cover up these non-innocent dark sides of the self. She argues that animals in fantasy actually guide characters to bring out their repressed sides: ”That is why all animals are beautiful. It is the animal within us, the primitive, the dark brother, the shadow soul, who is the guide." After the six year gap between “Day by Day” and “Sexy Love,” in which Dani is made into a passive object of war, it is her animal guide that makes sense of her memories and teaches her to release her “primitive” frustration. As Dani wonders the city, she comes across her family’s old shelter, in which she first saw the rabbit. The precious moments Dani had spent with Hyomin and the rabbit are once again juxtaposed with the cold affection of the queen: Jiyeon is shown banging Dani’s prison cell with her sword and playing with Dani’s hair in a detached way, treating her like a play-thing.
As Dani realizes the lie she had been living, the music grows rock-based and frantic, and her eyes glow blue, signifying her manifesting anger. “Stop right there [...] I thought I was impenetrable / But my mind is faltering,” the title song begins, as Dani’s memories begin to begin to make sense to her. The lyrics of the moment also illustrate giving into a “primitive” desire, using the dichotomy of love and lust. Dani is finally allowed to feel this pent up emotion because her “shadow soul,” has finally been brought to the forefront of her mind, due to her animal guide that allows her spiritual growth.
Dani’s rabbit is not the only highly metaphoric example of the “shadow” in “Day by Day”/”Sexy Love;” when Hyomin wakes up from her six year rest, she is also confronted with her demons, manifested in both her sister and the queen. As Le Guin claims, there comes a time in both life and literature when one must have a “confrontation with a shadow that’s been growing for thirty or forty years." Fortunately, Hyomin does not need to wait quite that long, but her absence from the story definitely allows her shadows to develop into a type of maturation.
Click here to check out another artist's songs that got better after a few years of maturation.
After Hyomin fully heals, she is quick to discover what has become of her sister. She watches from a hiding spot as Dani does the queen’s bidding, unemotionally killing multiple men. Jiyeon touches Dani’s shoulder briefly - another detached display of loyalty - and Dani slowly turns around, blue eyes glowing. In this moment, Hyomin is confronted with her “growing shadow,” her sister who has been left in the hands of an enemy. She looks on, and the moment slows down. Hyomin is betrayed and shocked, and the lyrics echo her feelings of helplessness: “I love you even if it hurts / Even if you are not looking at me / Like a sad doll, like a puppet / I will always be watching." The motif of sight is once again called to attention, this time consolidating Hyomin’s role as the guide to Dani’s heroine. Hyomin is forced to “watch” her shadow, foreshadowing later events, in which she tries to make the final move, but instead ends up a helpless victim of the queen’s reign.
After seeing the consequences of her long slumber, in which her sister is dehumanized, Hyomin also comes to a spiritual realization about herself: she can be queen’s shadow. She is shown in a contemplative mood at her caretaker’s house. In this moment, she takes on an archetypal role; the audience is given the visual of her as a wise mentor in lotus position. As images of Jiyeon flash through her mind, her feelings of shock and jealousy become anger, and she brandishes her sword as a violent threat to the queen. In this moment, her face is completely entrenched darkness, and she seems to knowingly take on the role of shadow, in the hopes that she can cause destruction to hierarchy that stumped her sister’s growth.
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| Hyomin taking on the role of wise mentor (imgs source) |
After this defining moment of character, Hyomin loses her own humanity and immediately goes to take action against the queen. She appears at the club scene, obviously determined. As Jiyeon throws off her crown, still hurt from her battle with Dani, Hyomin sheds her helmet, giving a strong visual of the mirror effect created by a shadow. The two finally approach each other, metaphorically stripped down into their basic natures. However, as they fight, they find themselves in a standstill. Le Guin says a heroine or hero must “see the whole, which is greater than evil or good." In this moment, Hyomin and Jiyeon are not “whole,” but two parts to the greater “good and evil.” Therefore, the must stand in a sword lock, waiting for the heroine to “see” the whole, and decide what to do.
Read about another fantasy-doll concept.
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