The Shocking Truth Behind this T-ara MV That Queens Won't Tell You

This is part three of a series. Click here for part one and here for part two.

The climactic buildup of “Sexy Love” is framed by a scene in a club, in which Dani and her queen engage in battle. The DJ is a curious creature of the setting, appearing to help out the queen by blasting music so that Dani cannot use her sense of hearing, and then completely disappearing from the story. In “In Defense of Disco,” Dyer discusses the setting of a discotheque, the club being its contemporary form, and what it does to the body and mind: “[Disco’s] eroticism allows us to rediscover our bodies as part of [an] experience of materialism and possibility of change." As the DJ dances in her booth, she embodies this “eroticism” of the body, appearing to be in ecstasy over the sound emerging from the speakers.

Soyeon as a DJ in "Sexy Love" (imgs sc)

Of the song “Sexy Love,” Trevor Link says, “Beginning with synths that resemble emergency sirens, ‘Sexy Love’ is the sound of the girl group in crisis, and the song’s mock-seductive chorus goes just a step too far, as T-ara tend to do, edging into the territory of the absurd. ‘Sexy eyes, sexy nose, sexy mouth’: to break down the body this way is not a sign of love but of convulsive terror, sheer instability.” Link points out the tone of confusion and terror the song takes, which is disguised to a casual listener by its pumping beat. Through its  “sheer instability,” “Sexy Love” allows the characters to “rediscover [their] bodies” into a new state. This is the moment in which important events of the storyline are converging, and in which the plot begins to irredeemably progress. By setting it in a club, T-ara points to the malleable state of both their bodies and morality, paving the way for their eventual grand statement about the way society needs to change.

And, as if it couldn't get more terrifying, T-ARA used a clown concept

As Hyomin and Jiyeon stand in their sword lock, staring at each other from across their weapons, they each representing a side of humanity: Hyomin, the amnesty of caretaking and friendship, and Jiyeon, the haughty ice queen of self-serving ambition. This highly symbolic moment is a perfect example of how fantasy “short-circuit[s] verbal reasoning and go straight to the thoughts that lie too deep to utter." No words are spoken, but the meaning is straightforward; even their hair - the warmth in Hyomin’s red, and the coldness in Jiyeon’s blonde - use symbolism.

However, it is only Dani, who represents the blind struggle of humanity in the dark unconsciousness, who breaks the two girls apart. In the moment while Dani scrambles on the floor for her sword that fell, while her sister and queen fight above her. Jiyeon smirks, certain that Dani will choose her instead of her sister, but she is wrong. Hyomin’s trust in passing Dani her weapon is a risk, but like the offering of the rabbit, it symbolizes the family between them. Dani is once again guided by her memories to fight against the evil.

However at this moment, Hyomin must die in order for Dani’s humanity to mature. In finishing her theory on animal guides, Le Guin claims, “The meaning of [an animal guide’s death] is that when you have followed the animal instincts far enough, then they must be sacrificed, so that the true self, the whole person, may step forth from the body of the animal, reborn." The moment in which Hyomin dies is when Dani kills Jiyeon, making a firm decision against evil. This is also the moment when the audience sees Dani as a human, as she falls to the floor crying, holding her sister. Her animalistic anger is gone, to be replaced with sorrow.

“Day by Day”/”Sexy Love” follows development of a young girl into a heroine, which is mirrored in its dystopian setting. In “The Child and the Shadow,” Le Guin says, “I believe that maturity is not an outgrowing, but a growing up; that an adult is not a dead child, but a child who survived. I believe that all of the best faculties of a mature human being exist in the child, and that if these faculties are encouraged in youth they will act well and wisely in the adult, but if they are repressed and denied in the child they will stunt and cripple the adult personality." This storyline illustrates this precisely.

While growing up with her sister, Dani’s freedom and amnesty is encouraged to develop. However, after she is stolen from her family, she turns into an object of war. Her psychic abilities are exploited, and she is chained to a moving platform, deceived into using her talents to facilitate a war. At this point, Dani’s maturity is stunted, causing her to become a shadow. As a tantalizing object of power, she corrupts the humans who search for her, ready to kill. However, she is allowed to mature again through the death of her sister, who doubles as her animal guide.

At the end of the video, Dani holds her sister and her eyes glow in rage. In the foreground, boxes shatter as the manifestation of Dani’s psychic abilities. However, in her mourning, the whole world is threatened, as comets flash through the sky, suggesting a second apocalypse. Not only is Dani reborn, but the whole world must be destroyed, so that a new one that favors friendship between women can be created.

Le Guin says, “There is an inverse correlation between fantasy and money." However, fantasy’s recent emergence into popular media has swayed the line between fantasy and profitability. In his essay “Why we Need Dragons: The Progressive Potential of Fantasy,” Daniel Baker highlights the fantasy series that have redefined the contemporary outlook on the genre: “The popularity of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and A Game of Thrones indicates that the genre is a pervasive phenomenon, demanding critical evaluation of its emotional appeal and its political implications." Baker demands that cultural analysts question the current growing hunger for fantasy; however, he warns against “escapist” fantasy that, through their escape from reality, serve only to “affirm dominant ideology.” He claims, “The vast majority of fantasy, those multi-volume mega-series, have been reflections, if not products of conservative politics." In favor of nationalistically “affirming culture,” Baker argues that fantasy can be used to change, specifically pointing to the dystopian subgenre as a way to illustrate to the reader the necessity of change.

By making visible reality’s dehumanizing aspects, its gaps and obstacles, [fiction] becomes a locus for dissatisfaction. Society must change, and change for the better, because it is under the control of shadowy forces, in a constant state of war, approaching a fully mechanized, exploitative existence, where individuals are alienated from the world and from one another. Acknowledging this problem is the first step towards recovery.

This idea is clearly illustrated in “Day by Day”/”Sexy Love,” as it constructs a reality in which the dehumanization of a young girl is normalized; she is forced into a “fully mechanized, exploitative state” by the “shadowy forces,” the ruling empire, of the world. Even in its very first moments, the dangers of this universe are described as such, “People became more animal-like than animals after the world was destroyed. To rule each other, they killed [one another] with swords in their hands." This regressive world, where humans become “animals,” highlights the objectification of young girls that happens in reality. Symbolically, Dani’s loyalty to the queen represents the reality “where individuals are alienated from the world and from one another,” but as her dissatisfaction becomes apparent, she acknowledges the problem and attempts to fix it.

Read more about objectification of idols in a reading of The Wonder Girl's "Like Money."

In too many fantasies, Baker claims that in their endings with closure, “The status quo is maintained because the reader feels no need to change as ‘evil’ has been vicariously defeated by the text’s hero and the need for social change effaced by nostalgic recollection." In T-ara’s videos, however, the ending is left open, provoking the reader into feeling the need for change.

Thanks for reading! If you have not already, check out part one and part two!