ladies' code
so wonderful is not a “sexy concept,” but it does borrow heavily from the current narrative surrounding sexy kpop: dark clothing, retro sound, policing of the female body by those who do not own the body and commentary on the male gaze. but ironically, so wonderful is the video that takes the objectification most literally, with a storyline about a group of mannequins in love with their hardworking creator. and unlike the previous videos, the girls are not meant to be seen as performing their feelings for someone else, as that someone cannot even see them. with this most recent video, the audience finally gets a look at the subjective feelings of these pose-able bodies. and unexpectedly, the dolls do not feel a strong frustration or anger in any sense. so wonderful is a song with an amazing sense of vulnerability; emotions range from the nostalgic happiness of a lost love to “dizzy and sad” to an underlying soft anger found in “shut off~shut off~” that eventually gives way to the simple, sublime feeling of “wonderful.”
so wonderful is full of images that should theoretically be very disturbing: girls missing arms, encased in plastic and blatantly ignored by the object of their affection. yet in context, they seem reasonable, even expected considering the storyline. but that is not to say these girls are compliant about it; although they are lifeless, these dolls are definitely not mindless: “I have a lot of things on my mind” rise sings from her inanimate position. zuny laments her situation, by comparing herself to her beloved: “You’re still so handsome / you’re handsome even without me there.” the implication, of course, is that the dolls would not be pretty without their creator and, taking it farther, the girls are would not judged on beauty without the male gaze
by the end of the video, it has definitely reached its disturbing potential: rise leaves the light of the showcase room to met the man in a black, void-like place, where he has become a doll himself. at this moment, the “wonderful” feeling begins to connotate delusion. once again, we are left with more questions than answers: why did the man break down? is rise looking at him satisfied or in mourning? for some reason, rise’s life seemed to depend on the man’s death.
in the end, it seems that a mannquin’s word should not be trusted, and if only men like the one above would stop treating women as objects then we wouldnt need to have this disccussion huh!!!!
If you think I should continue with this series, leave a comment to let me know!!
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