2NE1 “Gotta Be You” MV Review

So back when Come Back Home and Happy came out I said Gotta Be You was the best song and deserved it’s own video. Well, it seems YG heard my prayers! Unfortunately, they were severely misconstrued by the time they made it to Korea. Thus, this week I’ll be reviewing Gotta Be You, a.k.a. Did You Seriously Just Ruin My Favorite Song? MV.

The Song

The song is amazing. It’s the best one from the Crush album.It’s a dance pop song that doesn’t try to be more than what it is; which is rare nowadays in a K-Pop world filled with dated dubstep and songs composed of six discarded demos.

The lyrical story is about a romance that has become utterly addicting to the members. When the song begins, the boyfriend has broken off the relationship but the members can’t seem to move on (“I hated you for coldly saying this is the end.”/”I’ve got to be with you, it can’t be the end.”/”It ain’t over till it’s over.”). They want to hate the ex-boyfriend for his cruel outbursts (“Even if I’m broken down hundreds of times by your fierce waves.”), but instead they feel like they want to fall back into the prison of his love. They are willing to fight for this love, like a fox, they have nine lives. This can be interpreted two ways. 1.) The girls were in an unhealthy relationship filled with jealousy, cheating and screaming and are afraid of moving on. Or 2.) The members are singing about an unhealthy obsession caused by the intense emotions one feels when truly, madly in love with the person they want to spend the rest of their life with. I choose the second interpretation. All relationships are oceans, with unpredictable waves, rough tides, and the occasional drowning victim…I think this interpretation might be a bit morbid. Anyway, you can imagine my frustration when that WASN’T the story in the MV.

 The MV Plot

In the MV, the boyfriend seems to have cheated and is asking for forgiveness. In other words, he never broke off the relationship to begin with…so how on earth does this MV correlate to the song? Oh right, the 2NE1 members are completely willing to stand his douchebag tendencies because they’re obsessed with him. This still has NOTHING to do with a song about a BOYFRIEND who BROKE OFF THE RELATIONSHIP and the GIRLS WANT HIM BACK. This is an entirely different story!

The MV Execution

So this is how the production process went down. The creative team got drunk out of their minds and decided to put the girls inside a maze painted with the most heinous neon colors, place tiger-stripped pants on a douchy-looking model, and dress the 2NE1 members in clothes printed with the bodies of mutilated Muppets. Then they labeled it “Pop Art” and called it a day. I don’t care about “Andy Warhol references” or “juxtaposition visuals” (yeah, whatever Billboard), this is just unappealing to the eye. Then, to top it off, the video switches back and forth between black-and-white frames and the vividly colored ones. I get what they were going for: the members are willing to lose their liveliness and live in a cruel world, so long as they can stay beside the one they love. But seriously, way to assault my eyes. This is why neon paint should never be used, for anything.

 

 

 

The Acting

The best part of this MV was, surprisingly, CL. She was animated, she actually moved her lips, and was the only member who didn’t look bored out of her mind in every frame. She was the only member that wasn’t overwhelmed by the jarring environment and actually stood out. I also loved the scene where it’s raining and she’s in front of the race car. That was the BEST scene in the entire MV (and it’s not because of the overused metaphor where water signifies rebirth).

The Wardrobe

The stylists need to stop putting these ugly beanies on Dara! She’s not bald! You literally shaved off half of her hair and it was back in three minutes. Yeah, I get it, you’re trying to make her look “gangster.” Except she’s like 5’5 and 90 pounds so…Look at her, so adorable. I want to give her a hug, and then shake my head in a mildly reprimanding manner while taking off that ridiculous chain necklace.

Also, thank you, I will be having nightmares about this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most Hilarious Scene

I literally burst out laughing when this happened:

(Make it rain Dara, make it rain….)

MV Rating: 1 Star/ 5 Stars [Pretending this never happened]

Buy Gotta Be You On iTunes!
See More 2NE1 On iTunes!

 (Sources)