TAEMIN 태민 GUILTY MV | SHAWOL REACTION & DISCUSSION

This is our video reaction/discussion to Taemin's Guilty MV, his new title track from his 4th mini album of the same name.
If you would like to hear the full album listen check out our Podcast - Our Shawol Soul on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or any other podcast platform.
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• TAEMIN 태민 'Guilty' MV
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[@NguyenAn-lm8ex]

Love u

[@thespianoge]

Thank you for this thoughtful and personal review! It’s always great to hear reactions from people who deeply know Taemin. And since you’re all into analysis, I’m going to share basically a master’s thesis worth of interpretations and observations regarding this MV and comeback.
I have three main theories. I’ll talk about this later, but, as you know, he experienced a traumatic military service and it could be speaking to that. It could also speak to being taken advantage of by the industry as a child, especially. And as a queer person who kind of finds queerness in everything, I felt gay conversion camp vibes from the time I saw the first trailer.
There's also the book Erotism by Georges Bataille that the director recommend he read in preparation for this comeback. It’s about the intersections of sexuality, religion, death, the sacred and the profane and taboo. (Which has ironically basically been his brand from the beginning, more or less.)
There’s also the quote by Herman Hesse that he's mentioned in interviews even before enlistment from the book Demian. "The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas." People think that the feather crown is a nod to Abraxys, which is supposed to be a heretic god, both God and Satan, without a binary.
I found the lyrics somewhat at odds with the MV, but maybe to smash them the most basic thesis is wrestling within oneself with their guilt, warranted or not, until one finds their way to set themselves free.
They evolve like the bird fights out of the egg to destroy their prior world to find their inner god, both good and bad, the radiant and the taboo, but it’s on their own terms, like in Demian.
For the queer theory: At the beginning he's wearing Homme Girls boxers (he's actually worn them before and they're HEAVILY featured in his album photo book) from the beginning. It could mean some sort of secret queerness kept under wraps.
Then he graduates to a denim skirt but with a cross necklace, perhaps still trying to convince himself that he could return to the comfort of conformity, and finally, a skintight floral
"feminine" look. Coming into his own personal expression, claiming it after the flaming arrow hits the target.
To go further down the rabbit hole, my queer headcannon saw the brief scene featuring two young people in an intimate moment in a room off the hallway, walking in on something forbidden, which he quickly left at 21 seconds. The person on the left is the person in the long sleeves featured at the 36 second mark.
Some people read it as young Taemin, with old Taemin looking at himself as a child, which totally makes sense. Except when I first saw it, I read it as an androgynous girl and was kind of confused about her significance. So I could be completely wrong but I read some queerness into that brief scene as well. Or it’s just Taemin looking in on his younger self in early sexual experimentation.
In the original trailer, there were a bunch of kids playing in the creek. Some were male and some female, but they were indistinguishable from each other. I even didn't clock it until someone else mentioned it.
But once they were in their uniforms, there was a clear delineation where the girls were now wearing skirts, enforcing the gender roles they were previously unconcerned about.
I'll also mention a content warning for racy talk. There's also a brief moment in the scene in the bunks with someone holds the head of someone with a baseball cap in front of their fully clothed groin. In the split second moment at 1:45, Taemin’s hand is seen lifting up the chin of someone. They have an Adam’s apple.
Finally, the most obvious line that people have latched onto is “loving is a crime.”
With the military theory, he ended up having to leave the military proper and go into the public service sector for the rest of the time due to extreme anxiety and depression. There's been documentation of idols (G-Dragon is a good example) being treated extremely badly by other members, even as much as trying to take photos of them in the shower and such. It's entirely possible he had a traumatizing time in there on top of his preexisting mental health conditions.
Especially as someone who has been sexualized by being beautiful and feminine since he was literally a child in the industry, this may have made him an even bigger target than just being an idol. So one interpretation of this MV is referencing the invasive nature of an institutional (military) setting. Medical examinations, forcing violence, having a hand help him him hold up the gun to shoot it as seen in the trailer, bunks, etc. With this theory, he would have to walk a fine line because it would be criticizing the South Korean military.
Then there’s the theory of being an idol from basically childhood and the ways he has been taken advantage of. He began training at the age of 12 and debuted at the age of 14. There is literally a TH-cam video entitled “The Sexualization and feminization of Lee Taemin” chronicling the way adults have been creepy and inappropriate to him since the beginning. The bunks are like like trainee dorms, and he looks back on his old self with sadness and pity. The clinging to the leg of a captor because there’s no other choice. The early loss of innocence, but ultimately coming out empowered by the end.
Throughout the MV, he danced in an especially tortured way after depicting memories of invasive manhandling which tracks along any interpretation. There’s clearly a story about someone vulnerable and their journey to self discovery and purging themselves into their empowered "final form.” His hand-under-the-shirt move may have something to do with a secret desire or feeling that keeps trying to get out, perhaps like the temptation of the biblical serpent. Or, as per the title, secret guilt choking him.
With the skirt look, there are many keys around his waist. Perhaps this could signify that he already has the keys that he needs to “unlock” himself and they’re all ready for when he’s ready to use them. It could be a reference to his song Advice when he says “you’ll never get the keys to my lock. Like he is the only one who holds the keys to unlock himself, kept safe on his person.
In the scene outside in the uniforms near the end, there is the building of extreme anxiety with the inhaler and the gripping and scratching of his legs to try to cope and gather the strength to “burn it all down”/be his true self.
The self knowledge that it must be done but he’s scared shitless. One last clinging to authority/the system with they leg, and finally the full acknowledgment that he needs to do it anyway with determination in his eyes.
The I think that the lyrics aren’t projecting outwards towards another person, but rather a back and forth with himself, with his conscience vs his base desires. And the lyric “I can walk like that, talk like that, play like that" could apply to all three readings, be it “passing” as queer/cis, appearing to mentally and emotionally healthy, or the training and indoctrination trainees receive to behave perfectly as idols.
In livestreams before the comeback, he spoke about how he was going to “walk the tightrope to see how far he can go.” He’s definitely toeing the line with any one of these topics. He and his team are BRILLIANT.

[@thespianoge]

Here’s a specific analysis from the childhood/idol trauma viewpoint:
In the beginning, there are children’s drawings on the walls. There are old discarded clothes from the past. He stumbles through the halls of his memory with difficulty and trepidation. He spies something that may have been important or shameful to him (the two children in the room.)
He remembers a fun time in the dorms with pillow fights and perhaps a younger him. He looks on with sadness and pity and regret.
These memories creep onto him like the hands that caress his neck. An intimate violation.
These memories are too much for him and send him spiraling. Cue tortured dancing.
They can’t be contained underneath anymore and they escape through his shirt and reach towards his neck, attempting to suffocate him.
Then there’s the manhandling in the medical-esque scene, molding and forcing him and invading his personal space. Wrapping him up tightly and restrained in the hoodie. Taking away his autonomy, as he looks on, dead faced.
That was his childhood as an idol.
The next look with the skirt, he graduates to his solo career. Was he made to wear the skirt, keys around it but no lock? He experiments more with his sensuality in his performance and perhaps in life in general. He begins to become a more dominant figure.
Perhaps the crown symbolizes his rise to stardom. He stands in the middle of circles that seem to be almost worshiping him.
But still, that old trauma snakes up once again and attempts to choke him.
People pile on the bed. I know this is dark, but maybe it’s people the industry ruined in one way or another.
People dance around him in slow motion. He looks around in a daze, seeing the people but not really in the world anymore. Completely dissociated from his life, realizing from the outside what the reality truly is.
He’s in a car with an inhaler in a schoolboy’s uniform, trying to calm himself from what he knows he must do.
He clings to an authority figure, the stability and manager of his whole life, for one last time. He claws at his leg, attempting to be an outlet to keep the pain inside.
He raises his gaze and, with a look of determination, sets fire to his old home. Reframing the story of being a child, finally claiming his agency.
He emerges beautiful and free from the flames wearing a costume completely different from the others, of his own choosing. He still wears the jean skirt sometimes, but because he chooses to. His dancing is much more free and loose.

[@thespianoge]

And finally, the p*rn concept allegations. There has been a lot of discourse recently about the sexual nature of Taemin’s new Guilty photo book and concept. There are some who label it disgusting and p*rnographic.
It’s mainly soft focused photos focusing on his different body parts. There are hints of scratch marks on his stomach and back. Sensual closeups of his mouth with an ice cube. And, the one everyone’s talking about, the photo of the Homme Girls boxers we’d previously seen him wearing in a pair of shorts on the ground.
I view this photo shoot as him claiming his sexual expression on his own terms like he couldn’t back when he was a minor.
People namechecked the Sherlock photoshoot by Min Heejin (and that’s not the only time she has done creepy Lolita/questionable concepts with young people.) He wasn’t told he’d be shirtless for it because she wanted to make him look more boyish, in case he decided to work out in preparation.
Several of the photos in the photoshoot for this album are specifically reminiscent of some of the poses she photographed.
Since he entered the industry at the age of 14, he has consistently been ogled, called “prettier than a girl”, been inappropriately touched on camera numerous times by adults, and has surely endured many other things we will never know about. He has been sexualized without power. There’s even a video on Yotube called The Sexualization and Feminization of Lee Taemin recounting some of the occurrences.
It’s tasteful and beautiful. It’s not abs for ab’s sake (in fact, most of them aren’t shirtless and simply expose part of his stomach.) The “forbidden” is actually hidden through most of it. Just a few shirtless pics or a hint of nipple. Sensual and perhaps erotic without being explicit or in your face. Teasing with intention.
While the photos are extremely sexy in and of themselves, I applaud Taemin for doing this. He’s now 30 and has chosen to do this for himself. To bare his skin and express his sexuality in the way HE wants, claiming the autonomy he never had when he was younger. He’s allowing us access to these parts of himself. And, fitting with the concept, he realizes that it may make the viewer feel “guilty” because they feel like they’re voyeuristic and looking in on something intimate. That’s the point.
A while ago, Taemin said “I want to walk the tightrope to see just how far I can go.” In subtle terms with different readings of the MV, he’s called out the institution of the military, the exploitation of children in the entertainment industry, and the pushing of the boundaries of gender expression. He’s a trailblazer and I admire him for it so much.
He meant for this to happen. He knew it might upset some people. But he’s always said he knows that his art isn’t for everyone, but for those who “get it.” And it’s all been made pretty clear recently.
Also, decent development today during his Inkigayo performance of Guilty. He was wearing his school boy uniform look with a grey long sleeved sweater and grey shorts. He did his point move where he puts his hand up his shirt to grab his neck, which exposes his abs. For the first time this comeback, the camera person zoomed straight into his stomach before panning up to where his head was visible.
I found it uncomfortable and interesting that it was this look out of all of them that this occurred. It may have been just a choice made by the cinematographer, but I found it so poignant. That the most innocent and youthful of all looks was made to look the most sexy out of all of them. Because of the very specific intention behind this comeback, I would love it if I found out that it was planned that way by Taemin and his team. Fascinating either way!

[@ourshawolsoul]

Thank you so much for sharing your insights. There is always so much to take in and you can see a variety of ways to look and at his videos. I wish he was able to express the true meaning of his content but unfortunately with the culture being what it is there it will remain a mystery. Also it’s so awesome to see how much time and thought you put into analysis. Wish more people did that.

[@thespianoge]

@@ourshawolsoul yeah, I definitely think that any meaning that it has is probably extremely personal and “taboo” if he spoke openly about it. I wish I could speak with him “off the record” but we can only speculate. At any rate, he and his team created a stunning work of art, once again, and I can’t wait to see what this next act holds for him.

[@NguyenAn-lm8ex]

I haven't got my albums yet. You are so fast ❤

[@ourshawolsoul]

There is a kpop store in my area and they always have the new albums within the first few days of release. Its great! Before i was ordering online and sometimes it would take over a month

[@NguyenAn-lm8ex]

Love u