Thursday, 4 April 2013

Review: Leehi - It's Over

Hi!!! I apologize for the long absence, but I had good reason. Exams plus illness can be a deadly combination, let me tell you. But anyway, now I'm back with Leehi's It's Over.



Music Video
Before I go into the details of this video, I want to say two things: Number one, I want those stuffed toys. Number two, that is some funky-looking toilet paper.

Matches the funky-looking toilet.

This isn't really a typical YG music video because instead of their usual studs and leather and weird hairdos, you have this little girl's fantasy of pastel colors and stuffed toys and candies. But even though it had all the potential in the world to be an aegyo video, it wasn't one. Leehi has a natural innocence about her which is very sweet, but I can't really see her doing aegyo. Even amidst the sweets and cookies and fluff, Leehi still acted with sass and attitude. Good, because if I ever saw her trying to pull off a bashful, I-Got-A-Boy kind of aegyo, I think I might pass out.

There is a very strong theme in the video about the innocence of children and their imaginations. In the beginning when Leehi is sleeping, you see a few toys and a whole bunch of junk food scattered across the floor. Later when she starts to sing, those same toys come alive and start dancing with her. You know how children pretend that their toys would come to life and play with them? I think the directors were going for that effect in the video, but for some reason, the bear she was hugging turns into this huge, scowling, bandana-wearing, awkwardly dancing Teddy monstrosity. The first time I saw it, I was so sure I seen it somewhere before. I racked my brain for about five minutes or so, then I remembered.

animevice.com
 "He's my third cousin twice removed from my grandmother's side."

Okay, maybe I didn't remember it quite that accurately, especially since the Alice Academy bear was also an axe-swinging, murderous maniac, but you have to admit they are somewhat similar, from their giant fluffy heads to that waddling body to the perpetually unamused expressions on their face.

"Lack of humor runs in the family. Now buzz off."

Now is it just me, or does Leehi and her teddy bear have a seriously violent relationship? In the video, you see her punching it, kicking it, squashing it with a bowling ball......I almost feel sorry for it. Since this song is about a girl breaking up with her boyfriend, it kind of looks like Leehi is taking out her frustration over her ex on her stuffed toys.


And while Leehi has gotten much better at acting since her debut, she still needs a lot of work on her facial expressions. When a bear whose face is frozen into an eternally surly expression is capable of showing more emotions than you, then you know you're in trouble. Having said that, I totally loved her expression of pure evilness when she shot the bear up with a rocket. For all her innocent charm, Leehi definitely has the potential for evil master villainy.

Pictured: The face of a sadist.

Song and Lyrics
I didn't like this song as much as her debut song. 1, 2, 3, 4 had a sassy, Amy-Winehouse-esque feel to it while this song was much more bluesy and laid-back. But that doesn't mean that it wasn't still a good song. Even though it was a break-up song, with Leehi being only 16 or 17 this year, this song could have easily been a weepy, melancholy piece about a girl trying to move on from her first love. But instead, you get this jazzy, confident number about a girl telling the guy to get out if he isn't going to treat her right. So it sends the right message, especially for girls who are Leehi's age, that you don't need a guy who is going to treat you like crap.

Dance
There is very little dancing in the video except for the chorus where she does this wooden tap-dance-robot-arm movement. Seriously, it was really awkward dancing. It could have been Leehi's problem; the girl has an insanely good voice, but she can't really dance. Or it could have been the choreographer's problem for creating dance steps that make her look like a puppet on strings while being controlled by someone from the background.

This imagery is appropriate.

Also, I checked out the live performances for good measure. How is it fair that the backup dancers get props, which happened to be umbrellas, but Leehi doesn't? If it wasn't for the fact that she was front and center, she probably wouldn't stand out from the backup dancers at all. Also the bear is super distracting. You know how BAP never lets their bunny mascot dance alongside them on stage? Yeah, there's a reason for that.



Fashion
YG has a reputation of dressing their underage artists as conservatively as possible, as you can clearly see in Leehi's quite modest clothing. But I really like her hair accessories in the video, especially the mouse-eared cap. I didn't even mind the pile of soft toys she wore on her head as a hairband.

While there isn't much to talk about Leehi's outfits, that bear on the other hand is another matter. Even his clothes are more attention-grabbing than Leehi's, as he alternates between a "I Love Hi" shirt and punk gangster outfits and are those......dreadlocks?

"'Sup yo?"

Leather, studs and dreadlocks. On a teddy bear. I guess this is a YG video after all.

No comments:

Post a Comment