The internet’s social media apps, namely Instagram and YouTube, have created a subculture of people who are famous within the apps’ confines, but not necessarily to the general public. These influencers are often used to advertise for companies and can obtain lucrative salaries. By using the camera’s perspective to reflect the influencer and their audience, staples of the noir genre, and taking advantage of the duplicity of the lyrics as heard versus the lyrics as seen, the music video for the song “Noir” by Sunmi deconstructs the condoned misconduct, self-harm, and the toxic subculture built around embracing and canceling the social media icons to create a scathing criticism on both the influencer and their fanbase.
The music video opens by creating a physical manifestation of the heart used on Instagram to “like” posts into a piece of candy in a pillbox that looks innocuous at first, but by the video’s conclusion, it is blatantly coded as a drug. The lyric “I’ve already seen this before” tackles the beginning and end of a failed influencer journey, starting by using props to fake exotic locations like beaches or the Alps. This is effective in showing the lengths beginning influencers will use to portray the perfect life to followers, be it to faking shots or accumulating thousands in debt. As the lyric is repeated throughout the song, the visuals turn sinister to reflect the ongoing journey of battling to maintain followers such as using her feet to take a photo in a hospital gown for empathy likes or using red wine to mimic a pool of blood on the floor for a selfie. Standing alone, these visuals can seem silly, but the key to the meaning is the clever use of perspective. The video switches perspectives constantly between the “behind the scenes” of Sunmi gorging on hearts and coming up with more elaborate schemes to gain followers and the confines of the Instagram app on a phone showing escalating numbers of hearts, views, and followers. Even if the aftermath to one of her photo schemes is bad, she can still use it to push her image and gain more followers. This is apparent in the general entertainment industry where the saying, “There’s no bad publicity” is commonplace. This criticizes the viewer on the other end who indulges in the destruction of the celebrity as much as they indulged in creating the celebrity. Switching perspectives is a clever way of incorporating the viewer into the narrative, forcing them to conclude they are part of the problem and not a static, blameless, entity.
The title “Noir” itself reflects the literature and film genre whereupon a lead will usually have a goal that involves some level of self-harm that will lead to their destruction. This genre does not have a traditional happy ending for the protagonist. The video plays on this concept several times, using it to reinforce the concept that chasing happiness through social media leads to misery in an effective manner. The first stunt she does to gain attention is take a selfie in front of a cake that is on fire. In real life people will often post a status stating they are in active distress before ensuring personal safety. This creates a tangible opening that most viewers can relate to that effectively draws them into the narrative of the video. The traditional noir archetype is reinforced several times in the video as shown when Sunmi ends up in a hospital and she is still taking selfies, reassuring followers that she’s okay and even using her illness as a chance to gain more. The modern update to the noir genre comes from blending Sunmi and the viewer/audience as both the protagonist and antagonist. Depending on which perspective the camera is showing either can be seen in the role. This is probably the only area the video muddies its message, as it allows the viewer to decide to be in the moral right over Sunmi and miss the opportunity for self-reflection and being considered part of the problem.
Another aspect that may undermine the message are the song lyrics themselves. Taken at face value, the song is a typical breakup song. Paired with the visual, the lyrics mean something completely different. From a marketing perspective this is clever because the song can have radio play without the negative stigma that is associated with political songs but it also creates a scenario where the ones who seek out the video are the only ones who will learn the real message of the song. Unlike books or normal music, this single requires the visual to convey the intent and meaning of the song. However, despite the ineffectiveness of the delivery of the message, this double meaning serves to enhance the narrative of the video. The viewer still recognizes the lyrics as a breakup song but contextualizes it into having a relationship between the influencer, Sunmi, and themselves, the viewer. Without the typical trappings of a breakup song the synergy of music and video would lose their impact. As effectiveness goes, this is a net zero gain. It loses points on delivery but it gains them back when the actual video is viewed.
The art world has always been one to critique the status quo. The cleverness of a normal breakup song on the radio transforming into social commentary in video form is an effective way to use the duplicity of the music industry and a good way to increase the amount of people who will see the message versus an art performance or painting that will be seen in limited circles. Pairing the critique of the influencer industry with a catchy song and guileful visuals ensured an audience will receive the message by viewing the video in its entirety. “Noir” is an effective and entertaining criticism of an industry that proves the point of its message: excessive obsession of social media is toxic to the influencer and fanbase.
Thanks for the reminder that social media is utterly terrifying