The Macabre of Rebirth in Hwasa’s ‘Maria’
Hwasa is a member of four-woman K-pop group Mamamoo whose solid vocals have gained the queen status in the industry. Recently, the maknae has released her single ‘Maria’ following an announcement of a solo album release. Why I stan Mamamoo requires an entirely different article. Hwasa’s ‘Maria’ is is one of those reasons. The lyrics are multiple self-affirmations that reflect Hwasa’s brand of femme fatale that springs from her constant grind against K-pop industry. We are compelled to watch the contrast of body movements in her dance breaks made of stomps and body rolls. This take on duality and dimension is especially telling in the music video that as a feminist, I was delighted to nitpick.
Death, Feast, and Duality
I’d like to think there are two Hwasas in the MV. One Hwasa wears an understated outfit in nude top and gray pants — a casual image that reminds of laidback attitude. She wears this with nude make-up (if she is even wearing any) against a well-lit white backdrop and the overall muted tones seem to convey a bareness, something simple but raw that contrasts to the ‘new’ Hwasa. The fiery red is highly visible in representing ‘New Hwasa’. She has red hair, red lipstick, and red dress. She is shown against a glamorous backdrop that uses red curtains, shadows, and warm tones.
We are immediately told about this duality in the opening scenes when New Hwasa is looking over the crime scene of Old Hwasa (0:07). The images then shift between movie references. This includes the 1996 Romeo and Juliet (0:11–0:14) scene where Romeo mistook unconscious Juliet as dead but she comes back alive. Italian movie Malena is also referenced (0:15–0:25) specifically on the scene of people lighting her cigarette. In the movie, this scene depicts Malena reclaiming her status after being persecuted by the town.
I think these are allusions to her critics. We know the media has been following her for her non-conforming visuals — even behavior — that she has remained unapologetic for. (Holding her ground has made her a champion of body positivity in the industry and we are here for it!)
After the crime scene, we are taken to the butchered meals with unknown (masked) people. Such a ‘festive’ scene that follows a death seams quite a statement that can be gruesome in meaning especially when New Hwasa reeled in the “food”. This is vague enough to hold back assumptions on cannibalism but just enough to trail crumbs that possibly say Old Hwasa is being “ate up”. While everything is a mess, New Hwasa is pretty cavalier about it. I’m sorry but this entire table scene reminds me of The Last Supper especially that the MV plays around death/rebirth and uses multiple biblical references throughout.
She eats with “masked” (aka unknown) people who seem to be equally unbothered about the bloody scene (or are blind about the mess they gobble on). Note that TSL is also about betrayal and double faces. And Hwasa’s cheeky attitude toward what seems to be a feast over her demise, can be a reference to New Hwasa being able to take it lightly when people pick on her.
The psych ward scene is a pretty obvious statement about her declining mental health after all this. Pencils at 2:06 (media) target her but at the same time, this can also mean her struggle about her artistry as she deals with everything. Later, she’s able to get out of the ward (2:14) and comes for a crown of thorns made of diamond. Again, a Biblical reference. Something religious that in Hwasa’s self-narrative can mean many things.
I’d like to think it’s a symbol of her triumph that she was able to come to terms with her struggles and break away from criticisms. However, such symbolism may also be implying a glamorizing of her pain. A crown of thorns heavily references to agony and yet it is shown here with diamonds as if to accessorize that pain, as if to attract one to wear it. And yet we never see Hwasa wear it. Is it because it mocks her struggle? It romanticizes her pain? It is only seen later at the pool sitting beside her.
The Art of Fluidity
The iconic pool is the same pool where old Hwasa was found “dead”. Water is used many times around this MV and in literary symbolism, water conveys birth or baptism, as we also see it used culturally around the world. We see New Hwasa bathing in milk which is quite a literal take on ‘whitewashing’, and we all know she’s been heavily criticised for her skin. There are stanchions around the pool which seem to show a museum-like/exhibit-like setup that likely conveys her as a masterpiece. Here we are laid with visuals that aid the self-affirmative statement that we hear in her lyrics. Here New Hwasa douses on the pool that intends to cleanse her but instead she enjoys herself anew and reclaims herself as a cunning craft, an art we only get to watch from a distance.
There are multiple juxtapositions of old and new Hwasa (1:10–1:23, 2:56–3:00) seamed throughout the video. This is especially visible in dance breaks so we are again reminded of the duality. To depict this, they also use the contrast of colors at the pool scene (3:01) where Hwasa stares at her reflection, the crown of thorns sitting beside her but she will never wear. Why do we see her here suddenly? We thought she was dead didn’t we? I realized we never actually see her unconscious. In fact, she gets up at 3:07. She’s here watching her reflection. She was apparently even at her burial at 3:09 and apparently the only one there when we first saw the scene full of empty chairs. This appearance of Old Hwasa is telling that she was never actually dead. She exists along with New Hwasa as New Hwasa exists with her.
A scene shortly appears of her reaching for scissors which can also be another reference to Malena when she cuts her hair. Still, beyond Malena, it is also a widely recognized act to revitalize oneself. Although this is very reminiscent of Hwasa’s defiant attitude, we never see her do it in the MV. In a somber context, a scissor may be construed as a weapon. The use of something that can be both cosmetic and dangerous adds to the layer of mystery we are not given the answer to.
Around 3:17, New Hwasa dances in military attire — an outfit that conveys combat. The set is glowing in red as if to frame power, reiterate her newness, her command. To me it says that while she is renewed or changed, she’s still battling a lot of things — criticism on her beauty, her affirmations of herself, stardom and well-being. Her fashioned in command enforces the idea of her agency amidst all this struggle. That in the existence of Old and New Hwasa, there is a collaboration of these shifting presence that allows her to navigate a restored sense of self.
Maria’s identity
The appearance of old Hwasa after we think she’s gone is exactly what New Hwasa has to say. New Hwasa wasn’t necessarily made out of the blue, but something that comes after, even comes with Old Hwasa. She has an era that has both passed and yet still lives.
Old and new Hwasa live together in Maria. And the birth of her is as triumphant at it is painfully gritty. She is a recognition of Hwasa’s conflicts that we don’t know if she has come to peace with but we know that she is still always battling. She is not perfect and she knows it, and in that acknowledgment she is able to emerge as a fiery version of herself that refuses to be broken down for people to nibble on.
The set is glowing in red as if to frame power, reiterate her newness, her command.
Maria is said to be Hwasa’s Catholic baptismal name which is why it’s not entirely irrelevant to use biblical inferences especially that Maria (Mary) is a prominent figure in religious text. In fact, Hwasa is bold enough to infer to such a potentially controversial theme yet the MV doesn’t step on being sacrilegious. What is compelling is how Hwasa herself has anchored her narrative of struggle and stardom in a religious figure so widely recognizable yet we never really know. As if to say we are only watchers of her but never fully perceive her depth. We know Maria’s strength but we never really know her experience. Just as that of Hwasa’s character that we are quick to examine but can never really comprehend. We are reminded of her duality, of her multitudes. And in that, of our respect for her. — JS
(Article also appears here)