france is literally the best bts are the happiest here ive never been happier than in this stadium everyone was dancing and singing bar to bar this is just crazy ive never seen yoongi smile that much in my entire life?!?! france is crazy they were so happy they were SO HAPPY
“Youth who watch this movie must understand that blind faith in their leaders can lead them to death.”
A Donald Sutherland quote that never lost its relevance.
Remembering Donald Sutherland (1935–2024) on what would have been his birthday.
pairing namjoon with a doberman for the ‘normal’ music video is absolute genius cause dobermans are considered protectors, highly intelligent, loyal to their pack, observant and in many ways, goofy
Normal is borrowing from Carl Jung, this isn't just a story about hiding your true self. It's about individuation—Jung's lifelong process of becoming whole by confronting every part of yourself.
Jung believed that we all wear a persona: the socially acceptable version of ourselves. It's the mask that helps us function in society. The problem begins when we mistake that mask for our real identity.
Everything in Normal seems obsessed with that performance. The constant surveillance. The feeling that someone is always watching. The polished exterior. The expectation to act "normally." It's a world where the persona isn't something you wear—it becomes something you're trapped inside.
But Jung argued that whatever we reject doesn't disappear. It becomes the shadow.
The shadow isn't evil. It's every emotion, desire, fear, insecurity, and truth we've been taught to suppress because it doesn't fit the image we're expected to project. The more we deny it, the stronger it becomes.
That's why Jung famously wrote:
"One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious."
In other words, healing doesn't come from pretending the darkness isn't there. It comes from acknowledging it.
That idea echoes through BTS's work long before Normal. Black Swan gave a voice to the fear artists aren't supposed to admit: the fear of losing their passion. Instead of hiding that fear, they confronted it. They let the shadow speak.
Normal feels like what comes after.
The reversed title—LAMRON—is especially fascinating through a Jungian lens. Jung believed that opposites don't exist to defeat each other but to complete each other. Conscious and unconscious. Persona and shadow. Light and dark. You cannot understand one without the other. Reversing Normal suggests that its opposite has always existed within it.
Even the recurring mirrors, reflections, and doubles fit Jung's writings. Mirrors symbolize self-confrontation. They force us to face the parts of ourselves we'd rather avoid. Every reflection asks the same question: Are you looking at yourself, or only the person you've learned to perform?
If the surveillance throughout the MV is intentional, it also reflects another Jungian idea: that people shape themselves around society's expectations until they no longer know where the mask ends and the self begins. Being watched reinforces the persona. Privacy is where the unconscious starts to emerge.
Ultimately, Jung believed the goal wasn't to destroy the persona or eliminate the shadow. It was to integrate them. He called that journey individuation—the process of becoming your complete self by accepting every contradiction within you.
Viewed through that lens, Normal isn't asking how to become normal at all.
It's asking whether "normal" was ever a real identity to begin with.
We are so excited to present to you… the ‘Once Upon A Broken Heart’ Exclusive Iron Editions, brought to you in collaboration with Stephanie Garber and @gollancz!
The imagery of wealth, old-money nobility, and bizarre pet photoshoots in the NORMAL music video acts as a layered satirical critique of ultra-celebrity culture, highlights how public perception strips away an individual's humanity, replacing it with an untouchable, historical caricature.
There is performance of Excess here: Eating in this setting is not for survival or nourishment; it is an elaborate, highly visible performance. by staging a wildly excessive banquet overflowing with wine glasses and gourmet food, BTS is commenting on the perceived privilege of superstardom.
There is Aftermath too: In the narrative arc of the MV, these grand, chaotic celebrations quickly cut to the quiet, messy morning-after. This contrast emphasizes that behind the untouchable royal facade lies a group of ordinary people dealing with isolation once the cameras shut of.
The dog photoshoots are a direct nod to European aristocracy and early photography trends, where the ultra-wealthy commissioned formal portraits of their hounds to signal immense status. Just like the monarchs of 'the days back in the day', modern global idols are effectively trapped within their own golden cages. They are forced to perform elite, curated versions of domesticity for an audience
The bathroom is the equalizer: all individuals are human at the end of the day and have to do this mundane humanly task.
Royalty represents the ultimate historical paradox: absolute power combined with zero personal freedom. The MV was shot at Quinta da Francelha estate.