Guys I have a theory about bubble gum.
I think Ditto was about the parasocial relationship that can exist between fans and the artists.
But also about how idols can help someone feel less pain and being less lonely and have happy memories even if it's only through the lenses of a camera.
OMG was the relationship the artists have with their celebrity and their status as idols, how they exist for others even if it means forgetting themselves.
(so probably also with their label and the direction that can get overly controlling maybe like a cult? 'He'is the one who is living in my system... asking all the time what I should do...24' etc).
Bubble gum seems like it's about the relationship between MHJ and the girls. Between the director/producer and the artists.
Bubble gum is NJ through the lenses of MHJ. They are seen as cute, innocent, special, lovely kids. It's like a declaration of love for them. 'They're her favorite flavor, She can't stop falling for them etc'.
The girls are symbolised by the bubble gums and also the glass beads. They're delicate, soft, sweet, fun, special. Therefore they have to be protected and not broken down. We can see for example that when Hyein and Dani well playing with the glass beads, they also prevented for them to fall and get dirtied, bruised or broken.
A parallele can also be made to Hurt where the girls says 'They're not gonna get hurt... they're not gonna get broken'. Hurt was if i remember well the first song MHJ has when she made NJ. She starting point of NJs sotrytelling.
Anyway, overall I feel like BG is like a song that complete the Ditto triology fairly well. There is also a connection between these two songs. The girls are wearing uniformes, they look like they're on a school trip or something during the 90s. The nostalgia and the video tapes, the way it's filmed. It's like the summer version of Ditto.
Voila. WDYT?
highly recommend
