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Seventeen Just Dropped A Dramatic Teaser, & Here Are Carats' Theories

Natalie Morin
July 23, 2019, 10:00 PM
Photo: Courtesy of CJ E&M Entertainment
Seventeen, the beloved 13-member South Korean group, just dropped the highly-anticipated teaser for what appears to be their rumored August comeback. The video, titled “[Prologue] An Ode 1 : Unchained Melody,” marks a new chapter for the group, having just released the two-part EP series You Make My Day and You Made My Dawn, last year and in January of this year, respectively.
The teaser is exciting for a few reasons: The band has said their new material is their favorite concept to date; fans of the edgier side to Seventeen will finally get their due; the teaser is packed with hidden clues and imagery. And as expected, their dedicated fanbase, Carats, are already dissecting the meaning behind the messages.
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Though some at first were worried this was a false alarm and simply promo for their upcoming world tour, "Ode To You," Carats pointed out a few clues that seem to point to a comeback after all.
The reigning theory circling around Twitter is that the teaser heavily references the 1989 cult classic American film Dead Poets Society. The film is about a teacher (Robin Williams), who, through poetry, inspires a class of young boarding school students to think for themselves and rebel against the norm.
The opening of the clip is somber, ordered and clinical, as the members walk in single file and a the words "ordinary" appear inside a wooden box. One shot shows Seventeen lined up in perfect formation, and opposite them is a mirror image of themselves — in fact, a copy machine-esque sound is heard in the background as a light flashes. There's also a shot of "Understanding Poetry" by Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, a dull, fictional preface of a textbook assigned to the students in Dead Poets Society in the beginning of the film. The preface outlines the boundaries and "rules" of good, acceptable poetry.
All of a sudden, Seventeen's leader, S.Coups, covers the vocalist and main lyricist/producer Woozi's eyes, as he says "Now describe what you see." Williams' character, Professor Keating, does the same to his student, played by Ethan Hawke, in the film.
From there, the scene completely changes. Someone is seen ripping the page with "Understanding Poetry" clean off of the textbook. Fire rips through the frame and Hoshi, leader of Seventeen's performance (dance) unit, is seen wearing a crown similar to that worn by Robert Sean Leonard's character Neil in the end of the film. Neil also carries a gun that he stole from his father; Hoshi aims and shoots a gun that ends in fireworks.
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Hoshi's gesture is also reminiscent of a moment in Seventeen's music video for "Oh My!," where he fires a finger gun to exploding fireworks.
From the "ordinary" part of the music video blossoms the "extraordinary." The words "#unchained #melody" overlay on the screen. First, "#unchained": Rapper Vernon appears with lines from Henry David Thoreau's Walden on the screen, as well as Robert Herrick's poem "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time." In Walden, Thoreau underscores the importance of not losing your true self in the face of life's distractions. Herrick's poem, referenced by Professor Keating, is in the genre of carpe diem, which is Latin for "seize the day." Then comes "#melody," and members are seen smiling and laughing in a colorful setting near a saxophone.
Order continues to become disorder, and the previously photocopied image of Seventeen is replaced with one less neat — the members arranged in a way that almost looks like musical notes.
Finally, Seventeen stand on pillars, much like the students who stand on their desks in Dead Poets Society do when they pay respect to their Professor in one of the most memorable scenes of the film. This action symbolizes the importance of always trying to gain a new perspective.
As more teasers trickle in in the near future, the Carat detectives will be able to see if their theories were on the mark after all. One thing is definitely not up for debate, however: whatever Seventeen have up their sleeves is bound to be unlike anything we've seen from the group before.
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