KARA’s Gu Hara made her solo debut July 13 with “Choco Chip Cookies.” The song is about a couple who enjoy making and sharing cookies with each other. Given the sweetness of Hara’s vocals and the track’s soft music, the song—on the surface—is sweet and innocent and a cute love song. As the song unfolds, the chocolate chip cookie treat shifts to become a metaphor for romantic relations, especially when Giriboy’s rap is introduced.
The video has plenty of cute summer romance between Hara and her partner. The soft filters help provide the romantic, nostalgic feelings that may cause a viewer to reflect on a summer fling of his or her own. It was a cute stylistic choice to incorporate grainy, glitch film footage of the couple at play. Doing so helped make the pairing feel more realistic.
Overall, the video is very pretty, especially the beach scenes where Hara and her love are highlighted by the setting sun. The MV’s filming provides a sense of timelessness.
However, while there is this timeless film, the video is plain and basic and falls under the category of “MVs that are designed to show off how cute and pretty this female idol is.” There are plenty of sexy poses and rear, breast, and leg shots. Yes, Hara is a pretty, sexy individual, but this makes the summery romance MV feel cheap and shallow.
Of course, sexiness and sexual relations are the sub-themes for “Choco chip Cookies.” This is indicated by the bath bomb penetrating the pool at the beginning and turning it red (loss of virginity; red is the symbol of romance and passion). Then, throughout the MV, viewers are treated to symbolic scenes of Hara sucking on a lollipop (fellatio), dancing with her mate (intercourse), and fireworks (orgasm).
Pair the imagery with the lyrics, and the theme of baking cookies turns from wholesome to fiery. Cookies involve mixing ingredients (the couple’s chemistry), waiting for the cookies to bake (foreplay), and eating the cookies (intercourse). If this wasn’t the obvious metaphor at first, Giriboy cements the song’s meaning by rapping:
I’m so tired today but if I eat it all without leftovers
I know you’ll praise me
I don’t doubt it, I don’t want to unwrap the box
I just want to keep it, freeze it (yeah)
I think this is the best thing I’ve tasted
Can you make these for me tomorrow (and the day after?)
I don’t wanna give these to anyone, I wanna be the only one eating
If others eat this, their teeth might fall out
Of course, the song isn’t a bad song and is a solid solo debut for Hara. Coming into the debut, she had a lot of naysayers that felt she wasn’t a strong enough vocalist to carry solo material. Her voice is thin, but it is sweet, innocent, and refreshing. While the MV isn’t the best, it’s cute; so is the song… double meaning excluded (although cleverly crafted). Hara did well with the material and earns a 3.5/5.
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—-Joelle Halon