Red Velvet’s new comeback music video ‘Cosmic’ instantly gained recognition for its many references to both the holiday Midsommar and the horror movie of the same name. The music video includes scenes showing the members wearing flower crowns or dancing around the maypole, in a clear homage to the film. At the end of the video, a short statement is shown acknowledging its many references: “This video is inspired by Midsommar.”

Still, the ‘Cosmic’ video has recently come under fire for referencing ‘Midsommar’ too heavily, and many are calling the video essentially a copy-paste of ‘Midsommar.’

Some netizens have also pointed out that the music video failed to provide any interpretation or meaning of the Midsommar-inspired events within the context of the Red Velvet universe. Rather than using the movie references to enhance the group’s extensive lore, some argue that the music video is simply a watered-down version of the movie ‘Midsommar,’ with not enough relevance to tie it to the actual song ‘Cosmic’ or to Red Velvet as a whole.

In the past, Red Velvet has been known for their skillful use of references and motifs in their music videos. ‘Feel My Rhythm’ incorporates many references to classical artwork like ‘Ophelia’ and ‘The Spy.’ Their song ‘Psycho’ referenced Tchaikovsky’s ‘Black Swan.’ Many of their videos also reference previous Red Velvet music videos, leaving plenty of easter eggs for fans to find.

With Red Velvet’s impressive reputation for artistic music videos, fans had high expectations for their 10^th anniversary comeback ‘Cosmic.’ This led to great disappointment as many netizens felt that the music video was not creative enough, and that the overbearing 'Midsommar' theme was a poor way to mark Red Velvet’s tenth year as a group.

What did you think of Red Velvet’s ‘Cosmic’ music video?

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