K-Pop Demon Hunters
Yes, I know, I am very late to this. But I got there in the end. And yes, just like almost everyone else in the world, I love it.
I should note that the first few minutes of the film are quite cringeworthy because, as fantasy plots go, this one is solidly stereotypical. In each generation, three women are chosen to hold back the demon hordes through their singing. In our time, inevitably, that means a K-Pop girl band.
Thus we have Huntrix (always written as Huntr/x), comprised of: Mira, the lead dancer, who is a rebellious bad girl; Zoe, the rapper and lyricist, who is sweet and desperate to please; and Rumi, the lead vocalist, who has a dark secret. The group was trained by a mysterious woman called Celine, and they are managed by a more-competent-than-he-looks, massively over-stressed guy called Bobby.
The girls’ singing is used to maintain a magical barrier called the Honmoon. Celine has explained that, if they can strengthen it sufficiently, creating what is known as a Golden Honmoon, then the demons will be barred from the mortal realm forever. Gwi-Ma, the chief demon, is desperate to foil them before it is too late.
Our primary plot point arrives when Juni, a somewhat less stupid demon than most, comes up with the idea of creating a boy band to steal the limelight from Huntrix. The less popular the girls are, the less able they will be to keep the demons out.
Thus we have the Saja Boys, with Juni as their lead singer. Inevitably, Juni and Rumi fall in love, and the fans can smell a good ship a mile off.
Equally inevitably, love saves the day, but there is enough uncertain about the ending to leave us all desperate for a sequel. Along the way we get some great songs, and more than a few tears.
Visually I think the film owes quite a bit to Frozen, with Rumi’s purple braid echoing Elsa’s blonde one. But hey, if you are looking to appeal to a teen girl audience, Frozen is an entirely sensible source of inspiration.
Watching it, I was fascinated by the gender displays, particularly by the Saja Boys. Sure, they are supposed to be teenagers, but they are very pretty teenagers. One of them is even called Baby and wears pink. Presumably Emma Bunton didn’t trademark that image. Another one is called Abby. This is because he has spectacular abs, but the scriptwriters must have known that Abby is a girl’s name over here. While many of the people involved in the production have Korean backgrounds, they seem to mostly live in the West.
Naturally my favourite character is the blue tiger spirit that Juni uses as a go-between for himself and Rumi.
What struck me most about the film, however, was the ending. Without giving away too many spoilers, in order to defeat the demons Rumi has to confront her dark secret and live as her authentic self. The same is true to a lesser extent for the other two girls. As Juni notes, one of the main sources of Gwi-Ma’s power is shame. Celine, representing the older generation, convinces the girls that they must always appear perfect to their public. If people knew the truth about them, she believes, they would be shunned. As it turns out, authenticity wins the day. And thus, though the subject is never mentioned in the film, K-Pop Demon Hunters is a trans allegory.
I mean, Rumi can’t take off her clothes in front of the other girls lest her secret be revealed. How more obvious do you want it?
Waited so long to break these walls down
To wake up and feel like me
Put these patterns all in the past now
And finally live like the girl they all see
No more hiding, I’ll be shining
Like I’m born to be‘Golden’