How KPop Demon Hunters Deconstructs The 'Misunderstood Demon' Trope - en

In fact, it almost seems like they're nice demons. Demons are never nice

demons. They've become such an oddly complicated topic in fiction these days.

I should know. I'm a fan of Free Ren and I like the White Rabbit from Netflix May

Cry. And I know both characters would definitely try to kill each other. In

this modern day of searching for nuance in things, the idea of pure evil beings

has kind of fallen out of fashion. Actually, they've been out of fashion

for so long that the idea of sympathetic demons has also kind of fallen out of

fashion and we're almost back where we started. All sorts of stories have

different types of demons depending on the story they want to tell. Some want

to have fun killing monsters. Some want to tell a story of prejudice, and

they're both fine as long as the story isn't bad. But in this tugof-war between

demons being bad or misunderstood, I find K-pop demon hunters to be oddly

refreshing because it kind of combines both ideas to tell a fitting story

around the conflict of the main character and the need to fight your

demons. If you haven't seen this movie, by the way, I'm going to spoil the whole

thing and I'm telling you right now, it's really good. You should go watch

it. The movie centers around Huntrix, a K-pop band that's the latest in a line

of demon hunting singers who use their songs to reach the souls of others to

power the Hunm Moon, a barrier that keeps demons from freely entering the

human world. The demons seek to steal souls for their lord Gimma, who uses

those souls to become more powerful. But Roomie, the lead singer of the latest

iteration of the Hunters, has a problem. She's a half demon. No, we don't really

know how. Her mom's dead, her father's the subject of fan speculation, and I'm

really hoping for a sequel. Either way, works as a K-pop idol to strengthen the

Hanm Moon while also fighting demons with the plan being to turn the Hanm

Moon gold. Something that will make it a permanent seal, cutting Guima off from

the real world. Enter Ginu, a demon with a plan to undermine Hunrix by stealing

their fans. A bit of an odd plan considering I'm pretty sure they'd have

different target audiences, but it does work. I feel this movie would be

frustrating for someone who's really tapped into how the K-pop industry

works. With his demon boy band, he plans to undermine the powerrix is generating,

but it's questionable if they even need to because Room's been losing her voice

as her demon markings grow. And so, the stage is set between these two for the

true conflict. After all, anything you can say about demons should apply to

Roomie as a half demon. She gets really uncomfortable about singing with her

friends about how she deserves to die. Gino's important because while he is

trying to play Roomie, he does help her ask questions about demons and even how

guardians operate that she never would have before she was forced to confront

one without them both actively trying to kill each other. Because the thing about

demons in this series is that they are misunderstood,

but not in the they actually aren't that bad way. They're misunderstood more

majorly in the fact that demon hunters really don't know anything about them.

And so their method of fighting them is flawed. And in a way, Roomie really

didn't know anything about herself. All she knew was what Seline, the friend and

teammate of her mother, taught her about demons. That they're evil. That they

don't feel anything. That they all need to die. Not exactly a healthy thing to

believe about something you're 50% of. That's why Room is so willing to give Ju

a chance. She has a pretty horrible view of herself. And when he discovers her

secret, he becomes something she desperately needed. Someone who will

tell her that she's not a mistake. She was desperate for any indication that

she isn't uh hold on. What does the song they wrote about the demon boy band say

again? Uh oh. Right. A demon with no feelings that doesn't deserve to live.

And Juno's the only one who can tell her why she's feeling that way. Well, I

guess the other Saja boys could too, but they're almost impressively not really

characters. Gino telling her that demons do feel things was a taste of an

understanding of herself that isn't negative because as much as she denies

what she is, it doesn't really change anything. So the idea that demons are

being forced to be bad by Guima was extremely appealing to her. We even get

some set up when we see how the demons act within the demon world. Not only

scared of Guima, but basically expressing a variety of emotions from

confusion to joy. enough that they almost seem like people. But here's the

thing, Gino lied. Not about the fact that demons are different from what she

thinks, but he painted a much more sympathetic picture of himself because

he's ashamed of the truth. He specifically calls the marks a sign of

shame. Demons in this world are forced to do what Guimma wants. And they do

feel a lot. But Guimma controls them by controlling what they're ashamed of.

Their regrets and the bad decisions that haunt them. He exploits their

insecurities in a way that lets him gain more control. If he had let go with him

into the palace 400 years ago, I don't think he'd have ever become a demon.

Juno's whole role in the plot is based on his desire to forget his shame. Now,

I think this is really clever because it's a form of misunderstanding that

doesn't really mean that demons aren't an enemy that must be stopped. And if

Gino's circumstances are emblematic of how most demons become what they are,

then they're really victims of themselves. Gino chose to abandon his

family because it was his only way out of a life of poverty. It's a motivation

you can understand, but you also know was a selfish one that's landed him

where he is. Remember, this movie is about Roomie and her understanding of

herself and the growth and corruption of her demon half corresponds to her

understanding or lack thereof of demons. As she rejects herself and hates herself

and lies to her friends, her shame, the demon within her, only grows stronger.

And that's what interferes with the harmony of the Hornmoon. When Roommy

finds out the truth, it seems to break her as she confronts Seline, the

guardian who tried to raise her but couldn't bring herself to love her, all

of her. Instead, teaching her to hide all her imperfections.

This is really clever because it kind of reflects on idol and celebrity culture.

Huntress are human. They are by no means perfect. Sure, they project a strong,

flawless image, but they can be goofy, angry, emotional, lustful, insecure.

While they don't grow demon marks and aren't really that much of a focus in

the movie, Mera and Zoe also find themselves suppressing how they feel the

way Roomie does. That's why Roomie is the only one who can come up with a

solution that works and a way to fix the flaw in the Horn Moon because she can

see from both the perspective of the hunters and now that she better

understands how demons work after Gino's betrayal, the demons. Seline taught

Roomie to hide her insecurities because of the negatives of how that may affect

her relationships. But you can see that to a lesser extent, the other girls are

doing it too because she taught them the same thing. This creates cracks in their

friendships and flaws in the Horn Moon. Room's faults were what we saw get

exploited, but who's to say that Mirror's imposttor syndrome or Zoe's

fear of inadequacy couldn't have also been used against them. And Gene was

wrong because he's running from his shame. He's tormented by what he did and

just wants to forget no matter what he has to do. Even if he has to make more

shameful decisions he will surely regret in the future like betraying Roomie

which is shown to have become one of the memories he wants to forget right before

the climax. He may have given room hope that she could be better but he had no

hope for himself. Free is kind of funny in that context because it's a song

that's exactly about what he wants but is overestimating how easy such a thing

would be and how good it would be. You can't escape from who you are. But

despite the lies and betrayal, there's still meaning in the relationship the

two had because they had to see each other, flaws and all. Gino may not have

fully opened up to Roomie until the end. But he did enough for her to see that

there was more to him than just the demon. And the comfort he provided as

someone who could see everything about her and not reject her meant something.

She believed that her existence was a mistake that needed to be corrected. And

correcting that mistake was getting really hard with her voice straining and

her demon marks growing. Just having someone who could look at her and

validate her existence meant something. And funny enough, that's what helped her

understand how to defeat him. An understanding that did eventually reach

him when he sacrificed himself for her and gave her his soul, finally properly

bearing himself to her. and Roomie. She realized that their

entire approach is wrong. More focused on fighting demons than reinforcing

themselves against them. She spends the whole movie thinking she could just fix

everything by fighting when all she needed to do was open up. She did it

with Gu and by the end of the movie, she finally did it with her friends.

Takedown was written with all the rage the girls feel towards demons. But Gino

tells Roomie that Hate wouldn't win the fight long before the girls realize that

the song doesn't work. This is a musical, which means that a lot of

scenes are accompanied with songs that are a lot more diagetic in this movie

than they would be in some others. And the thing about Takedown is while the

song is a banger, it's the only song in Huntrix's catalog that does them

absolutely no good. They literally only fail when they sing it. In fact, it

almost destroys them. I'm kind of surprised we never got the more positive

version we saw trying to write. Roomie and Seline made the mistake of thinking

that sealing the Horn Moon would just cut Gimma off. But it's only after

learning exactly how much of being a demon comes from your own shame that

makes her realize that that would never work. Being a demon isn't about being

enslaved by Gimma. It's about being so controlled by your own shame that he can

make you do what he wants. And Huntrix's fears and insecurities wouldn't be fixed

by sealing the Hanmoon. With Gino's house truths, she still thought that

they could be free from how they feel. But when he told her that that's not how

it works, she realized that they need to overcome it while not hiding from

something that's clearly a part of them. Let the jagged edges meet the light as

Mera sang. That's how she overcame her self-hatred. It's how she reconnects her

group. It's how she reaches Ginu. And all of that together is how they finally

defeat Guimma and rebuild their friendship and the Horn Moon stronger

than before. Shout out to my patronons A and Skyman. If this video does well, I

have other ideas for looking into this movie. So, tell me your thoughts in the

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