KPop Demon Hunters has broken so many records for Netflix, but one key reason for its success. Looking back, it’s more than a little amusing that Sony originally pᴀssed on KPop Demon Hunters. The animated movie was ultimately made in a partnership with Sony Animation and Netflix, and it’s proved to be an unprecedented hit.
The directorial debut of Maggie Kang, the movie has been praised for its stunning visuals and slick action sequences; the music is fantastic, perfectly timed for the current boom of interest in K-pop, and the songs have taken down all the compeтιтion in the charts. Looking at the story, though, there’s another reason for the success that hasn’t been explored quite so much.
KPop Demon Hunter’s Story Confronts Shame Head On
Arden Cho’s Rumi is the real star of KPop Demon Hunters, a member of the band Huntr/x whose motives are a little more confused than those of her friends. Raised to fight against the demons, she battles against a dark truth; her skin displays the spreading patterns of the demons themselves, and she’s fighting to free herself from this evil.
At heart, Rumi’s story is one of shame. If guilt is the sense that you have done something wrong, then shame is something more; it is the sickening sense that you are wrong, right to the core of your being. Look at the opening words of Rumi’s song “What It Sounds Like,” as she refers to the proof of “what I am,” not “who.” She feels diminished and inhuman.
As psychologist Sulman Aziz Mirza put it in an article published on Psychiatry Online:
“Clinically, shame is not just a painful emotion; it’s a disorganizing force. Psychodynamically, it emerges when the developing self encounters rejection or invalidation, especially by caregivers. Rather than feeling bad about something, shame makes a person feel bad as something. Over time, shame fragments the self, replacing expression with concealment and authenticity with performance. Rumi’s hidden idenтιтy isn’t just a plot twist—it’s a portrait of psychic survival under emotional suppression.”
The word “shame” comes from an Indo-European word that means “to hide,” and that is what someone who feels shame does; they conceal their true selves, protecting her fragmented self. Rumi has gone to great lengths to hide her truth from her friends, fearing rejection; when her patterns are revealed, their trust is destroyed.
Notice that Rumi truly wins, though, when her true nature is revealed and her friends choose to side with her all the same. The second verse of “What It Sounds Like” speaks the antidote for shame:
We’re shattering the silence, we’re rising, defiant
Shouting in the quiet, “You’re not alone”
We listened to the demons, we let them get between us
But none of us are out here on our own
So we were cowards, so we were liars
So we’re not heroes, we’re still survivors
The dreamers, the fighters, no lying, I’m tired
But dive in the fire, and I’ll be right here by your side.
In KPop Demon Hunters, the demons triumph when people are diminished because of shame. Huntr/x only win when they choose to stand together, accepting one another as they are – in all their brokenness and complexity.
KPop Demon Hunters Taps Into A Familiar Theme
KPop Demon Hunters is hardly the first story to explore the theme of shame. It’s been something of a mainstay in Disney movies since 2013’s Frozen, because there are striking parallels between Elsa’s story and Rumi’s. Like Rumi, Elsa conceals her true self, and must learn to accept it. Just look at the lyrics of Frozen:
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried
Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know
Like Rumi, Elsa has tried to conceal her true self from those around her. When her truth is revealed, those around her must learn how to deal with Elsa as she really is, and the mutual love between Elsa and her sister is what saves the day. It’s not quite so obvious, but the themes of shame are the same.
The Western World Is Changing
Sociologists have traditionally defined Western culture by its focus on internal guilt rather than shame, which carries a strong sense of social stigma. Some commentators have gone a little too far with this, acting as though shame – a common part of humanity – is somehow alien to the West, when it never was.
But the last decade or so has seen a shift, perhaps driven by the rise of social media, and this is increasingly evident in popular culture. Gen Z in particular craves authenticity, the freedom that comes from being accepted as they truly are; the enemy of authenticity is fear of rejection, showing this is tied to the social pressures of shame.
Back in 2013, Frozen hinted at this change. Since then, we’ve seen a wave of Disney movies that are really all about others coming to accept their protagonists for who they are; think Moana, Encanto, and Turning Red. With Kpop Demon Hunters, the message is shouting out louder than perhaps ever before.
The lyrics of Golden feel almost like an anthem for the current age:
Oh, I’m done hidin’, now I’m shinin’ like I’m born to be
Oh, our time, no fears, no lies
That’s who we’re born to be
This, then, is one major reason KPop Demon Hunters has been such a hit; the message couldn’t be better timed, and resonates perfectly with this cultural shift.
