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Get 50% off your first year at http://monarchmoney.com and use code THETAKE | We're taking a deeper look at Kpop Demon Hunters to unpack all of the things that have led to its global takeover!...
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00:00Smash hit K-Pop Demon Hunters has surprised people in more ways than one.
00:04It's an original story that manages to walk the line between fun and depth,
00:09hitting on real relatable emotions without ever losing its edge or humor.
00:17The movie has become a mega-hit for Netflix. Not only is it now the streamer's most-watched film
00:22of all time, it's also dominating the box office and making waves on the music charts.
00:30This is what it sounds like.
00:32So what is it that has allowed K-Pop Demon Hunters to so totally capture the hearts and minds of
00:37audiences? To find out, let's dig into the film and its symbolism. Then we'll unpack the deeper
00:43meaning of the story's ending. Finally, we'll put it all together to analyze the true reasons this
00:48movie has become such a major success, and the important lessons Hollywood should learn from it
00:53if it wants a chance to repeat it.
00:56K-Pop has been a major worldwide force in the music industry for decades now,
01:03and has had a particular boom in the US over the past 10 or so years.
01:07Co-director Maggie Kang began developing the story that would become K-Pop Demon Hunters
01:11seven years ago, as she wanted the opportunity to tell a story that forefronted Korean culture
01:17in a new, engaging way. She explained to Mashable,
01:20It came from really wanting to see Korean culture represented in feature animation,
01:24and demonology was something that I just really leaned into and that naturally led to Demon Hunters.
01:29So it was like more of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer type of Demon Slayer group,
01:34and the K-Pop of it came last. Another Korean thing that I could add in and have it be their public-facing
01:41persona. The story follows three mega-star K-Pop idols who also just happen to be Demon Hunters.
01:47Ugh, I didn't even get to finish my Damian!
01:50Why do they always interrupt our snacking?
01:52I'm a philanthropist!
01:54They're the newest generation of a long line of Hunters,
01:56who use the power of their song to keep the demons of the world at bay.
02:01Our music ignites the soul and brings people together.
02:05As with every good group, each young woman brings her own specific vibe and skill set to the band.
02:10Zoe is the goofy ball of energy who serves as the group's main lyricist and rapper,
02:15Mira is the hilariously deadpan visual and main dancer,
02:19and Rumi is the level-headed leader and lead vocalist.
02:23As the leader of Huntrix, Rumi feels extra pressure as the one in charge of keeping the
02:28band together and safe so that they can continue to make the fans happy while also, you know,
02:33saving the world. But under all of that is an added level of pressure that comes from her
02:39deepest secret. Rumi herself is part demon. Her mother was a hunter and her father a demon.
02:47And so she's been left to figure out how these two sides of herself can possibly coexist.
02:52Rumi's foster mother Selene believes that once they've finally defeated the demons for good,
02:57Rumi will be freed from the demon side of herself. And so in the meantime, Rumi must hide that part of
03:03her existence from everyone, even her closest friends. A rival band appears on the scene,
03:09the Saja Boys. But they're not just devilishly handsome, they're literally demons. Sent by demon
03:16ruler Guima to take down Huntrix and break the Hanmoon that has been keeping Guima and the other
03:21demons from totally taking over. The plan hits a hitch when Saja Boys' leader,
03:26Jinnu and Rumi begin to realize that they have a lot more in common than they ever would have thought.
03:32He understands her feelings of shame and pain around her half demon-ness, because he too was human once.
03:39He chose to leave the human world and his family behind, and the choice has haunted him ever since.
03:46My family lost everything. Every day since, I've been haunted by the memory of failing them.
03:53The music pumps, emotions surge, and tempers flare as everyone becomes unsure of who they can trust,
03:58or if they can trust anyone, even themselves.
04:02But before we start digging into the ending, let's first unpack some key symbolism from the film.
04:08The entire story is rooted in the folklore of Korean shamanism,
04:11and Huntrix functions as a kind of K-pop form of traditional mudang dancers.
04:15Female shaman who perform rites to do everything from appease the dead to help the living bring their
04:21inner and outer selves into harmony and beyond. While the Han Moon itself was created for the
04:26film and isn't specifically drawn from that folklore, the idea of that kind of protective
04:32flare created by the energy of all and guided by the shaman is. Han Moon connects every individual
04:38together to form a web that is much more powerful than any of them could be on their own.
04:43It also has some interesting color symbolism. There's the standard red at its weakest denoting danger and
04:49evil, but the choices in the usage of blue and gold are quite interesting. The Han Moon is blue as it
04:55grows in its power, rippling like water over everyone in its sphere of influence. There's the
05:00idea that when it reaches its full power, it will become the golden Han Moon, denoting a sense of
05:06perfection and finality. But in fact, what we see in the end isn't that perfect gold, but instead an
05:13iridescent ocean. Because perfection doesn't last, and the true work of keeping the evil of the world
05:19at bay is a continual process that ebbs and flows, just like water. We can also see this in the multiple
05:27references to generations of hunters, of kpop stars, of fans. This work is continual and connects everyone
05:36through time and space. The three-eyed magpie, which is actually a six-eyed magpie, we just only
05:41ever see it in profile, and the tiger are both references to Korean folklore. Magpies, who were
05:46generally known for being clever and curious, have long been paired with fearsome, but often rather
05:51dim, tigers in Korean folk art. The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco's curators note that,
05:57as tigers were believed to expel evil spirits and magpies represented bears of good news,
06:02paintings of this duo were sometimes placed on the front gates or doors of houses to bring good luck.
06:08Rios of women have long been connected to the ideas around the supernatural, fate, and destiny,
06:14connected to the belief that their combined insight leads to a greater understanding of the world and
06:20its inner workings. Narratively, it allows the story to showcase a variety of personality types and
06:30their competing characteristics without becoming overwhelming. When combined, as we see in kpop
06:35demon hunters, this allows us to see how important every person and personality type is to defeating
06:42evil. It's a group project. Every generation, a new trio of hunters is chosen to fulfill our ultimate duty.
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08:14Rumi losing her voice of course directly symbolizes how her shame over her secret demon heritage has
08:20caused her to make parts of herself smaller, until she began to completely lose them.
08:25How am I supposed to fix the world? Fix me, when I don't have my voice?
08:32But it also connects into the larger issue of young people feeling like they don't have a voice in these
08:37giant battles, they've been forced to fight in the world and that seem nearly unwinnable.
08:42This is another reason why her finally finding her voice is so important. It also helps give voice
08:49to everyone else around her. Being split between two sides of yourself is a major theme across the film.
08:55From Zoey dealing with the separation of identity that comes from her being Korean but born in California,
09:01Renu battling holding on to what's left of his humanity while trying to contend with the failures
09:06of his past, to Rumi coming to terms with both sides of herself.
09:10I broke into a million pieces and I can't go back.
09:15In each case, the solution isn't hiding or forgetting a part of oneself to focus on the other,
09:20but instead to figure out how to allow these sides of yourself to coexist. The fact that Rumi falls
09:26for a demon just like her mother hits home how these multiple sides of ourselves,
09:30and all of our different feelings about each other and the world don't always shake out the way we
09:35tell ourselves they should. Self-acceptance and love are often much messier conundrums than we'd
09:41like to hope. Being centered around K-pop, the movie dives into the issue of parasocial fandoms
09:47and the ability of celebrities to use their power to control their fans for their own ends.
09:56Huntrix uses their music to bring people together.
09:59The Saja boys use theirs to drain them. While the girls' songs are genuine and relatable,
10:06the boys are catchy, but hollow. Their goal not to connect with fans, but to lull them into a false
10:13sense of comfort. We see how on the positive end, the fans make everything possible for idols and are
10:22the energy source for their careers, but also how that can quickly turn dark when used the wrong way.
10:29You couldn't keep them together. You're all alone. But you don't have to be.
10:34The film also confronts the evils of the industry from the corporate end, with Gui Ma to a degree
10:40representing the darkness that seeks to create empty art only as a means of personal enrichment, even when it
10:46harms everyone else in the process. But co-director Maggie Kang told Mashable that while she did want
10:52to highlight that side of the industry, she also wanted to make sure that it didn't come across as
10:57being wholly negative. He said,
11:02Early on, one of our Korean writers was a little confused that we weren't focusing more on the
11:06darker side of the music industry. But for me, especially since this is my first movie set in
11:11Korean culture, I didn't want to lead with negativity. That said, the demon hunting aspect
11:16naturally became a metaphor for the messier parts of the industry. The pressure to be perfect, to hide
11:22your flaws, to perform a polished version of yourself, not just for the public, but even within
11:26your own group.
11:27My voice without the lie, this is what it sounds like.
11:32Throughout the film, there's that running theme around the idea that one should hide the darker
11:37parts of oneself, and only show the good sides to the world, no matter what.
11:42This is why we have to hide it. Our faults and fears must never be seen.
11:46This comes to a head as the film nears its end, and Rumi's secret,
11:50her hidden half-demon identity, is revealed to everyone. Mira and Zoe are upset that they've been
11:57lied to, especially when they learn that Rumi has secretly been colluding with demon Sajaboy
12:02Jinu in an attempt to take down Gui Ma. In the chaos, Gui Ma is able to put a spell over the
12:07public AND Zoe and Mira, drawing them all into a Sajaboy's performance where he'll be able to use
12:12their combined power to break the Hanmoon and free himself and his demon horde. Rumi returns to Selene,
12:19fearing that the only way to stop the demon taking over her is to erase herself.
12:24Being forced to carry the split identity, and to hide part of who she is for so long,
12:29has fractured her soul on a deep level.
12:32Why couldn't you love me?
12:33I do!
12:34All of me!
12:36But she begins to realize that she isn't the problem at all. The problem is the idea that she
12:42can't be all of who she is and do the right thing. That the evil underneath the surface
12:48is something inherent, instead of something that she has control over.
12:53If this is the Hanmoon I'm supposed to protect, I'm glad to see it destroyed.
12:59She shows up at the Sajaboy's concert and finds her voice, which pulls Zoe and Mira out of their
13:04trance too. Together, they battle the demons to save each other and the souls of their fans.
13:15As a final act of humanity, Genu helps fully turn the tide in their favor by sacrificing himself.
13:22The most resonant message of the film is the power of opening yourself up to all kinds of love,
13:27romantically, from friends, and most importantly, from yourself. In the end,
13:32overcoming Weemaw isn't an individual success, but a group one. It takes the girls, Genu's sacrifice,
13:39and the power of the fans coming together to defeat him and his demons.
13:43And the Hanmoon is gone.
13:47It is. So we can make a new one.
13:50Self-acceptance isn't about erasing all of the parts of yourself that you don't like or that don't seem
13:55to fit in, but instead coming to accept and love all of you. And finding other people who do too.
14:02You guys just mean so much to me that I wouldn't really know what I have to do.
14:09While K-pop Demon Hunters is clearly a great film, its huge success has everyone wondering
14:14what it is specifically that has allowed it to shine so brightly. Of course, one of the biggest
14:19boons to the film is K-pop fans themselves. As the movie showcases, they are a very dedicated bunch.
14:26I love my girls!
14:28Netflix chair Dan Lin told The Hollywood Reporter,
14:31As word of mouth spread and social media caught on, we saw viewing really take off,
14:36and the movie became a cultural phenomenon. It's one of the only films to grow its audiences in
14:41its fifth and sixth weeks of release. But it's also the many great facets of the film that have
14:46come together to make it something that everyone seems to enjoy. Even people who weren't previously
14:51into K-pop. It's clear from every frame of the film how much love and care was put into both the
14:56story and animation, which is one of the biggest reasons audiences have fallen in love with it.
15:01It doesn't feel like slop that was just thrown together over a week or two to give people
15:05something to have in the background while they scroll on their phones. The fun visual style keeps
15:09things engaging, and the songs are catchy enough that they've become hits in their own right.
15:14The movie also uses a couple of pre-existing songs that fans might recognize, Slicky XO's Love Me
15:19Right. The movie has gotten some mild criticism for spending too much time having characters explain
15:24their feelings and motivations out loud. But like with Barbie a few years ago, that might actually
15:30be a good thing. Because its intended audience, young adults, could possibly do well to hear these
15:35kinds of things said plainly and openly in a way that's easy to understand and relate to.
15:41So I did my best to accept you. Accept me? You told me to cover up. To hide. No. No more hiding. No more lies.
15:51There's a sincerity to the film and the way that it takes women's fears and struggles seriously,
15:56while also taking joy in the goofier, funnier sides of life, that makes it intensely relatable.
16:03All of this combines to make a movie that's great enough to keep people coming back for repeat watches.
16:08Kpop Demon Hunters is a success on multiple levels. And it's yet more proof that people are craving
16:14interesting original stories that are crafted with care by teams of talented creatives. And it's
16:20also a great reminder for all of us that the darker parts of ourselves don't have to blot out the
16:25light. And together, we can achieve great things. That's the funny thing about hope. Nobody else gets
16:32to decide if you feel it. That choice belongs to you. That's the take! Click here to watch the video
16:38we think you'll love. Or here to check out a whole playlist of awesome content. Don't forget to subscribe and
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