KPop Demon Hunters: How a Netflix Hit Reflects Jesuit Values

By Gintaras Duda and Jessica Forbes

If you haven’t watched the Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters, then you’re probably wondering what all the hype is about.

The film is Netflix’s most watched movie ever, with 540 million views since its release last June, and the soundtrack is played everywhere. It’s a pop-culture sensation: costumes based on the film’s characters were the hottest Halloween costumes, the theme song Golden won a Grammy, and the movie’s been nominated for two Oscars.

Besides the catchy K-pop tunes and excellent animation, let us suggest one more reason to watch the film: Jesuit spirituality and values.

Huntr/x vs. Saja Boys

KPop Demon Hunters is an animated film featuring three young women – Rumi, Mira and Zoey – who form the K-pop girl-band Huntr/x. The catch is that all three are actually demon hunters, protecting the world from the servants of the demon-king Gwi-Ma.

The members of Huntr/x combat demons martially, but also with their vocals and music. The music of Huntr/x protects humanity through the Honmoon, a mystical barrier that acts to shield our world from the demons.

When Huntr/x is on the verge of creating a Golden Honmoon, a permanent barrier that would seal demons out of our world forever, the demons craft a clever new strategy: disguising themselves as a K-pop boy band, the Saja Boys.

The Saja Boys seek to win the hearts and minds of the public through song, and push Huntr/x and the Golden Honmoon into “has been” status. The ultimate confrontation occurs at the Idol Awards, where the Korean nation will choose between the two singing groups.  

Dark Spirit vs. Good Spirit

Just as the public needs to choose between the Saja Boys and Huntr/x at the Idol Awards, St. Ignatius in the 16th century explained that we continuously choose between two standards in our own lives: the Standard of Satan (or the Dark Spirit) and the Standard of Jesus (or the Good Spirit).

St. Ignatius believed that we are fundamentally spiritual creatures, and that human beings will always seek to satisfy this fundamental yearning for more in our lives.

The Standard of Satan seeks to satisfy this yearning by tempting us to turn inward and make our identity dependent on what we have and what we do. The dark spirit shouts, “You need more!” “You are not enough.” “If you only had this, then you’d be someone.” Eventually it tempts us to make it all about me – making it easy to justify all other vices. After all, if I’m the most important person then anything that benefits me is permissible.

The Standard of Jesus, on the other hand, calls us to find our identity as being children of an ever-loving God. We find ourselves in that love; we do not need honors or riches. We are enough as we are. The Standard of Jesus frees us for a life based on an ultimate truth: that we are dependent on others and are in turn called to serve others. It’s not all about us.

Competing Standards

How do these two standards operate in the film?

KPop Demon Hunters clearly and cleverly lays out example after example of the Satanic Strategy.

The Saja Boys’ song “Your Idol” is textbook Satanic strategy: “I’m the only one who’ll love your sins; Feel the way my voice gets underneath your skin”; “I’m all you need, I’ma be your idol”; and “Yeah, you gave me your heart, now I’m here for your soul.” The line “Don’t let it show, keep it all inside, the pain and the shame keep it outta sight” exemplifies how the Dark Spirit works by isolating us, and thrives in the dark.

Another particularly compelling scene in the film shows Gwi-Ma whispering discouragement and desolation to various characters as they go to the Idol Awards; the Dark Spirit knows our insecurities and weak points! Even the catchy K-pop song “Soda Pop” has elements of the Dark Spirit’s strategy: “I need you to fill me up” and “I drink and drink but I’m not satisfied,” alluding to our inability to satisfy our deepest yearnings ourselves.  

Satan’s standard comes to play when our commitment or love for something becomes distorted by obsession. The Saja Boys sing, “Your obsession feeds our connection,” referring to how the crowd’s obsession with them fuels their connection to Gwi-Ma (the depiction of Satan). Without the fans’ obviously unhealthy mania toward the band, their plan would unravel.  

The film also illustrates how Satan’s temptations are never unattractive, as is true of the Saja Boys and their music. Their “standard” is glamor, seduction and fame, used to charm and manipulate their fans. St. Ignatius teaches that the evil spirit moves charmingly and deceitfully, mirroring the exact ploy of the Saja Boys.  

On the other hand, the women of Huntr/x represent the counter-standard. Their mission is sacrificial. They were chosen to use their talent for a greater good, the good of others.

Some of the most touching moments in the film emphasize the Jesus standard.

Early in the film, Rumi begins to lose her voice. We find out that this loss is partially due to an identity crisis in keeping a shameful secret: Her father was a demon and she exhibits demon markings called “patterns.” Rumi does not even trust her fellow bandmates with the truth. She hopes that achieving the Golden Honmoon will shut out the demons forever and end her shame, but she comes to realize that she needs to face her true identity.  

Ironically enough, it is through interactions with the demon Jinu (one of the Saja Boys) that Rumi comes to accept who she is. As St. Ignatius counsels us, the best way to respond to the temptations of the dark is to bring them into the light and share that pain and shame and temptation with others.

Rumi, Mira and Zoey are not solo heroes, and they rely heavily on one another. The Jesus standard is a call to love and a call to serve. We are constantly being created and communally creating one another. This is evident in the Huntr/x partnership.

A ‘Golden’ Opportunity to Explore Ignatian Spirituality?

KPop Demon Hunters is based on Korean mythology and has no explicit Christian connections, but nevertheless Jesuit values and elements from Ignatian Spirituality can definitely be found in the movie.  

And who knows? Maybe this anime film will help you understand the Two Standards of St. Ignatius more deeply and completely. And perhaps it’s a good example as well of St. Ignatius’ call for us to find God in all things.
 

About the authors: Gintaras Duda is a professor and chair of physics and the holder of the A.F. Jacobson Chair in Communication. He co-leads a faculty group on a semester-long exploration of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises with the Rev. Greg Carlson, SJ, through the Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality. Jessica Forbes is a senior physics and mathematics major at Creighton who last fall completed THL 471: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with Fr. Carlson and Max Engel, PhD, associate professor of education.