kpop demon hunters and shame

It might just be my algorithm, but it seems like the Netflix movie KPop Demon Hunters is everywhere, and for good reason. The film is a striking blend of k-pop energy, visually stimulating animation, and as I watched the movie I couldn’t help but be moved by the story and the underlying spiritual implications. 

​KPop Demon Hunters tells the story of Huntr/x, a k-pop girl group tasked with sealing a demonic barrier called the Honmoon through music. As the demons push back, led by a rival boy band called The Saja Boys, tensions rise. The lead, Rumi, holds a secret—she’s half demon. As her truth unravels, the battle becomes one not just of music or magic, but of shame and identity.

Types of Shame
Shame is the silent enemy throughout the film, reflecting the shame many feel in their own lives. It manifests in three key forms: shame from our own actions, generational shame, and shame inflicted by others.

Like many of us, Jinu (leader of the Saja Boys) is ruled by shame from his past choices. The demon master Gwi-ma’s manipulation of Jinu is eerily similar to Satan’s promises to grant us our desires if we give in to our temptations. You’re feeling lonely? God can’t help you, but porn can. You’re feeling overwhelmed by life? God can’t help you, but alcohol can. You’re feeling overlooked and dismissed? God can’t help you, but stirring up rumors and strife can allow you to come out on top. But like James 1:14-15 says, giving into these sins doesn’t lead to life, but rather it leads to death and bondage. 
Generational shame is passed on to Rumi, instilled by her mentor Celine, who told her to hide her demon heritage. Celine encouraged Rumi to cover up and never talk about this shame with anyone, this shame which started with Rumi’s mother is now passed down to Rumi. We are quick to talk about generational sins, but rarely do we talk about generational shame. This shame is deep, intricate, often woven into the patterns of family dynamics and culture. Rooting it out can often feel like destroying who and what a family has become. 

​Rumi’s shame, like many people, was a result of others' choices. She was born a half-demon, she didn’t ask for it, nor did she seek it out, but she bears the burden of shame as a result. This type of shame is difficult because we had no control over it; a young child molested, a wife left by her cheating husband, a parent responsible for mountains of debt from a scheming child. This shame can feel unfair, because it wasn’t a result of anything you did. Yet what you do with that shame is left up to you. Rumi is left to deal with the shame of being half-demon, she didn’t ask for it, yet she must live with the daily consequences. 
In the film, masses are driven by their personal shame to the Saja Boys’ final concert at Namsam Tower. But their shame did not come to them in Gwi-Ma’s voice, but rather it came to them in the sound of their own voice. Here the movie highlights an important part of shame… It is a shapeshifter. Shame knows how to disguise itself so that it sounds like it is coming from within. Whether it is yourself, your mother, or your best friend, Satan knows the voice of our heart and he will morph our shame until it is a distorted version of a voice we love.

The Results of Shame
Shame will do its best to convince us that we are better off hiding, that we are not missing much by holding onto it. But the reality is, shame isolates and destroys; it keeps us from living and it takes more than it gives.

Jinu’s life was void of any peace, with the voice of Gwi-Ma condemning him for over 400 years. Jinu’s shame caused him to live in torment with 400 years of condemnation from Gwi-Ma. It wasn’t until he started to share his shame with Rumi, that he experienced silence, peace. And shame does the same to us. 

Shame also keeps us from rest. Rumi's shame motivated her to push harder, faster, and higher in order to create the golden honmoon seal. But all it did was cause her to be exhausted. How many times do we allow our shame to keep us running from thing-to-thing, relationship to relationship, goal to goal, because we are afraid if we slow down or slack off for one moment, our shame will be exposed and we will be utterly defeated?

And where there is shame, there is lack of intimacy. Rumi missed out on authentic community with Zoey and Mira because she was so busy hiding her shame from them. From missing out on fun activities like the bathhouse, to lying about her vocal struggles, Rumi kept up invisible walls, keeping people at a distance and missing out on being fully known, all so she could keep her shame hidden. 
Shame also keeps us from our purpose. Rumi tells Jinu, “the more I hid my shame, the more it grew and grew until it started to destroy the one thing that gives me purpose… my voice.” Rumi’s shame literally silenced her, and shame does the same to us. As it destroys our relationships, our rest, and our peace, it begins to silence us and keeps us from the things that give us purpose in life. “You think God wants to hear a prayer from someone like you? How dare you even think about opening up your Bible after what you did last night.” Our shame tells us to hide from God, the One who gives us purpose. But like Adam and Eve, hiding in our shame is as pointless as sewing fig leaves for clothes.

​Scripture tells us that a life with Jesus is a life where we will have peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7), rest (Matt. 11:28), intimacy (Ps. 139:1-4), and purpose (1 Thess. 5:18) but shame seeks to destroy that reality. So in order to live our lives fully, we must begin to destroy our shame.

Freedom from Shame
The film mirrors biblical truth: shame flourishes in secrecy but dies in the light. The journey to expose shame is not easy. It is painful, humbling, and requires high levels of courage and perseverance as there are many opportunities to quit along the way. But for those who are willing to walk through the discomfort, freedom and beauty are waiting on the other side.  

“We can’t fix it if we never face it.” 

The lyrics sung by Rumi and Jinu, echo the truth demonstrated in Psalm 51. If we want freedom from our shame, the first thing we have to do is face it head on, by first admitting the sin behind the shame. “Against you, and you only, have I sinned” - Ps. 51:4. Freedom requires admitting our sin to God and, even more courageously, to others.

Sharing our Shame
“Nothing but the truth now.
Nothing but the proof of what I am.
The worst of what I came from, the patterns I’m ashamed of.
The things that even I don’t understand.”

Rumi begins to sing, sharing her worst fears and past, but instead of rejection, she finds transformation. Her patterns take on a different color; no longer are they purple and dull, but they become shiny and iridescent, her shame morphs into something beautiful. And like Rumi, when we confess our shame, framed in the light of God’s grace, we discover that what was ugly and dull becomes beautiful and shiny. Darkness cannot continue in the presence of light, and the darkness of our shame is eradicated when it meets the light of public confession. But it also lights a path inviting others to experience the same freedom.

“We’re shattering the silence…
Shouting in the silence “you’re not alone.”

Shame tells us that we are alone, confession brings camaraderie. The reality is there is no temptation that is not common to man (1 Cor. 10:13), and exposing shame provides space for others to say “me too.” Our proclamation of what God has freed us from encourages others to be free themselves and share the shame that they too have been hiding in the darkness.

The Scars of Shame
The denouement of the film is happy and joyous. But yet even in the ending KPop Demon Hunters provides one final, profound truth about the reality of shame… Shame can leave scars. Rumi’s patterns do not go away after she reveals them to the world. But instead they fade into the background, less prominent, but ever present. Shame is the same, once we’ve shared, our shame may leave scars, reminders of where we’ve come from and what God has saved us from. But like the change of Rumi’s patterns, the scars fade into the background; present, but not pervasive, visible, but beautiful testimonies of the shame that our Savior rescued us from and the freedom we now get to live in our present community. And we get to echo the lyrics of the #1 hit song from the film Golden…

“I’m done hiding, now I’m shining
Like I’m born to be.
Our time, no fears, no lies
That’s who we’re born to be.”