KPop Demon Hunters is a fun movie and I enjoyed it for the most part, but I keep thinking of how much more interesting it would have been Rumi had "earned" her marks instead of being born with them.
Like, her being a half-blood demon was also potentially interesting as a commentary on racism, but it is such an unexplained and unexplored plotline it was a bit lost on me honestly (Did her mother had sex with a demon consensually? Did she know then that they weren't all evil? Are there other half-bloods? Are most demons born or are they made?)
Meanwhile, the idea of having to bear visible signs of your own shame and "sins" is such an interesting concept! And in our contemporary cultural landscape, especially online, where people believe that bad actions are irredeemable and forgiveness is "apologism", it would have been a really powerful message to have had the protagonist had done something wrong in her past, something she still carries the shame for years later, trying to find redemption through magic and thinking there is no other way to "clean up" her soul.
I imagine like. If Rumi had done a deal with the demon king when she was younger, maybe with good intentions, not fully understanding the consequences until it was too late, ending up hurting someone as result. Her mentor helping her hiding it, shielding her from the demon king with magic, telling her she is "different" from other demons because she didn't really mean to do something bad, it was just a mistake.....
And then with time, she would have had to realise that every single demon could be like her, maybe some were actually malicious, but how many had done deals out of desperation, or out of love? How many regret their action deeply, but have no way of getting rid of the shame?
This is Sort Of explored in the movie with Jinu, then again....... not really. Jinu seems to be an exception, no other demon is given the same benefit of the doubt, and most importantly he STILL DIES in the end. Giving the message that actually, sins are not forgiveable, the only redemption is in death.
The movie could have been a story about second chances, about working to undo your past mistakes and becoming a better person, and being worthy of love even when undoing those mistakes isn't completely possible, when you will still need to carry the marks of what you have done for the rest of your life.
Like yeah, the story ends with Rumi "accepting herself and being accepted for what she really is", but... what "is she really", exactly? She never did anything wrong in the first place! Nor did she represent a misjudged and persecuted race, because every other demon in the end either dies or goes to super hell, like they seem to deserve.
(And also, by the end, her marks fade a lot. You can still see them, but they are definitely "more acceptable")
((Which is also a pity because she was really hot in full demon form. But also you know, movie kinda misses its own point there....))
Idk.... again, the movie was fun. It has many positive sides. Kitty and bird are adorable!
But as as far as the moral of the story goes..... i think the writers never really knew what they were tying to tell to their audience, or maybe they lost the message along the way. It ended up being really safe, really "tame". And it's a pity, because i think the potential was great!
