If you’re young, you already know that KPop Demon Hunters is a super-popular sensation. If you’re older know this: even if your kids/grandkids haven’t watched the movie and aren’t listening to the songs yet, chances are that their friends have watched it and are listening to the songs. This is something worth thinking about and worth discussing with your children and others.
I watched the movie with my wife and 27-year old daughter. I can see why it is very popular. It is technically well made. The songs are catchy. The story telling is well-done. There are uplifting themes. Honestly, I enjoyed watching it.
My purpose in writing this is not to tell you whether to watch it or whether to let any children in your care watch it. My purpose is to help those who do watch it or hear about it or who want to discuss it with others to understand the most important thing about KPop Demon Hunters.
It has some good messages, but these are not the most important thing about the movie. The good messages include things like:
* Not hiding our struggles or things we feel embarrassed about from all of our closest friends. Sharing these things with people who love us and care about us can rob these sources of shame of their power over us. Yes, wisdom is needed about what to share with whom, but sharing is often helpful. Only when we risk letting others know our struggles can we “Carry one another's burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2 CSB).
* The movie explores the nature of temptation, habitual sin, and idolatry. This topic is most clearly seen in the demon boy band’s song “Idol.” The movie shows how evil (demons in this case) can often be disguised as something that on the surface seems fun and even attractive. This is true of the boy band and is seen as they sing the song “Soda Pop.” These movie elements can serve as warnings against the very real temptations and deceptions that are so prevalent in our world today. Evil does indeed often come in forms that initially appear harmless, fun, and attractive. The Bible warns us: “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:13-14 CSB).
* The movie shows the importance and value of teamwork. The demon hunting girl band can only win their battle against evil by working together. Likewise, God calls us to work together with other Christians to build up the Church and this means we must, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3 NIV).
There are a few problems with the film other than the big one that we’ll get to soon. These include:
* The story line encourages the idea that it could be good for a girl to date “the bad boy” (obviously it can go the other way around, too). There’s even a line in the song “Free” that says, “you’re no good, but you’re good for me.” In the movie this does cause problems but in the end, it works out well. In real life this is almost always a recipe for heartbreak and disaster. If you are a girl and feel compassion and/or attraction for a guy who is not living right or who does not share your Christian faith, by all means pray for him. But if he needs a Christian to be a close friend and to spend time with him in private, trust God to send a Christian guy for that job. Date evangelism is not a good strategy. The Christian is just as likely, or more likely, to be pulled down as they are to pull the unbeliever up. Remember the warning, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14 NIV).
* The boy band seeks the adoration of their fans on a level that approaches worship and that makes the boy band into idols. What is easy to miss is that the girl band basically does the same thing. Sure, the girl band is not made up of demons and they are not evil in the same ways as the boy band, but they are seeking massive fan adoration. There has only been one person in all of human history who is worthy of worship: Jesus.
This leads us to the most important thing about KPop Demon Hunters. The most important thing about the movie is not anything that is in the movie. The most important thing is what KPop Demon Hunters leaves out: God. The omission of God is especially glaring because the movie does have a being that is in the role of the Devil. And the movie has plenty of spiritual themes including the existence of a whole spiritual realm and battles against demons from that realm. But there is no God on the other side.
In God’s place, the demon hunters seek power to defeat evil partly from within themselves and partly from unnamed and undefined spiritual forces that have more in common with animism and occult practices than with God.
Like the demon hunters in the movie, we are all called to fight against evil. But if we try to fight with only power from within ourselves or with any spiritual power that is not from the one true God, then we are doomed.
In real life, in the real world we live in, temptation, shame, and demons can only be overcome through a relationship with Jesus.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me” (John 15:5 CSB).
“Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7 CSB).
Only when we are abiding in Christ can we bear good fruit. To successfully resist the Devil, we must submit to God.
If you watch the movie with your family, I suggest that you discuss it afterwards. And in your discussion, don’t leave out what the movie leaves out. Don’t leave out God.
