I wonder if K-pop Demon Hunters is so popular because it's a ready allegory for the fight against fascism and authoritarianism...

Submitted ⁨⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Quexotic@infosec.pub⁩ to ⁨showerthoughts@lemmy.world⁩

It really wasn’t intended to be (according to the authors of the script) but there’s a lot of overlap between popstar fan idolatry and the idolatry of fascist or authoritarian leaders.

Hmm. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KPop_Demon_Hunters

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ICCrawler@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I don’t think kids give a lick about any of that. The songs are catchy, the animation is goofy but endearing, the girls are charming and relatable despite their “stardom,” the fantastical elements still play into universal themes (feeling like one must hide the dark side of one’s self versus breaking free.) Politics is definitely not a part of it.

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- Quexotic@infosec.pub ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Definitely not intended, as I said, but there’s so much overlapping that I’m seeing it.
  
  Anyhow, just a shower thought. The kids won’t stop playing this music, so it’s brainwormed into my unconscious thoughts.
  
  It’s fair though, it definitely slaps.
  
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  - NarrativeBear@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    How can she slap
    
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tflyghtz@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
If anything i see a right-wing lean in Ideology in this otherwise excellent movie.

All characters hold a black-and-white and essentialist world view, even though two main characters Rumi and Jinu knowing better. This is not really communicated beyond the romance.

“omg demons are worth living, because i have some in me and my lover is a demon? Lets kill all the rest tho theyre scum”

Its giving Star Wars sequels with Finn and the Stormtroopers

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- altphoto@lemmy.today ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Yeah, its clear to me that the hunters are basically running around murdering innocent daemons. In many of the scenes the demons just happen to be there hanging out.
  
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  - BluescreenOfDeath@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Yeah, totally not literally disappearing people en mass to feed their souls to Gwi-ma. Just totally harmless, innocent demons.
    
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devolution@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
No. It’s primarily because the songs are great, the women don’t have to be Mary Sue stereotypes, the guys aren’t just pathetic stand ins, and females are allowed romance, not being required to be girl boss characters.

Bad examples: Rey, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, the girl from Wish, etc.

Great examples: Rumi, Gwen Stacy (Spiderverse), Mirabelle, etc.

Also, the girls are allowed to be authentically cringy.

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aeronmelon@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Adults understand that it’s generational differences between opening up about uniqueness and simply hiding it to fit in, kids just like the music and dancing.

Adults also make a face with how much it’s a copy of Frozen’s premise.

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- wjrii@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  
  Adults also make a face with how much it’s a copy of Frozen’s premise.
  
  Definitely very similar, but it’s different enough, I’d say. It sort of makes explicit that there are cultural repercussions to imposing Elsa’s burden on everyone, that embracing individuality can ironically create a stronger sense of community, and then, in splitting Elsa into Rumi and Jinu, it allows for parallel redemptive tracks, one who never had a “Let it Go” first act moment at all and suffered because of it, and one who really thoroughly bought into the anti-social aspects of it but is then gaslit into thinking they can never be anything better.
  
  If we can do the Hero’s Journey a thousand times, we can do Elsa’s every few years, especially when the rest of it is changed up and fun. I do think there’s a world where K-Pop Demon Hunters comes and goes without making any waves, but the songs are all earworms and it hit at just the right moment, apparently.
  
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