Not being a big fan of anything having to do with demons, I had no plans to watch the Netflix movie K-Pop Demon Hunters, and I wasn’t keen on my daughters watching it either. As is the kid way, they found an opportunity to watch it, and the songs eventually permeated my vehicle en route to various extracurricular activities.
While at my voice lesson, I jokingly mentioned the latest trend to my voice coach, and we decided to try Golden. After my lesson, my youngest excitedly told me she had heard me singing. “Now, you have to watch it, Mom,” she said. I laughed.
There are few things in this world harder to resist than one of my darlings asking me to do something as easy as watching a movie—even if it is a movie about K-pop stars who hunt demons. My youngest is particularly good at it. I gave in with the caveat that I would turn it off if necessary.
Far from turning it off, I was really impressed! I felt the movie did a wonderful job highlighting some important life lessons. Here’s my take on a few that jumped out at me.
Voices are Powerful Instruments of Change
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Proverbs 18:21 (NRSV). I couldn’t agree more. Throughout history, we’ve seen this power. The loudest voices take center stage. Intimidation is used to silence voices that might disagree. If you’ve read The Last Battle, from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, you know that Shift uses this approach to trick Narnians into following a false Aslan.However, raised voices can also be a call for justice and change.
In my own experience, voice lessons have helped me to access a source of spiritual strength I didn’t know was there. This makes me think of enslaved Africans who, though tormented, would sing. It makes me think, too, of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, and former President Obama’s Yes We Can.
The latter examples may not be songs in the traditional sense, but the connection isn’t the way the sounds/words are brought forth. Rather, it is the truth that binds them. In other words, my voice lessons taught me how to sing with my own voice, my true voice, not someone else’s—just as Dr. King, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and former President Obama brought forth their voices. Such truths can’t help but change the world for the better.
People are Not Mistakes
Growing up, I often wished I were different. I thought if I looked differently or was more like other people my life would have been better. In other words, I believed I was a mistake. I’m not the only one who has struggled with this.
To use a literary example, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables dislikes her red hair and freckles so much she often attempts to imagine someone else: a girl with black hair and pale skin.
These self-criticisms are not true reflections. Yet, much like communicable diseases, the underlying falsehoods are often passed on by well-meaning people in our lives.
For today, I practice gratitude for all kinds of people, even people I may not particularly like, knowing they hold value just as I do.
Acceptance is Invaluable
The serenity prayer prescribes that we ask God for three things. First that God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change; second, the serenity to change the things we can; third, that God grant us the wisdom to know the difference.
Learning to accept was hard. The part of me that desires justice felt it unfair that I should accept what I felt was unjust. Somewhere along the way—by virtue of God’s grace and wisdom, no doubt—I began to understand that acceptance and agreement are not synonymous. For example, I may not agree with mandatory arbitration clauses, but if I want to keep my cell phone service, I must accept them.
Accepting the things I cannot change, gave me the freedom to let go of all the situations I can’t control, which are many, and focus with renewed energy on the things I can.
It was also a humbling reminder that, try as I might, I don’t have all the answers.
What a gift.
Summary
K-Pop Demon Hunters is worth watching whether or not you have a persuasive child in your life egging you on.
Enjoy!
