Shame in K-Pop Demon Hunters

In K-Pop Demon Hunters (KPDH), patterns are a mark of demons, but what they mark is the shame that the demon feels. Rumi, as the child of a demon, also has marks. Throughout her life, these marks keep growing. When she was a small child, these marks were tiny:

As she grew older, the marks kept growing:

As she got closer and closer to the moment she was going to seal the Golden Honmun and supposedly get rid of her demon marks, the marks kept spreading, until they reached her throat, and she lost her voice:

It was only when she was with Jinu, when she started to feel more at ease about having demon patterns, that her voice returned.

But why were the marks growing in the first place? Rumi had nothing to be ashamed of. She never did anything wrong. She dedicated her life to protecting the world from the demons.

It was Celine. Celine believed that having a demon for a father, that having demon patterns, was something to be ashamed of. Rumi originally didn't feel this way and wanted to share the truth with her friends, but Celine kept drilling into her that she had to hide her patterns and get rid of them. Celine made her feel that she should be ashamed. In effect, Celine felt that Rumi bore the guilt for the sins of her father.

Celine created the problem, then offered a solution: you should feel shame because of what your father was, and the only way to be rid of it is to do a magical ritual to purify yourself. The more Rumi focused on the need to get rid of the patterns, the more she felt ashamed of having them, the more they grew.

This reminds me of what the Bible says: Fathers shall not be put to death for the sins of their sons, nor sons for the sins of their fathers. Rather, every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

Like Christianity, Celine convinced Rumi that she inherited guilt and offered a solution that doesn't work. Only by rejecting this misplaced guilt and choosing the path of repentance rather than supernatural salvation was Rumi able to save herself and her friends and ultimately the world. The same was also true for Jinu. His guilt was earned, but he repented, though because he was late in doing so it ended up costing his life.

When a person repents, he rises to a level that those who've never sins can't reach. Rumi and her friends are in a much healthier place now, and her patterns are no longer marks of shame, but of beauty.

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