'KPop Demon Hunters' reignites Long Islanders' obsession with Korean culture
Alessandra Sousa, Christina Hardaway, and Olivia Santos, of East Meadow, at a Demon Hunters event at United Skates in Seaford. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin
The skate rink is mobbed. Kids and teens with pink-streaked ponytails and buns on either side of their heads wobble precariously as they attempt dance moves and sing along to "Soda Pop" and "Takedown." The two hits from the Sony Pictures/Netflix film "KPop Demon Hunters" blast through the speakers.
The English language anime meets Korean pop meets teen angst romantasy movie features a supernatural girl Korean pop supergroup — Huntrix — dedicated to fighting demons, and a cute, but demonic boy band — Saja Boys — that they have to defeat to save the world. Since dropping on Netflix in June, "KPop Demon Hunters" has become its most popular original film ever, still riding at number one in October with more than 18 million views.
K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey use their secret identities as demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat in Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters." Credit: NETFLIX
Parents on Long Island are shelling out for sing-along screenings at movie houses, for merch featuring the bands or emulating the outfits, and for events like "KPop Demon Hunters" night at United Skates in Seaford. The first one in August sold out its 500-person capacity, says United Stakes sales and event manager Jenn Simonetti.
"It was insane; it filled up so fast and we had to turn people away at the door," Simonetti says. United Skates now offers K-pop-themed public skates monthly, in addition to birthday packages and private events.
Marlie Little, left, of North Babylon, and Adriana Bailey, of Bethpage, dressed up for the Demon Hunters event at United Skates in Seaford. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin
Ella-Rose Mancuso, a seventh grader from Plainedge, heard about the movie through friends sharing YouTube clips and was hooked. "I like Saja Boys and I like the plot," she says, sporting a tank top she embellished with the bands’ names in pink and gold.
Fans like Mancuso are just the latest Long Islanders to be swept into the typhoon that is hallyu. Hallyu, the Korean word for the wave of K-pop culture flooding the world since the 1990s, includes not just genre-bending music and cutting-edge fashion, but shows ("Squid Game"), soap operas ("Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha"), beauty treatments (Korean glass facial), food (Korean fried chicken) and movies ("Parasite").
Korean culture is everywhere; its success fueled as much by adults as by kids.
THE K-POP TAKEOVER
Christine Franolic, of Malverne, whose 13 year old spins around the United Skates rink to the "KPop Demon Hunters" soundtrack, has her own theory about K-culture’s inescapable appeal. "I teach business and I think it is genius marketing of music," she says. "Three of the songs from the movie are on mainstream radio. I feel like they run an algorithm to find out what would be catchy."
The music is catchy — and the streams prove it. Huntrix’s "Golden," a popular track from the film, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for at least eight weeks in a row in October. The "KPop Demon Hunters" soundtrack was the first with four simultaneous Hot 100 top 10 hits. Female K-pop group TWICE, also featured on the film's soundtrack, is scheduled to perform at UBS Arena in Elmont this February and added a third Long Island show date in response to high fan demand.
But this wasn't always the way, longtime fans say. "Back when K-pop became mainstream, it wasn’t taken seriously in the U.S.," says Isabella Chu, 19. Chu is the president of Stony Brook University's Korea Bae Squad, a 13-student dance team performing choreography at showcases like World of Dance happening in Rhode Island in November.
"I am really proud that so many people have exposure to it and they see that K-pop doesn’t have to be cookie cutter. It’s nice to see what you are familiar with become popular," adds Chu, a biomedical engineering major and Korean-American who has loved K-pop since middle school.
Stony Brook's Center for Korean Studies is also keeping an eye on the trend. Director Heejeong Sohn says she sees interest in pop culture, but also interest in the underlying history. She points to the mythology that underpins "KPop Demon Hunters": tigers, shamans and the demons themselves are straight out of Korean pre-modern narratives. "What is happening right now is deeply embedded in our past," Sohn says.
CONNECTING WITH THE CULTURE
Many Long Islanders with no prior connection to Korea are now embracing the culture. Vera Zinnel, 64, of Levittown, was a newly retired Italian American elementary school teacher when she discovered Korean soap operas three years ago. She says she fell in love with the angst, the romance and the happy endings — and then she discovered the music.
"A lot of the K-dramas have soundtracks done by K-pop artists," she says. "So I found them on YouTube and Spotify and I fell down a rabbit hole." She says it has changed her life.
Vera Zinnel, of Levittown, displays her love of K-pop culture with mini figurines, glow sticks and Legos. Credit: Dawn McCormick
She now attends concerts and collects vinyl by her favorite bands Ateez, Stray Kids and The Rose. She communicates on Discord, a group chat and gaming platform, with fellow fans around the world and has made real friendships. Zinnel and her husband will even be vacationing in Korea in late October.
"Through K-dramas and the music I get a glimpse into Korean culture," she says. "I love to go to the city, to Koreatown to eat. I eat with chopsticks now; I know some words."
Zinnel and others also swear by Korean beauty products, another popular extension of Korean culture becoming mainstream.
Possibly Long Island's most complete Korean skin care salon is cloudskin+ (formerly Tonic Esthetics) in Nesconset (7 Cambon Place, cloudskinplus.com, 631-240-3755). When esthetician Stephanie Farooqi couldn’t resolve her own acne problems with Western techniques, she discovered the Korean products and treatments which she now offers her clients. She also educates other professionals. "The biggest difference between Korean and Western skin care lies in philosophy and intention," Farooqi says. "In Western esthetics, the approach is often more aggressive and less focused on maintaining the integrity of the skin barrier. Many Western treatments rely on exfoliation, resurfacing acids and peels that "strip" the skin to stimulate renewal. Korean skincare, on the other hand, is centered around reinfusion rather than removal. It’s about working with the skin, not against it ... It’s a gentler philosophy."
Popular treatments range from an express facial at $65 to upward of $350 for corrective treatments, including biorhythm and even sleep assessment to achieve healthy dewy skin.
From left, Nancy Yang, of Flushing, Queens, Isabella Chu, of New Hyde Park, and Jackie Ruan, of Corona, Queens, practice at the Stony Brook Student Union where they reproduce K-pop choreography for showcases around the northeast. Credit: Rick Kopstein
Stony Brook University student Isabella Chu sees a bright future for K-pop and the other elements of Asian culture, fueled by its ability to evolve. "K-pop has mutated into such a large genre," she says. "The field is very diverse and the actual music itself doesn’t have a singular definition. It’s very fluid."
