Spirituality and ‘Soda Pop’

My newest obsession started with a text. Innocently, I asked my brother what his favorite song was. Little did I know how obsessed I would become, too.

He sent me a lyric video of the song “Soda Pop” from the movie K-pop Demon Hunters, following up with, “I’m obsessed with this song and movie [at the moment].”

I tapped the video. We won’t talk about how much I like Squid Game (a Korean drama), but I’ve never been a fan of Korean pop music.

“Great, K-pop,” I thought. I could count on one hand the number of K-pop songs I actually liked: (“Fantastic Baby” by BIGBANG, “Butter” by BTS and “POP/STARS” by K/DA).

I started listening. It sounded like a sugar rush: bubbly synths, playful melodies, hypnotic vocals and unstoppable rhythm. 

Just like one of the characters in the video, I started dancing a little. Then, the final chorus hit, and I was singing along. I was in a cloud of candy-colored energy.

Like the song said, I couldn’t get enough. “Soda Pop” quickly climbed to my top recent song on Spotify.

I must have been living under a rock for a little while, because I didn’t know about the movie until my brother sent me the video. I decided to watch it, specifically to hear “Soda Pop” again.

Netflix marked K-pop Demon Hunters in the “Kids” category, yet there I was, at 31 years old, watching it alone in my living room. I wasn’t expecting much.

I was blown away, so much that I had to show my husband a few days later. Although he isn’t a fan of musicals, he enjoyed it, too.

It started with “Soda Pop,” but more songs from the movie trickled into my Spotify playlists.

“But, Brie, aren’t you a Christian?” you may ask. “Why are you obsessed with a movie about demons?”

I don’t want to give away spoilers, but the movie’s entire premise is how evil they are. The main characters, a K-pop group named HUNTR/X, are fighting them.

In many ways, it draws parallels to my own path. Spiritual warfare is a reality for every Christian, as stated in Ephesians 6:12. 

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Ephesians 6 goes on to outline the armor of God. And K-Pop Demon Hunters is a beautifully done representation of what can happen when that armor is not on. 

Souls are snatched up by distraction, fighting those voices inside their heads that play on insecurities. That’s what Gwi-Ma (the main antagonist of the movie) wanted to do to ensure souls are with him.

And my demon has always been doubt. When times get hard, I spiral into thinking “I deserve this. It will never get better.”

But Romans 8:28 says something different: “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Paul had a thorn in his side, a demon that was giving him trouble, and he begged God to remove the problem, as I do so many times. Paul’s perspective shifted in 2 Corinthians 12.

“He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I haven’t been interested in any other K-pop groups, so I don’t think I’ll be obsessed with the genre any time soon. But this soundtrack is definitely in my rotation, and it’s not just mindless entertainment. 

It’s a reminder of my “demons” and an affirmation that, just like HUNTR/X does, I can overcome them during hard times, and God is still in control.