Jean Wang, a Boston-based fashion blogger, was so excited when her daughter said she wanted to dress up as Rumi, the purple-haired protagonist of the Netflix blockbuster “KPop Demon Hunters,” that she decided to go all out with a DIY costume.
Wang and her daughter Nori, 7, said they feel proud that such a popular costume — “KPop Demon Hunters” looks are already a top pick this year — is rooted in Asian culture.
“I remember, growing up, the struggle at Halloween to find a costume that felt ‘me,’” Wang said. “It’s definitely refreshing and exciting to see the ‘it’ costume of the year, for people of all backgrounds, being a female Asian character.”
Due to the film’s late summer release, big retailers have scrambled to mass-produce Rumi’s purple wig and gold-black jacket and the black hanbok made iconic by demon heartthrob Jinu.
For Asian Americans, the runaway success of “KPop Demon Hunters” is another watershed moment for representation in pop culture, parents and experts say, as children no longer have to look primarily to Pixar or Disney princesses for costume inspiration.
But dissatisfied with the costumes she found online, Wang got a cropped jacket from Zara and refashioned it with gold stripes, then bought purple hair extensions and braided them herself — a hair tutorial video she uploaded on Instagram quickly went viral.
Nori loved the outfit for the demon-slaying leader of three-member K-pop girl band Huntrix so much she has worn it every weekend, Wang said.
“My daughter is definitely aware that the characters ‘look more like her,’” she said. “But at the end of the day, Rumi is a brave, talented and fierce character who also shows vulnerability in a very relatable way.”
Ella Pereyra, 11, says she was lucky enough to take representation to the next level — she’s the actual model for Spirit Halloween’s Rumi costume.
As a Filipina American girl from New Jersey, Pereyra said she feels proud to see herself on screen and in pop culture. She said she’d already watched the film “KPop Demon Hunters” about “a billion times” when she got the booking call.
“I feel very grateful that they made a movie about people that looked like me,” Pereyra said about playing Rumi. “I feel lucky to play Rumi because not a lot of people can do that.
Young A Jung, an assistant professor at George Mason University who teaches modern Korean literature and pop culture, said one factor behind the mass appeal of “KPop Demon Hunters” might be the complexity of its central characters, Rumi and Jinu.
“Global teens and youth groups with complex everyday lives might no longer want to see clearcut Western-style heroes,” Jung said, adding that the movie’s exploration of the shame that K-pop idols feel, and their efforts to hide their pasts, is particularly resonant with fans.
“KPop Demon Hunters” also presents a “remarkably realistic portrayal of contemporary South Korean life and landscape” interwoven with Korean folklore and mythology.
“The depiction of shamanism and the grim reaper is very concrete,” she said, “and the everyday life of eating ramen and kimbap is very correct.”
The characters and their outfits are themselves rich with symbolism.
Jung pointed out the double meaning of “saja,” which signifies both “lion” and “dead people.” In the movie, Jinu’s black hanbok and gat, a wide-brimmed sheer hat, were historically the formal wear of Confucius scholars, she said. Later, the look became incorporated in folktales as the attire of grim reapers. Even the film’s animal characters, the tiger and magpie, are inspired by Korean folk painting.
Since the movie draws so heavily from Korean traditions, marketing the characters’ outfits simply as trendy Halloween costumes can risk diluting their cultural importance, said Nancy Wang Yuen, a sociologist and culture critic.
“You don’t want these traditional garbs to become associated with ‘demon wear,’” she said. “You don’t want to see traditional clothing be co-opted and diminished by Hollywood.”
Some parents say their children were simply enthralled by the bright, pop aesthetic of the movie and too young to understand its layered cultural references.
Jessica Castañeda, 27, began looking for a Rumi costume for her daughter, Kasey, almost as soon as they watched the movie together.
Castañeda said Kasey, 5, quickly introduced her friends to the movie, and soon they all wanted to dress up as Rumi, Zoey, Jinu and Abby. Last month, Castañeda planned a “KPop Demon Hunters” themed birthday party for Kasey that featured Shin Ramyun and soda pops.
The soundtrack was what hooked her, Castañeda said: “The songs are catchy, and she wanted Rumi’s hair.”
