Hellbound — Netflix’s Latest Korean Drama

A Brilliant Study of how Fear Can Cripple Societies

How do you top Squid Game — the most-watched Netflix series of all time?

The only way is with another Korean drama of course and that’s exactly what Hellbound did when it first aired. According to FlixPatrol analytics, it became the world’s most-watched Netflix television series on November 20, topping the streaming ratings in more than 80 countries within 24 hours of the show’s debut.

Warning: Look away now if you are yet to see it as there are spoilers below

What is Hellbound about?

I have to admit I’m not a fan of fake CGI monsters burning people to a crisp but thought I’d see what all the hype was about.

The monsters, known as ‘demons’, burn certain ‘chosen ones’ alive because of the sins they have committed. Sounds similar to the legend of Satan except for the subtle difference that it takes place in the Digital age rather than the Biblical age.

The New Truth

Where ever there is a strong divide between good and evil there are also groups in society who promote the ideologies of either side. In Hellbound, one such religious group is The New Truth who has been following these monster-killings for more than a decade. Their 30-something founder, Chairman Jinsu, tells us that prior to their murders the victims will be visited by a ‘messenger’ who prophesies their impending doom.

Literally, a giant face will appear in the air, telling the victim both when they will die (it could be in five days, it’s could be in five years), and that they are bound for hell.

Jinsu proclaims that these occurrences are acts of a God who has grown tired of waiting for humanity’s righteousness. He claims that those who have been chosen for ‘demonstrations’ are sinners, and encourages his followers to uncover the sinful acts that have led to their condemnation.

Arrowhead

Are a branch of The New Truth followers who have taken justice into their own hands, targeting those they deem worthy of punishment and executing it.

Spurred on by the propaganda of their viral YouTube channel, followers are encouraged to use violence and hate to beat up and often kill these sinners and anyone associated with them.

The Protagonist — Min Hyejin

Hyejin is a badass lawyer who represents Park Jung-Ja, a single mother of two, who has been decreed Hellbound. The New Truth pay Jung-Ja a large sum of money for her death to be televised live on national TV. Not entirely altruistic in their motives but more so for them to gain notoriety and spread the word of fear.

We learn that Hyejin is also the caregiver to her ailing mother who suffers from cancer. When it’s revealed to the public that Hyejin helped Jung-Ja’s children escape, everyone turns against her. Arrowhead followers decide to brutally beat her mother to death in a very heartbreaking scene.

Years later (halfway through, the series abruptly jumps forward four years), we find that she has formed a coalition with a small group of non-conformists to rise up and expose Arrowhead, The New Truth, and the atrocities taking place.

It Bears an Uncanny Resemblance to the World Today

One cannot help but wonder the way in which the fear of death spread through the show is very similar to what is going on today.

The threat of one’s impending death makes people do crazy things.

How does information spread?

Mark Mason wrote an intriguing article about this. He claims that information spreads through centralized and decentralized networks.

Centralized networks of information have the advantage, we get smaller quantities of highly relevant information. The danger of these networks of information is that they can easily be corrupted for tyrannical purposes like the Catholic Church in the Dark Ages or the totalitarian governments of the 20th century.

Decentralized networks promote higher quantities of low-quality information. The quantity of information generally fragments the population into warring factions based on tribal or religious identities. They only trust their preferred messengers and distrust everybody else.

In the case of Hellbound, the decentralized networks appear to form via the leaders of The New Truth and Arrowhead combined with the added layer of social media capturing the demonstrations in real-time.

Mason goes further by saying;

Centralized networks produce the tyrants and decentralized networks produce the revolutions that overthrow them and reset the game. And on goes the seesaw of human history.

The cracks begin to show when a baby has been decreed by the messengers. How can a baby, who has not yet lived, commit a sin? Just as Jung-Ja’s death was televised, Hyejin convinces the parents to show the world that the monsters are not divine, they cannot represent God if they are willing to commit such an act.

Going against the status quo

It’s difficult to go against the crowds. Especially the crowds in Hellbound who are out to kill. The threat of damnation was making neighbors dob in neighbors, friends hunt down sinners, and families distance themselves from the chosen ones.

Although entirely fictional, Hellbound highlights how fear can drive a wedge between societies. Somewhat similar to what seems to be happening today.

The best way to go against the status quo is to eliminate your internal fear response and the only way to do that is to consume high-value content upon which to make informed opinions. The status quo might be right or they might be wrong but at least you know your decisions are based on a solid foundation of information.

High-value content

Mason says that when looking for high-value content;

….ask yourself how much that content cost in terms of the labour, research, expertise, production, etc. Long-form content is more expensive than short-form. Research and citations are more difficult to put together than just some old dude ranting. Something that explains the historical context and acknowledges multiple sides of an issue is more difficult and time-consuming than a partisan rant.

He suggests reading publications such as The Economist, The Financial Times, or Foreign Policy.

They’re not writing for the general public. They’re writing for professionals who depend on the information to make big, expensive decisions.

Social media seemed to be the main avenue of information gathering in Hellbound. Higher quantities of low-quality information drove people to do some crazy things. But it can also be used to open people’s eyes to the wrongdoings of society.

Bringing Season One Together

Just like any good story, the viewers are left wondering where these monsters have come from, how they were created, and the hope that maybe someone will find a way to stop them.

Hyejin escapes with the baby after it’s revealed that the monsters cannot get to it, thereby putting a hole in The New Truth’s theories.

A cab driver recognizes Hyejin escaping and signals that he can help. He assures her that they are safe by taking a different route to avoid police checkpoints. It’s then that he delivers the theme of the first season:

“I don’t know much about God, and I don’t even care. But there’s one thing I do know: and that is that this world belongs to humans. And we should settle our matters ourselves.”

Research, research, research, and form your own opinions by consuming high-value content. It’s up to you to live the life you want and not how others have decreed it upon you. There are many valuable lessons to learn from the show. Or you could simply sit back and enjoy this grim but hard-hitting Korean drama that is Hellbound. Let me know your thoughts.