BY RICHARD TEO
Staff writer
The oscar-winning film, Parasite, is a movie directed by South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho alongside his partner, Han Jin-won. The premise of the film is complex. It follows a poverty-stricken family who, in their pursuit of wealth through their deceitful methods, suffers a tragic fate in the end. Its title “Parasite” is a metaphor for an indirect symbolism to society’s economic standing. The idea of social class is the main theme of the film in that it also explores the lives of the lower-class and their inability to “rise up” as opposed to the idea of being self-made. The film’s theme is expressed through the characters’ actions where two families, one is rich and the other is poor, are being contrasted in the way they meet society’s standards. Initially, one might assume that the poor family’s dirty tactics and manipulations to “leech” off the rich family’s wealth is what make them the parasites. However, the dynamic is rather ironic in that approach. The poor, who are basking underneath the wealth of the rich, remain subservient to them due to their power and continue to do so because the rich make it impossible for them to rise up from their lower-class positions. They stay rich by eliminating competition. This was explored when the poor family is shown to be enjoying the luxury of the rich family’s home once they decide to go on a camping trip. The family gets comfortable and decides to welcome the previous housemaid they got rid of to avail themselves of a job. It’s revealed that the housemaid’s husband is housed under the house’s underground basement, due to their inability to pay off their debts which caused their eviction. The underground basement, which is unbeknownst to the homeowners, is a reference to the lower class, in that they are underneath the higher class who are living on top of their wealth. The basement is filthy and has poor living conditions whereas the house above it is a modern mansion. Other metaphors also include the family’s enjoyment of the wealth and how they all come to acknowledge it as if it were their own. This is eventually defeated by the family’s tragic fate in the end where they lose their jobs, one of them dies, and the other takes over the man’s position in the underground basement. This symbolizes that no matter how hard the poor family tries to claim wealth by working hard, they eventually stagnate in their state of poverty due to the rich’s power over them. The theme is a subtle nod to society’s general idea of “working hard enough will get you rich someday”, which is also a nod to the American dream. Another film such as The Great Gatsby is quite similar in that approach. However, the truth is that most of the rich today attain their wealth from the inheritance of a rich family. The idea of “work hard enough to get rich” is a saying that is made by the rich so they could avoid helping out those in poverty.