Parasite (2019) Dir. Bong Joon-ho. [Feature Film] South Korea, CJ Entertainment.
The Oscar-winning film “Parasite” depicts the contrast between the exclusive upper-income class and the lower-income class in South Korea, with symbols of poverty and social class inequality depicted through the lives of two families – the Parks and the Kims.
In “Parasite,” education acts as a link between the rich and the poor. The plot revolves around a brother and sister who schemed into becoming tutors for the Parks, a wealthy family whose patriarch runs a successful technology company, by using a forged diploma from the prestigious Yonsei University. It demonstrates that the wealthy family is gullible, whereas the low-income families are cunning and deceitful. Kim’s family is brilliant, but they are unable to attend university because they cannot afford the tuition; they are one of the poor cases.
“The word ‘parasite’ is a negative word that conveys contempt, but saying ‘coexistence’ gives rise to a beautiful, positive expression,” Bong told Nikkei last month. “I’ve created a peculiar setting in which the rich and poor, who normally don’t come in contact with each other, interact closely.”
(https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Parasite-offers-glimpse-of-South-Korea-s-class-divide)
Even if people of different social classes appear to coexist, the scent of poverty – a recurring theme in the film – distorts the relationship between the rich and the poor. As a result of the daily living conditions, that smell would be infused in the clothes, seeping down to the bodily core. Even if the person carrying the scent is unaware of its presence, it can easily pass through social barriers and be detected on the other side. This brings to the surface feelings of unfairness and inferiority that we’ve been suppressing in the back of our minds.
When Kim’s family is not present, the wealthy family degrades them. Kim’s family stinks of “poverty” – the smell of a dirty slum basement – and the wife and husband only admire them for their work ethic, not as people. It depicted the relationships between a wealthy family and Kim’s family, as well as the ruling elite and workers. The parties only see them as slaves who carry out their orders, and they are unconcerned about the workers’ health and safety. Even the parties feel superior to their status and constantly denigrate the workers. The smells have become the main symbol of Kim’s family’s inescapable poverty; they lack the ability to become affluent. It’s just a family dream that eventually turns into a fantasy.
The film reminds me of the saying “The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer” this is a saying I heard of a lot in Thailand. It implies that people are born into a social class that they cannot escape. No matter how hard you work, the system or where you were born determines your class position. The was symbolised by the use of stairs, (incline, upstairs, and downstairs.) Many people may see the stairwell as objects, but we know that Bong Joon-ho uses these two things as visual symbols of class separation in the parasite. The stairwell represents how it is nearly impossible to change you status, no matter how hard you try to climb.
However, poverty and social inequality cases continue to occur around the world, as there is a stigma from both classes. The symbols in the film are a message to us that lower and upper classes can coexist and live together, regardless of their social status. There are no vertical distances between us because it is simply a form of class separation from what society sees in life, and we want to eliminate class inequality.
