#parasite analysis

The movie was a stark indictment of the so-called 'American Dream' which poses that one can become rich and successful if only one tries hard enough. In this world, merit and skill matter less and connections in the upper circle are given more importance. In our neo-capitalist world, as the class divide increases and the gap between rich and poor increases, it is becoming impossible for people to simply climb the ladder of socio-economic success. They also ensure that The Other ‘does not cross the line, they cannot infringe on our privacy and space but we most certainly can' as enabled only by currency. (In the car, Mrs Park sits with the feet up on the seat while being repulsed by the smell of Mr Kim.) When the son discovers that they all smell similar, we feel it's because they are a family but as it is later pointed out, it is the ‘odour of poverty’, something that is entirely out of their control.

Through the previous housekeeper, we see that despite working for the Parks for so long she is still in destitute poverty, she has no house, no money saved up and her husband is left in the basement. This goes on to show that no matter how hard one works it is still near to impossible to escape your circumstances. Unlike the Kims they don’t have higher aspirations of wealth anymore as they are completely disillusioned. The husband only wishes to maintain the status quo by staying in the basement.

Watching this movie during quarantine hits even harder. As the Parks proclaim that the storm was actually a blessing in disguise because the next day they could have an impromptu sunny birthday for their son, it destroyed everything for the Kims. In poverty, the poor are always one small disaster away from losing everything. What may be a minor inconvenience for The Parks, completely upended the life of the Kims.

Another important point was that the level of the class was shown literally by the level of space the people inhabited. The parks lived on the elevated hillside, the Kims lived in a semi-basement which offered some hope of escape whereas the housekeepers lived in the basement without windows promising any false hopes. It ultimately turns out to be a struggle not between the rich and the poor but between the poor and the poorer. Despite really understanding each other’s positions neither were willing to help the other. According to the 'Realist Conflict Theory', hostility or discrimination arises when similar groups are fighting for existing limited resources. All of them had to fight to keep their place in a Capitalist system that will eventually never bring any justice to them.

All of the Kims were given an American name upon securing employment with the Parks, as if to show that they have to alter their identity to fit into their world following cultural hegemony.

One great thing about the movie is that neither group is romanticized. The poverty struck Kims are shown as morally ambiguous as are the rich Parks. But while the Kims are shown to be morally ambiguous they are definitely skilled at their respective jobs. In other words, the Kims are good pretenders because they can do all that they claim they could. The Kims’ unexpected competence suggests that they could very well have been exactly what they pretend to be and more had their economic circumstances been different. It goes on to show that in the world of ‘Parasite’, morals matter less because it is never a black and white picture. Everyone is essentially a product of their circumstances thus giving more importance to ‘Nurture’ in the Nature vs Nurture debate.