Parasite: The Ways of the Rich and the Poor

 Parasite

"She's nice because she's rich"

What is a Parasite?

Parasite is an organism that live in, on or with another organism (host). They feed, grow or multiply in a way that harms their host. However, they need their host for their survival. For this reason, they rarely kill their host, but they often carry diseases that can be life-threatening.

THE MOVIE

Parasite is an award-winning Korean movie that is about a poor family trying to leech off the rich family. Just like an actual parasite the Kim family leeches on the rich family one by one until all the members are working for the rich family. However, the movie Parasite is not just about portraying the poor and the rich family, but rather it is a satire on the ridiculous social class system that is prevalent in our society today.

Bong Joon Ho's movies are a classic.  They are cinematically beautiful with exceptional storytelling; it is no doubt that Parasite too conveys the story of late capitalism and exploitation with its symbolic details hidden in the movie 

What is late capitalism?

Karl Marx's critique focuses on capitalism's inherent systemic domination and exploitation, emphasizing the alienation of labor and the concept that economic conditions shape societal structures and ideologies. Late capitalism creates grotesque wealth inequality as nation states are bought by increasingly wealthy capitalists and financiers, according to Marx theory of capitalism, the workers would democratize the economy and replace the capitalism with a worker owned economy which is socialism.

How is late capitalism portrayed in Parasite?

The rich family showcased in the movie are not evidently snobby rich jerks but instead they are ignorant of the ways of the lower class. The Kim family think of the rich family as naive and easy to fool as they all start working for them by deceiving them however as the movie progresses it becomes increasingly evident that they too are being exploited by the rich family, the work that they used to enjoy before was no longer enjoyable as the family become gradually aware about their social status. Accordingly, the Kim family systematically get exploited by the rich family.

The social strata portrayed in Parasite

According to Bong Joon Ho, "The Parks (rich family) draw a line over their sophisticated world and do not let anyone cross it." The rich family live comfortably as they don't let anyone in their world, they are extremely ignorant to the sufferings and exploitation of the poor. The Kim Family live in a basement like house while the rich family live in a luxurious house, even when we observe the two houses the difference between the two families is evident. The members of the Kim Family are described to have a peculiar type of smell that the Park family despise. The scent throws them off as they are reminded of the ugly reality of poverty. Perhaps, the only member of the Kim family that fit in among the Parks was Ki-Jung, her assertive personality, skills, way of talking and her calm composure gave the impression that she was already from an established background thus, the Parks accept her as their own. The Movie ends with the rich family escaping their nightmarish situation while the poor family members are trapped in the horror as they continue to live in the abject of poverty.

In conclusion, Parasite is an extremely well-made movie about the class system portrayed in a satirical manner while reminding us about the reality of life.