Oscars: Parasite

Well, the race to see the Best Picture films is coming to a close. It’s looking like another year with at least one miss. But this is the narrowest miss yet. So let’s get into what is probably the last Best Picture Film of the season, Parasite.

Bong Joon-ho takes us on quite an adventure through the lens of the Kim family. After a series of failed get rich quick schemes, they are scraping by holding odd jobs like folding pizza boxes. Until the Park family comes into their lives.

The Parks are a family with the kind of wealth that makes even rich people jealous. They have a mansion that is a real estate agent’s wet dream. Clean lines. Huge picture windows. Light, light, light. And, most importantly, sterility and segregation.

This is a movie, not a house listing. I’m getting somewhere, I promise.

Despite their wealth and supposed education, it has done them little favors. Honestly, bricks are less gullible than these people. This makes them susceptible to the advances of the desperation of the Kims. Hence the title. Their naivete offers up quite a bit of humor. But I found that eventually, the laughs stopped.

This is a story that doesn’t have a hero, anti-hero, or anyone likable. As Michael Douglas has been wont to say, “Greed is good.” That is what is king here, raising interesting questions. This was a tough watch for me. Not because of the subtitles. But because of the subjects we’re watching.

Dong-ik and Yeon-kyo were given every opportunity to figure out the game being played on them. Their son walks into the room and basically tells them what’s going on. But they fail to put the pieces together. These characters are codependent on the services the Kims are providing and do not want the balance disturbed. It’s never explicitly stated, but their attitudes toward replacing members of their staff make it pretty clear they just want things handled.

At the same time, they keep everyone at arm’s length. There is this constant idea the Parks do not want the people working for them to “cross the line.” Their world must be kept just as segregated as their backyard is. They are in no way the same as the Kims, making clear the massive divide between classes. The Park’s elitism is so rank they comment on Mr. Kim’s smell. I didn’t feel bad they were getting taken for a ride thanks to their behavior.

But, that doesn’t mean I was rooting for anyone in the Kim family either. Their machinations were equally as foul as the classist segregation. Their motives are, at first, in terms of survival. They need to eat after all. But, when times are good, things start to change. They get comfortable, believing everything is in their control. And it is until it isn’t.

They become desperate to keep hold of the situation they have. Unwilling to compromise or share, the Kims scurry around like bugs. In some cases, that’s literally what they are doing. The actors contort their movements in almost an interpretive dance depicting the lives of cockroaches. Showing the audience that even in a pristine home, a severe infestation can happen if you aren’t vigilant.

Parasite left me wondering who exactly the title was referring to. The obvious answer is the Kims. They were the ones representing the bugs and engaging in leech-like behavior. But, the Parks were taking advantage of the Kims at the same time. They use their employees to maintain their orderly, groomed lives. Sure, they displayed gratitude through the paychecks filed out, but they lash out when the servant- master relationship is challenged.

This was not a huge favorite of mine. It dragged in spots making it feel much longer than its two hours and twelve-minute run. If ten or fifteen minutes had been shaved off here or there, the film probably wouldn’t have felt like a slugfest.

But, it did have a lot of important things to say. The setting was South Korea, but the problems in the film and the social commentary can be applied everywhere, I think. Maybe not to the same degree, but still very relatable to narratives we hear here in the States.

I find it interesting that this story doesn’t end in a sour note. I was waiting to have the story end on a depressing finale with all hope squashed and defeated. But, hope lives. Tomorrow is another day.

That’s probably why it won’t overtake 1917 for Best Picture. Happy endings are rarely rewarded. Although this one isn’t really a happy ending, more a bittersweet one. The tone was upbeat enough to push this one closer to happy than it should have any right to be. And so, it gets put into the happy ending category.

But it does have a chance. So we will see what shakes out tonight.

I think between Parasite and 1917, Bong Joon-ho’s film should be the one to take home the big prize. It is an unvarnished take on classism, poverty, and survival. Everyone is guilty of something. There are no saints to be had. And nothing about this film was comfortable. 1917, on the other hand, was familiar and even comfortable in a fashion. You knew what to expect anyway.

Big apologies to those films I didn’t get to. Hopefully, I’ll be able to play catch up within the next few weeks. Until next time Nerd Girls!