Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite was many things but a pleasant experience. It was a well-made piece of cinema intended to make the audience feel thoroughly uncomfortable throughout its runtime. It was like a rollercoaster ride in pitch dark with full of unexpected turns for 132 minutes, with every turn oscillating between tragedy and comedy.
There’s an unpleasant aftertaste, or rather, like a strange smell that I can’t pinpoint its exact nature. In his previous films, Mr Bong often transcends the conventional genre with a conscious effort to break the mould. In ‘The Host’, he introduced a monster unlike any other, both terrifying and pitiful, catastrophic and yet clumsy. In the ‘Snowpiercer’, he played with a rather grandiose theme of class struggle in such a confined space.
And Parasite is no exception, which is why I struggled to define what the film was all about, even long after the ending credit. But one thing I’m sure that I won’t be the only one in this struggle.
So if you are like me, wrestling with the complex emotional stirring that Bong’s masterpiece planted on his audience, I hope you find this post somewhat useful.
Here is my interpretation of this unique piece of cinema and its many hidden meanings.
*From here and onward, It contains spoilers’
Characters
The story unfolds around three families, Mr Park’ s(upper-class parasites), Mr Kim’ s(low-class parasites) and Mrs Moon’ s(lower class parasites).
None of the characters in the story is likeable, and at the same time, none are despicable.
Park’s family
While the privileged Mr Park’s subtle undertone of arrogance is distasteful, and yet, he’s also courteous enough in his dealings with Mr Kim. At least on the surface level. The audience even gets a glimpse of fairness in his personality as he gives credits when it’s due. He speaks fondly of the housekeeper’s work ethics, compliments on Mr Kim’s driving skill and his professionalism. Sure, he talks about Mr Kim’s unpleasant smell. Still, to Park’s defence, it was a private conversation with his wife where he wasn’t even aware that Mr Kim was listening. It’s hard to put the blame entirely on Mr Park on what happens later.
On the other hand, his wife, Mrs Park, is presented as a simple, easily manipulated character who’s almost blinded by her privileges. She has no opinion of her own and blindly follows other people’s view on a person. For instance, she takes in these strangers into her house, based purely on personal recommendations of another stranger. It’s further highlighted when she only started to notice Kim’s smell right after her husband’s remark, something she never seems to have noticed before. Moreover, the first time she’s presented to the audience, she’s carelessly asleep in the garden on broad daylight. She only manages to wakeup when Mrs Moon physically claps her hands in front of her. It further emphasises that while she has no malicious intention by any means, she’s a character who lacks even basic level of attention to her surroundings. Overall, it’s hard to argue that Mr Park and his family maltreated other families.
Kim’s Family
Same goes for Mr Kim’s family. While they deceived their way into Park’s, once they got their jobs, they carried out their respective duties diligently. Mr Kim was indeed an experienced driver(mentioned by Mr Park himself), his son fulfils his responsibility as a tutor(despite the consensual relationship with the student). And Ki-Jung seemed to be well respected by Mr Park’s young son. At least on the surface level, they were good employees to the eyes of Park’s family.
The relationship between Ki-Woo(Kim’s son) and Da-Hye(Park’s daughter) is particularly interesting. These two are the only characters in the story who managed to overcome their class boundaries and connected on the human level. In their eyes, underneath of their social standing, they only saw what they truly were — a boy and a girl, looking for a companion. After all, it was Da-Hye who carried bloodied Ki-woo on her back and saving his life. Perhaps the director wanted to reiterate the age-old message that the love for each other is our only hope, especially relevant in the world today.
This kind of human connection has failed to materialise between Mr Kim and Mr Park. In the film, there is a question Mr Kim repeatedly asks Mr Park on two different occasions — “But you still love your wife, right?”
Despite the stark contrast in their social status, this was Mr Kim’s attempts to establish a human connection with Mr Park. From one man to another, as husbands who love their spouse and as heads of their respective family. However, in both moments, Mr Park seems visibly displeased by this question, as if Mr Kim is crossing the invisible line that he shouldn’t dare to cross. It represents Mr Park’s refusal to acknowledge that underneath all the superficial layers, at his essence, he is just a man like Mr Kim or anyone else.
Moon’s Family
Mrs Moon and her husband surely make one’s skin crawl with creeps. However, we can’t help feeling sorry for the pair. Mrs Moon worked hard for Parks, and she was very good at her job. Both she and the husband who was hiding in the underground bunker never had any malice intention or resentment towards Park’s family. The husband even respected Mr Park to the point where he’d manually operate the staircase lamps every evening when he returns from work for years.
Mrs Moon was the first one to offer a solution for coexistence. When Kim’s family discovers their secrete, she begs to them to keep her husband stay, even offering a modest monthly payment in return. However, being on the slightly better standing than the Moons, Kim’s family also fails to see that the two families are the same human beings in need of each other. When this desperate attempt for mutual survival gets rejected by Kim’s family, the story started to turn towards its dark ending. Just like Park’s obsession with keeping the line between them, Kims kick Moons to the underground.
The realisation finally hits Mr Kim when he witnesses Mr Park pinching his nose and treating Mr Moon like garbage.
They were the same all along under the eyes of the privileged. Naturally, Mr Kim takes the place of Mr Moon by the end of the film.
In its essence, all the characters are parasites to each other. Kim’s and Moon’s feed on Park’s wealth while Park’s family feeds on the service of the others. Parks need people like Kims and Moons in their life, just as much as they need Parks. It’s reflected in Park’s dialogue in the car where he casually mentions how his household would be unmanageable without the housekeeper. Rich or poor, we are all parasites stuck on the wheel of capitalism.
When the fortunate separate themselves and view the less fortunate as separate human beings, the conflict between parasites sparks which ultimately leads to their mutual tragic end.
Metaphors
The film is full of metaphors. Director Bong’s reputation for his attention to detail shines through various devices he carefully planted in the setting of Parasite.
The Rock
For a start, the rock can be seen as a metaphor for men’s greed. It was brought to Ki-Woo by his wealthy friend named Min who had an agenda of his own. He wants Ki-woo to keep an eye on Da-Hye. At the same time, he’s away abroad to study, as he can’t even bear the thought of other men approaching her, reflecting his possessive nature on the girl. Once the rock(which meant to bring wealth to the possessor) become Ki-Woo’s possession, he finally gets the well-paid tutor’s job at the wealthy household. However, his greed doesn’t stop there. It drives him further into more elaborated deception that brings his entire family into the household. There’s a line where Ki-woo mentions how it feels like the rock was clinging on to him. We cling on to our greed or our greed keep cling on to us. Ultimately, in the end, he gets hit by this greed that cracks opens his head, nearly costing him his life.
House
The position of three families’ respective house is an obvious metaphor for their social standing. Park’s house is standing on the highest point, followed by Kim’s on their half-underground home and finally, the lowest underground bunker of Moon’s. For the poor, the road to the rich is always uphill. When Ki-Woo arrives at Park’s house, the first thing he notices is the open sky, clearly visible from the front garden. It’s certainly a contrast to the view from his half-buried house where all he can see is a drunkard pissing on the street.
Morse Code
It’s a channel of communication between the less fortunate, utilise by Mr Moon in the bunker as a means of outreach to the outside world. Later, it’s adopted by Mr Kim for the same purpose. It can be seen as a cry for help from those at the bottom of our society. In the film, Park’s young son is the only upper class who manages to interpret Moon’s signalling for help. But for the privileged, it was no more than a child’s play, and it doesn’t lead to any responsive action.
Indian
Towards the end of the film, we see both Mr Park and Mr Kim in a native Indian costume. It’s an allusion to their tragic end that’s about to happen, just like the fate of many Native American Indian when they faced with the intruders.
Rain/Water
The pouring rain always flows from top to bottom. And the flow gets filthier as it goes further down to the bottom. It represents the inevitable flow of capitalism which can be fatal to those at the bottom of society.
For Parks, the rain only caused a cancellation of their camping trip. The rain even provided clear weather the next morning, which presented an opportunity for a party. On the other hand, for Kims, the same rain is a brutal force of nature which nearly wipes out their livelihood. It presented a struggle for their existence. We see Kim’s family almost drowning in the sewage infested water.
Plan
Throughout the film, from the very beginning to the end, Kim’s family keep mentions of the word ‘plan’. For those without much in life, elaborated plans to infiltrate into the wealth is all they have. However, eventually, nothing goes according to their initial plan. In contrast, the rich don’t need to have a plan in life because everything will always work out for them. The Park’s family manage to host a spontaneous party on the day without any planning.
Mr Kim, asked by his son if he had any plan after the flood, finally reveals his realisation that “the best plan is to have no plan” because the life will never turn out the way we plan it. To have plans, one needs to have hope. Mr Kim’s dialogue reveals his final resignation to life and loss of all the expectations. In the end, this very resignation leads him to the tragic attack, which, without doubt, unplanned.
Parasite
I can’t think of any better title than Parasite for the film. While parasites pest on to its host for living, it’s also in their best interest to keep the host alive. It ties nicely to the film’s central message of coexistence, as outlined below.
Final thought
Coexistence would be the one word to surmise the message of the film. There’s no villain or hero here. Each of us is both perpetrator and victims of the system we designed. This film is much more than just a satire of the system that breeds inequality. In a way, the film even embraces its inevitability and emphasise on the fact that we are all in it together.
Bong Joon Ho goes further and asks the audience the pressing question — Given that both rich and poor are necessary for our survival, how can we all coexist in the best way possible in this world that we share?
While Mr Bong gives few fainted hints(aforementioned message on love and communication between classes), he’s directly addressing the question to all of us, reflected by the unusual amount of extreme close shots of character’s face in this film.
And this is an issue relevant to all of us, rich or poor, top or bottom, as our collective future of survival depends on answering the question.
Mr Bong created a unique genre of its own, but the question he presents to us is not new. It has been growing on the back of our mind for many years now. And yet, most of us chose to ignore it. We shoved it aside and turned our blind eyes and slept on the issue far too long, just like Mrs Park, focusing only on our privileges.
Nevertheless, It’s a growing parasite we all need to face at some point.
A great piece of art never meant to give us answers but instead, it asks us great questions. And Bong Joon Ho executes it perfectly through this film. It’s worthy of every Oscar it received. And much more.
