Reminding Myself of Why I Love ‘Parasite’
Movies are, in my opinion, one of man’s greatest artform inventions. The mark of an outstanding movie does not lie in the details of the script, and not even necessarily in its plot. A great movie is one that makes you feel something when it is over. Whether that be shock, warmth, confusion, hope, anger. In fact, I had to look up the plot for Parasite while preparing this article, in order to remind myself of the nitty-gritty complexities presented in the movie.
But, if there is one thing that I did not have to remind myself, it was the emotions I felt while watching Parasite, and after the credits rolled in. How the comedic comfort that dominated the first half of the movie quickly spiraled into something dark and unsettling. The first few days after I watched this movie, I was in a state of disbelief, and all I could think of was the movie. I also found myself going into YouTube to watch videos that broke down hidden meanings and messages scattered throughout its plot. That action further threw me into the dark abyss of Parasite’s effect on my psyche. So, what is Parasite?
In case you don’t know, it is an award-winning Korean film that borders somewhere between a dark comedy and a psychological thriller — two of my favorite combinations for a book, film, or any other media. It involves two families widely separated by class, whose worlds come together by fate and utter misfortune. The destitute Kim family, scam their way into employment within the affluent Park family’s home.
The two families’ coexistence under one roof leads to a series of dark revelations and plot twists that you won’t see a mile away. This brief summary by no means does justice to actually experiencing the film for yourself, and I also did not want to be deemed the legendary annoying movie spoiler. What I can do however, is to relay some detailed thoughts that went through my mind after watching it, so that you feel somewhat prepared for the rollercoaster ride.
Upon watching Parasite, I felt that meritocracy was one of the biggest myths known to mankind. The movie highlighted the sheer brilliance of some of its characters, and painfully reminds you of how one’s dire circumstances allows that brilliance to remain untapped and inapplicable to the world around us. I also learned that being rich makes it easier for you to be a good person or at least to project sanctimonious morality. Wealth and privilege also promote delusion, naivety, and casual entitlement.
However, deep retrospection is also needed to ascertain whether the wrongdoings of the abstract ‘rich and wealthy’ won’t be so far beneath the ‘poor’ if they were in the same position. Inherent goodness or evil is not always a clear-cut state of being, and mankind will fare much better if we acknowledge the potential for malevolence in all of us.
The absolute randomness and uncertainty of life was another glaring thought that came to mind. The randomness of life, most of the time, does not care whether something is fair or just.
Now, it was not my intention to darken the mood today, in fact I am quite thrilled by these meanings gleaned from the movie. It is the reason why I am drawn to other movies such as Us, directed by Jordan Peele and Train to Busan, directed by Yeon Sang-ho. Movies should have an element of escapism, but once in a while the honesty of our reality as humans on earth should also shine through the big screen so that we can have painful, but necessary introspection. A great movie is one that finds a way to balance both.
