parasite

Damn, this movie kinda messed me up. It’s rare to go into a movie with such high expectations because of all the buzz, and have those expectations beat. I think what stunned me most was the humanity of it, the way it made me really feel for all these characters, even as they did some really terrible things. It was able to evoke that weird, jealous, delirious feeling of being a poor kid at a rich kid’s party, in a way that made me feel really nostalgic for some reason. It spoke directly to our present situation of inequality, but it also felt very timeless. It almost felt like a story by Charles Dickens or F. Scott Fitzgerland or something.

As always, it reminded me of the course I’m listening to right now, about the American West. The lecturer keeps returning to the point of how economic and technological progress was generally good for society overall, but left individual lives destroyed in its wake. For instance, farming on the Great Plains produced a surplus of food that drove prices down, which was a net positive effect for most people in the country. However, it was bad for the farmers themselves, whose farms yielded less and less profit due to overproduction, and who often ended up working their whole lives for next to nothing (not to mention the Native Americans who were robbed of their homes, cultures and ways of life by the westward expansion of the US).

I feel like this is what every argument I’ve ever had about capitalism, ever since high school, has boiled down to: one person telling me that the Kim families of the world depend on the Park families, and me saying the Kims and the Parks should be equals. Instead of Mr. Kim driving Mr. Park around, they should each have their own car (or be carpool buddies!). A lot of people scoff at this idea, or get outright pissed off about it, and I think that’s funny. I find it hard to believe that anyone who has ever had less than, felt less than, and been treated less than somebody else could watch “Parasite” and not have at least some sympathy for Mr. Kim.

It reminds me of the essay “The Freedom to be Free” by Hannah Arendt. There’s a quote in that essay from John Adams:

“Wherever men, women, or children are to be found, whether they be old or young, rich or poor, high or low...ignorant or learned, every individual is seen to be strongly actuated by a desire to be seen, heard, talked of, approve and respected by the people about him and within his knowledge.”

Arendt goes on to say:

“It is the desire to excel which makes men love the company of their peers and spurs them on into the public realm...this kind of freedom demands equality, it is possible only amongst peers.”

No matter how hard Mr. Kim works, he will never be on an equal footing with Mr. Park. He’ll always be Mr. Park’s employee being paid extra for a favor, not his buddy helping him out. He’ll never be able to have a real conversation with Mr. Park without “crossing the line.” He’ll always have that “smell.” Mr. Park may like Mr. Kim, but he’ll never respect him. The fact that a character screams the word “respect” right before the climactic moment drives that point home.

Of course none of that excuses what Mr. Kim (or the rest of the Kim family) did, but I think that’s the beauty of this movie: it doesn’t make a moral point either way. It portrays these people so well that you understand exactly why they’re doing what they’re doing, even if you don’t think it’s right. You may not agree with it, but you kind of respect it.