https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xH0HfJHsaY
In the past week, I watched Parasite and decided to focus on the Oscar-winning movie as my cultural artifact. Parasite won 4 Oscars including Best Picture, Directing, International Feature Film, and Writing (Original Screenplay). Parasite made Oscars history as the first foreign language winner for Best Picture. The Korean title of the movie is 기생충 which literally translates to parasite. The movie is mostly about a poor lower-class Korean family living off of a rich upper-class family. The lower-class family has different roles including being a tutor, an art teacher, a chauffeur, and a housewife. The lower-class family dreams of becoming wealthy one day, and actively search for a job at the beginning of the movie; however, no one will hire them and without having the credentials needed, it is not easy to find a well-paying job. None of the family members have the qualifications to carry out the role they have taken on. Therefore, the movie title describes the family members as “parasites”, dependent on the rich family to survive.
The movie was initially popular in Korea because it depicted the severe socioeconomic disparities in Korean society. In Korea, people born into a low socioeconomic class are called 흙수저which literally translates to “dirt spoon”, signifying that you are born into a poor family. People who are born into an upper-class family are called “금수저” which literally means golden spoon, which signifies that you eat out of a gold spoon ever since you are young. However, as the movie was featured in theatres in the United States, more people realized and sympathized with the dark societal problems depicted in the movie. The movie not only succeeded in Korea and the United States but also in Japan. The Japanese people could also empathize with the movie as the country shared the theme of socioeconomic disparities. As I was reading an article, I read that the socioeconomic disparity problem is more severe in the United States than in Korea. One of the main points of the dark movie is that no matter how hard people of the lower classwork, they will never make it any higher. This theme was highlighted throughout the movie. The director made use of literal lines to portray the border between the rich and poor. I realized that the problems of disparities in the socioeconomic status of society are not a theme central to only Korea. This theme is an issue across many cultures, regardless of the language nor differences. Although the movie deals with a dark and serious issue, the movie uses dark humor to accurately depict the message but in a light and enjoyable way.
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