This research paper analyzes Bong Joon-ho's Academy Award-winning film Parasite (2019) through the lens of capitalist ideology and social class dynamics. The analysis explores how the film portrays the stark economic divide between the wealthy Park family and the impoverished Kim family, examining themes of capitalism, colonialism, and social inequality within Korean society. The paper argues that Parasite effectively demonstrates the violent consequences of extreme wealth disparity and class-based deception in modern capitalist systems.
The chosen film for the research proposal is The Parasite, which is a Korean drama, comedy, and thriller film. Although the movie is best known for its theme of ‘social class inequalities’ that is shown thoroughly till the end of the movie, resulting in violence, it has a historical background. The Korean suffering and American violence have been connected since the times of 1945 till 1948 when American capitalism tried to shape Korean lives and kept their struggles headed towards ending Korean sovereignty by the Americans[footnoteRef:1]. This leads to the formulation of the thesis of the paper, which is stated in the next section. [1: Criss Moon, and Julie Moon, \\\\\\\"Parasite\\\\\\\" and the Plurality of Empir,. 23 June 2020, https://www.publicbooks.org/parasite-and-the-plurality-of-empire/ ]
“The film Parasite (2019), which is a Korean Oscar winner movie highlights the theme of capitalism and colonialism besides other themes that are unmistakably evident, such as social inequality, deception, and violence, etc.”
The movie has several instances that show the capitalist ideology of which modern American society is full[footnoteRef:2]. A poor family like Kim’s live at the mercy of rich ones like Park’s for which reason they want jobs and money from the prestigious families that are an important part of the economy[footnoteRef:3]. In the Korean system, the class is shown strongly holding its position in the movie on the line of capitalist ideology, along with the interactions of the two contrasting classes, the poor and the rich, since Max Weber narrates that class is formulated by the interactions of persons belonging from different classes[footnoteRef:4]. To avoid the trauma of their deficiencies that were evident in the poor class, such as that of Kims, the symbolic economic order had to be maintained that is shown in the movies by posing a question of class and challenges posed by capitalism[footnoteRef:5]. The restoration to a better living economic condition is the heart of the movie, for which revolt is demonstrated at the end in the form of violence from the poor Kim\\\\\\\'s family to maintain the symbolic class balance. [2: John K. Kim, \\\\\\\"Parasite: A Film Review on Capitalism\\\\\\\", Cinesthesia 10, no. 2, 2020.] [3: Sarina Annis. \\\\\\\"Parasite\\\\\\\", Journal of Religion and Film 23, no. 2, 2019.] [4: Alireza Farahbakhsh and Ramtin Ebrahimi, \\\\\\\"The Social Implications of Metaphor in Bong Joon Ho\\\\\\\'s Parasite\\\\\\\", Cinej Cinema Journal 9, no. 1, 2021, 88-116.] [5: Joseba Gabilondo, \\\\\\\"Bong Joon Ho\\\\\\\'s Parasite and Post-2008 Revolts: From the Discourse of the Master to the Destitute Power of the Real\\\\\\\", International Journal of Zizek Studies 14, no. 1, 2020.]
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