After Parasite won Best Picture at the Oscars, the exact people that the film warns against have shared their feelings publicly. The film highlights three different families, all of different economic classes. They are each, in a way, “feeding on” one of the other classes. By the end of the film, it is clear that in the current economy, upward mobility to the extreme upper-class if you are a member of the lower class is a pipe dream and something nearly unachievable. Despite the film being South Korean, it perfectly encaptures the American dream being a myth.
The film became popular to American audiences due to its relatable plot, incredible cinematography, thrilling action sequences, emotional acting and hilarious dialogue, all despite the barrier of language. A lot of celebrities, including David Dobrik, Chrissy Teigen, Dylan O’Brien and Priyanka Chopra, all praised the film for either winning the Oscars it did or being an incredible movie. They are all wealthy individuals, which does not necessarily stop them from understanding what the film was really about, but since they drew no attention to their own economic privilege, many people on Twitter wonder if they understood that the point of the film was not just to make the audience’s jaws drop. The film highlights a serious issue that transcends borders, which is the wealthy ignoring the poor’s problems and the hoarding of wealth.
Donald Trump had something to say about a non-American movie winning so many Oscars, of course. “By the way, how bad were the Academy Awards this year? ‘And the winner is a movie from South Korea,’ What the hell was that all about?” He goes on to add to the tweet, “Was it good? I don’t know.” Truly insightful. Naturally, a man who cares very little about the poor while sitting on a hoard of gold like a hateful dragon would not like a film about the obliviousness the rich have to the needs of those less fortunate.
If the president tweeted about disliking a movie because it was hard to follow, not interesting or poorly executed, there would be little issue. The issue is that Trump either did not watch this film or did not understand this film, but still felt like he should speak against Bong Joon Ho’s film in ways that had nothing to do with the actual content of the film. He only focused on the Academy Awards being an American hosted award ceremony that featured a non-American film as the film that won the most awards. Specifically, he focused on the winner being from one of the Koreas, which America is not necessarily on the best terms with. He somehow was able to discuss the economy in relation to America and South Korea, while the film “Parasite” itself is bashing on the economy and the corruption that money brings.
Trump and some of his supporters believe that South Korean people, cinema and culture are fundamentally the same as the government that we are having trade issues with. Too many people who watched missed the point of “Parasite.” They were far too focused on having to read subtitles and were therefore unable to get a grip on what the movie was trying to say.
Graphic by Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian
