PARASITE: What it Means and How it Reflects Culture
*WARNING SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!*
After its release, Parasite has become one of the highest-rated films of the year going as far as winning the Palme d’Or, which is called the Golden Palm and is the highest prize award at the Cannes Film Festival (the first Korean film to win this award). The basic plot focuses on a low-income family that works their way up the ladder by leeching off of another wealthier family. The film itself has lots of funny scenes as well as some disturbing ones. But behind all the emotions, there lies an underlying message which has made Parasite mean more than just a great film. Director Bong Joon Ho included many symbols throughout his movie. Uncovering and decoding them makes it clear why this film won Cannes’s highest honor. So what are these symbols? And how exactly do they reflect South Korea’s culture?
Although there are many symbols that one could focus on, the three main symbols portrayed throughout the movie were: stairs, the smell, and America.
The Stairs: Throughout the film, stairs are a symbol for the poor family. When the poor family is entering into the house, they are required to go up a flight of stairs and then go further up when tutoring the kids or helping the family out. When exiting, there are required to go down the stairs, then downhill, then further down to their actual home, which lies underground in the corner. The most infamous scene involves these symbolic stairs, following the poor family as they dramatically escape from the rich family’s house. They descend a mass of stairs for nearly a full two minutes, emphasizing the symbol greatly. The constant repetition of the stairs in the movie symbolizes where the family lies in the social ladder and how even if they end up going up for a few hours, they eventually will have to come back down to where they belong; at the bottom of the social ladder.
The Smell: The smell began to become an issue as the movie progressed, and as the poor got closer to the family of the rich, the smell started becoming more prominent. The issue first arises when the rich family’s father mentions it to his wife, and he complains about how everything about the poor family’s dad was fine except for the smell he carried. The mother at first did not notice, but during one scene, she is seen holding her nose and opening the car window while the poor family’s dad is driving, and the camera then pans to the poor man’s face, which doesn’t look very pleased. The act of the rich people holding their noses to get rid of the smell is what triggers the poor father to grab a knife and murder the rich man. Although there can be more than one interpretation for the smell, I believe that the smell symbolizes how the poor family is unable to escape from their circumstances. Even though they dressed differently, behaved differently, and even spoke differently, they were unable to mask their true identity of being poor until the end. Thus, they are unable to escape their social status as long as they carry this “smell” with them.
And last but not least, America: Throughout the film, the rich characters constantly point out the fact that a lot of their items are from America. The first instance of this idea came when the rich family’s little boy comes running down the stairs in Native American costume and shoots his arrows. The mother then mentions how her son has been obsessed with Native Americans after her son had joined boy scouts and how she even had the arrows shipped directly from the United States. She also mentions the Americans in another scene when the little boy is sleeping outside in a tent, but the parents are concerned that the boy will catch a cold. But then, they reassure themselves by stating that the tent is from America, so it should be fine. This constant reiteration of the Americans reflects Korean society and how they believe that if it comes from America, it will be better than what is in Korea. South Koreans are known to idolize the United States in certain aspects, and they hold this exotic belief about the United States. This idea can be seen with the little boy who has an obsession with Native Americans but doesn’t know the history of them, or how they are oppressed here in the United States. Thus, director Bong Joon Ho can bring to light the ignorance of the people in South Korea hold when it comes to the United States.
Although the film includes many more undiscussed symbols, Parasite reveals a greater truth about society than one might believe. Through the constant reiteration of the symbols, director Bong Joon Ho changes how we view people who are the top and at the bottom while criticizing how society makes it difficult for one to change their position on the social ladder. But most importantly, Bong Joon Ho can leave us thinking to ourselves and asking: Are the poor leeching off the rich? Or are the rich leeching off the poor? And most importantly, are we acting like parasites in society without even knowing that we’re parasites?
Beyond the symbolic meanings of the film, I believe symbols themselves serve as an important choice for the film and in media as well. What could be conveyed explicitly becomes more meaningful when attached to an image or scene, and Bong Joon Ho’s use of symbols allows audience members to visually see what he wanted to say. Thus Bong Joon Ho’s choice of using many symbols allows for people to constantly make connections for themselves and they come to view scenes in a completely different light once they think they have figured out its meaning. Symbols are also important in media as they allow for people to react in a certain way or find the meaning behind a drawing that may not mean anything. But because of the way they were raised or their views, one person may hold a view towards one symbol while another person would see that symbol in a different light. All in all, the film makes us constantly question what different symbols may meanwhile also shedding light on the importance of symbols as a whole. And although there are many different interpretations of the symbols, perhaps our interpretations are showing us the bias in our own lives when viewing different symbols.
