Central Arguments and Themes in the Movie "Parasite"
Write a 700 to 800-word response that critically reflects on this week’s film and at least one reading from the week. Relate the film and reading and connect them to the broader themes of the course. Your response should demonstrate your understanding of both the film and the reading. Do not simply summarize the film. You must include a full and proper works cited page and use proper in-text citations for all sources in your response, including films. Below are some questions to serve as prompts for reflection. You do not have to address all of these questions in your response.
What are the central arguments made by the films and/or the texts and how do they relate to each other?
What social, cultural, political, or historical issues are brought into focus in the films and how?
What themes emerge from the films or texts and how do they relate to the broader themes of the class?
How do you personally connect to these themes or issues and how do the films and readings help you understand them in new ways?
Describe the film language in technical terms and discuss how it frames the film’s main themes.
Film: Gisaengchung/Parasite (Bong Joon Ho, 2019, 132m)
Readings: The Films of Bong Joon Ho, Conclusion (Nam Lee); “What is Transnational Cinema” (Elizabeth Ezra and Terry Rowden); “Introduction: A Peripheral View of World Cinema” (Dina Iordanova, David Martin-Jones, Belén Vidal)
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Introduction
Bong Joon-ho (2019) directed the world-renowned film, "Parasite," which gained public attention as it tackled various issues in contemporary society, including social, cultural, and political conflicts. It illustrated the life of the Kim family, suffering from the consequences of capitalism and the government's lack of initiative to aid the marginalized, forcing the family members to infiltrate the bourgeois' home to benefit from the fruits of the labor of the capitalistic society. Though their actions are unjust and illegal and must be condemned in any society, the story that led to their decision must be evaluated through sociocultural and political lenses, as their actions are not solely based on their wants but on their needs.
Central Arguments Explored in the “Parasite”
"Parasite" demonstrates the combination of arguments that flourished through class dichotomy. South Korea, one of the wealthy countries in Asia, is also a slave from the hierarchical system guided by the roots of capitalism and the widening gap between the bourgeois and the proletariat. As embodied by the Kims, the film employed Machiavellian stratagems in a relentless pursuit of ascension. Additionally,