Movie analysis
---Parasite
The movie that we analyzed is Parasite, a comedy directed by Bong Joon-ho in
2018. It is a leading South Korean film that earns eleven nominations with five wins.
The story is surrounded by the Kim family---father, mother, son, and daughter, they
live in a small semi-basement, have low pay jobs as pizza box folders, and struggle for
their life. Once their son got a chance to work in a wealthy family (Park family) by a
faking identity, all family members then have schemed to become employed by posing
as unrelated, qualified individuals. When they take over all the positions in Park's house,
they coincidentally found a bunker where the former housekeeper's husband lived for
four years. The Kim's family resort to every conceivable means to fight for the living
rights in Park's house, including killing the housekeeper's family. The film has ended
in a dramatic way. The daughter has died, the dad has escaped into the wealthy family's
bunker via the garage. The son and his mom are still living in their original basement.
He is craving to earn money and purchasing the house and reuniting with his father.
The film attempts to critics the class conflict, social inequality, wealth disparity in
South Korea. In this movie, we will analyze from both Marxist and Feminist critical
lenses in order to have a thorough understanding of the character and film.

Marxist Lens
Marx states, "...stable societies develop sites of resistance: contradictions build
into the social system that ultimately leads to social revolution and the development of
a new society upon the old". (Purdue Writing Lab, n.d.). The movie also has emphasis
the conflict between the upper and lower classes in many different forms.
Geographically speaking, Parasites has confirmed the Marxist view that the rich
feed on the poor through exploitation. In the film, the mansion is built in the basement
where the poor nanny's husband has lived. Although it is a symbol, it seems to imply a
Marxist viewpoint from the geographical perspective perfectly.
The most prominent element in "Parasites" is the "odor". The rich have a natural
advantage---neat and clean, which result in a decent life with "no smell". In the movie,
the pursuit of order and cleanliness has been standardized. When the former nanny was
fired, Mr. Park was worried that "In a week, my house will become a trash can, my
clothes will start to smell". On the contrary, the movie shows that the poor have a
"peculiar smell" that they can't get rid of even when they wash their clothes. According
to the film, Kim's family lives in the mildew smelled semi-basement. Their house is
never clean as they can't afford to exterminate their home, so they waited for the
sanitation worker coming to their window to spread it to their house. Mixed with urine
smell outside and dirt from the toilet, their family comes with a divert smell with the
wealth. Therefore, when they come to a mansion or a luxury car, the smell becomes
stung. It is quickly recognized by Park's son and described with contempt by Mr. Park.
Ironically, the odor caused all the complex: humiliation, anger, and killing, and make
the movie goes to the climax.
Another thing related to the class difference in Parasite is the "master-servant
boundary". Mr. Park found the women's underwear in the backseat of his luxury car
and dismissed driver Yoon, and thinking the driver was "crossing the boundary" by
messing around in his car, especially in his own space in the back seat. Mr. Park has
deliberately maintained "the boundary". When driver Kim asked him twice if he loved
his wife, for the first time, he just laughed and act slightly uncomfortable being
offended in privacy; the second time, he shows a sullen face and told Kim that "today
counts as overtime" in an official manner. It is obvious that he intends to keep the
distance between the upper class and the lower class.

Feminist Lens
As a mother of this poverty family, Chung-sook is their backbone with a strong
personality. From the beginning to the end, she has been involved in everything and
never gave up on her fate.
In the night when Park's family suddenly returned, Chung-sook's first reaction
after receiving the call was not to panic but to ask how to make the noodles as Mrs.
Park requested. This scene has a comedic effect and highlights her calmness in focusing
on solving problems. The series of disastrous episodes throughout the night had crushed
Ki-taek's heart and family status and made Chung-sook acted as an anchor for her
family.
The former nanny of Parks', who was kicked down the stairs by Chung-sook,
mumbled to herself in the darkness before she died, said why she kicked me. No one
can answer this question, but the only thing we knew is Chung-sook just instinctively
solves the immediate crisis and protects her hard-won work for her family.
Until the last moment, the mother was the only one in this family who kept trying
to solve the problem. It was Chung-sook who has protected her injured daughter and
fought hard to kill the murderer. The missing husband, seriously injured son, dead
daughter, and fraud punishment, it is not difficult to imagine that all these consequences
are transferred to Chung-sook.
In conclusion, the movie Parasite is a realistic black comedy, while all characters
have unique Charisma. Especially, it also has created a calm female image--- Chungsook, even though she was struggling at the bottom, she has never forgone her family
and life. Moreover, the movie is a pro-Marxist lens artwork that successfully reflects
the current situation under the capitalism Korean society.
Works Cited
Bong, J. (Director). (2019). Parasite [Film]. Barunson E&A. YouTube
Movies,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrvAclWVnOU&ab_channel=Yo
uTubeMovies
Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). Marxist criticism // Purdue Writing
Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literatur
e/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/marxist_criticism.html