Parasite: Bookshelves

Cormac Clune

 One of the core concepts that Parasite tackles is the idea of economic mobility. The idea that the only thing separating the poor from the wealthy is hard work and lack of effort towards climbing the societal ladder. In Parasite Writer Bong Joon-Ho seeks to dispel this idea by presenting the two different sides of wealth. The wealthy Park family and the lowly Kim family. The Kim family is destitute. They resort to folding pizza boxes for minimal pay and live in a run-down bug-infested apartment. But the Kim’s are not portrayed as “Lazy”. They succeed in manipulating the Parks and are competent at the jobs that they manage to attain. Meanwhile, the Parks are portrayed as aloof and simple, as they are unable and unwilling to do simple tasks such as housework. They are not outwardly bad people, but the film showcases them holding contempt towards the poorer Kim family. They are entirely disconnected from the struggles of those less fortunate. As a monsoon destroys the Kim’s neighborhood, the Park family continues to plan their superficial Native American themed party. As Ki-Jung lays dying from blood loss, the Parks are only concerned with their son who is not in nearly as critical of condition. This comparison between the two families showcases what bridges exist between the poor and the wealthy. Often this issue is societal, and the idea of how hard we work doesn’t reflect how much we’re rewarded. The Parks can be incompetent and the Kim’s can be hardworking, the payout is massively different. This idea that anybody can move upwards in class effortlessly is brutally depicted in the opening and ending scene of the film. We see Choi Woo-Shik’s fantasy of buying a house and freeing his father from the economic as-well-as literal basement. This ending is so bleak as the only way to free Woo-Shik’s father is impossible. Even if he can purchase the house, his father will still be a wanted criminal. We cut back to the opening shot of the film. Both the opening scene and ending scene are nearly identically framed, but in the ending scene, it's nighttime and the season has changed to winter. We pan down past the same dirty socks air-drying to see Woo-Shik sitting despondent, only being able to fantasize over someday climbing out of the gutters of society.  After the death of his sister, brain surgery, and lengthy court trials, he is still living in a bug-infested basement. He Dreams of something better that he will most likely never achieve. His economic status is set in stone, bound to the idea that he can climb a ladder that never existed for him in the first place.