Parasite: In response to "Questions to Consider"

 I don't typically follow the questions to consider straight on, but I feel like the questions asked are important ones to reflect over while writing my blog post for Parasite.

Firstly, the photo we were given titled "Emerging Man," by Gordon Parks, gave me instant flashbacks to the beginning of the climax in Parasite. It could easily relate to the Kim's family and their condition of living. This film gives us a glimpse of the troubles that come with poverty, how the Kims were, essentially, watching from the shadows and trying to get in on the upper side of life. This image could also relate to the scene where the Kim family discovered Moon-gwang's (the previous housekeeper before Mrs Park) husband had been living in the basement and slowly, but surely, going insane. One of the scenes in the film shows Guen-sae (the husband) coming up at the stairs in total darkness, but surrounded by light; as seen also in "Emerging man". Both the photo and the scene were unsettling, so I feel as if they could relate in that aspect. 

Throughout the film, we see symbolism through the "Scholar's Rock", an item given to Min-Hyuk, which is a friend of Ki-woo (The Kim's son), who promises that it will bring wealth and fortune. The symbolism, however, drastically changes as the film progre. It is the one item we see carried out to the very end; and whereas in the beginning, this rock meant hope, in the end of the movie, it was ultimately the destruction of hope itself. A better example that further explains the symbolism of this item, is at the end of the film when Ki-woo goes down to the bunker to face Guen-sae, in attempts to kill him with the Scholar's Rock. This, however, backfires on him, as when he sees Moon-gwang dead, Guen-sae takes the chance to grab the Scholar's Rock and instead smash Ki-woo in the head. This is where Guen-sae finally escapes, which can be related back to my first statement on "Emerging Man".

Ultimately, this film had a lot of plot twists and broke a lot of rules, but in a way that was necessary for the viewer to truly understand the emotion and layers going on in all of the characters. I loved this film from the beginning the end; I hadn't had a rush of emotions in such a short time quite like sitting through all of these intense, realistic scenes.