Intra-class Antipathy and Inter-class Identification in Parasite

Abstract

Parasite (2019) is a South Korean black comedy thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho that has received international acclaim. This article explores the use of smell as a quasi-biological marker of class in the film that portrays the impossibility of a symbiosis between the precariats who occupy the same lower rungs of the neoliberal capitalist society. The article also finds the main trigger for Kim Ki-taek’s murder of Park Dong-ik in the intra-class antipathy Ki-taek feels toward his fellow precariat, Oh Geun-sae, rather than in his inter-class resentment toward Dong-ik, a neoliberal elite. The article then examines the inter-class identification between the characters of Ki-taek and Dong-ik to conclude that they both see an image of themselves in the other, but to a very different effect. Lastly, the article analyzes the displacement of patriarchal responsibility from Ki-taek to his son who falters under its pressure. The hopeless tone on which the film ends implies the bleak future that lies ahead for the next generation of precariats. Overall, the film exposes sharply how our attitude toward the other differs according to our perception of his/her socio-economic status as compared to our own—we emulate the rich, belittle the poor, and battle against our equals.