Parasite, Ending Explained - Stairway to Nowhere

Get a full month of MUBI FOR FREE: mubi.com/thetake (With the support of Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union) | What really happened at the end of Bong Joon-ho's Parasite -- and what's the deeper meaning? Why must things go down that way? In this video, we take on Bong's "surefire-kill" ending, how the movie tells a story of class divides, and what it says about our world today.
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[@nickyuan9712]

The Take Best analysis of this film i’ve seen, love the work. Thank you so much for this video

[@valery5360]

I love your analysis of different movies

[@Karl.Jones.2023]

I like your old voice better.

[@moazamkhan]

Ad is far too long

[@markant9534]

This film from Korea is winning plaudits as a strange, well-made dark comedy. But more than that, writes Irang Bak, its message about inequality is universal

[@andrelim2428]

I just realised something. None of the members of the Kim family got their gigs through any interview application. They got their well-paying gigs because they knew someone from the inner circle who referred them in. This further cements the idea that you don't get to move up the social ladder just by being competent.

[@christian14525]

So true!!! Great point

[@nusratm8897]

No, jessica went through an interview process of sorts to demonstrate her abilities for art, teaching and psychology.

[@Feliciatanktop]

Nusrat M but she never would’ve got it if her brother didn’t refer her

[@ssapling3902]

Take it from someone who knows, that the higher paying the job, the more important your connections. You could have a perfect resume, but if you don't know anyone at the company you're applying for, chances are they won't look twice at you. But if you have connections...it's your resume they won't look twice at, and 9 times out of 10 you've got the job without even trying, just like the Kims do here.

[@queenleorobi8253]

In America it has all been about who you know; college degrees do not do anything.

[@qwertyuiopz123]

Another reason why Jessica is different is because she’s the only one that made a new job in the household. The rest of her family replaced someone else.

[@jeremybeau8334]

And she is the only one that got killed. What you say is true, but i think that being fair with Kevin, he got the job offer as a replacement. He dident got his friend fired to became an english teacher.

[@inasaira8380]

@@jeremybeau8334 he did replace him as da-hye's boyfriend though which probably means his friend is never coming back to tutor her.

[@BubbyNikko]

Didn't the mother say that Da-Song had different art teachers, but that none of them lasted more than a month? However, I agree with you, her position was slightly different because, as a matter of fact, we never see any of these people.

[@capoeiristachik1]

Yes, she didn't have to fight for that job because she created it, although her job is the only one that's fake. Kevin really did have to know English to tutor, his father really did have to drive, and his mother really did have to do the housekeeping. Jessica persuaded her way into an income, perhaps a bit like the rich do. One quarter of those pizza boxes were half-assed when the family did it, which means one of the them was not putting in enough manual effort. My money is on Jessica.

[@TheAngryMarshmallow]

@@capoeiristachik1 this just blew my fuckin mind.

[@eljoven911]

“The real fight going everyday in our society isn’t between rich and poor, it’s between poor and poorer, between the have not and have nothing, the broke and the broken” - powerful assessment

[@ParaAkula]

imagine the poor and the poorer would cooperate instead of fighting each other. they together could literally kill all rich people just by starring them to death.

[@lambchop6278]

A quote from another movie is: "The poor eat each other". ....Am not sure that this statement is necessarily true: the fight between the rich and poor is still very real. I guess they mean that it is just a hopeless fight, and it doesn't show up like the struggle between have nots and the have nothings.

[@amyred9652]

So true, society likes to put the poor against the poor as a distraction as the rich are getting richer.

[@ComedyGlor]

@@ParaAkula ikr if they had just worked together, the tragedy could've been avoided

[@hellohappyvegan]

Whoa

[@AAnt1993]

Some other metaphors/symbolism: 1. The Ran Don dish is a mix of cheap instant noodle with expensive beef. This represents the mix of the high class rich family with the low class being in the same house. 2. The poor daughter is eating the dog food on the couch long before she realizes it. She even likes it and barely noticed. This Symbolizes that the poor are happy even with the scraps of the rich. Literally happy even eating their dog food.

[@wrathybear]

i agree except the Ran Don dish where it doesn't matter if the lower class is in the same house but the Mrs. Park herself

[@ratonadebiblioteca98]

The chapaguri actually symbolises the fact that the rich people are taking something extremely cheap (instant ramen) and wish to elevate it by adding the expensive cut of meat. Its completely unnecessary, and people wouldn't waste the meat in cheap ramen, but the Parks order the cook to do it because they can.

[@abimon76]

so basically the rich hate the poor because they are lowly and disgusting, but keep them there as entertainment and labour.

[@allocater2]

Wisecrack said that the high class beef is on top of the lower class noodles, so it represent the class hierarchy.

[@esthernola]

This is what I think of their mentality. Rich mom doesn't want to miss out the middle/lower-class trend (put 2 cheap instant noodle together) that has become so popular, or the son heard of it at school and told his mom he wanted to try it. At the same time, rich mom can't bear the thought of having this lowly dish that's so beneath them come near her precious boy, hence the expensive beef was added.

[@oomay1925]

Also about the stone- when the house is flooded, Kihyun notices the stone is floating which means that it's fake. So it represents false hope.

[@ferenctoth2091]

Great observation, thank you Amy. Of course that's provisional, because it's clearly very dense and heavy. That's clear by how it's handled, the sound it makes while tumbling down the steps and it's power as a weapon.

[@oomay1925]

@@ferenctoth2091 things that are heavy can still float in water but that is something to notice 🤔

[@TheSpiritsLease]

@@ferenctoth2091 It's not enough to kill him and basically ends up disappointing in every way. It's a metaphor for false hope. It's only heavy because they feel it should be, or because the weight of acknowledging it is too great to handle.

[@varshard0]

That shot is an accident, the director said that he didn't expected that the stone will float, but he keep it anyway.

[@senyormort]

Accidental or not is a good metaphor :)

[@soapberry]

Also, the rain is not just a minor inconvenience for the Parks, but a positive event. Mrs. Park says that the rain washed away the pollution overnight and created the sunny weather that is perfect for Da-song's outdoor birthday party. As Mr. Kim overhears her, he is forced to stay silent and keep driving, knowing that the same event that destroyed his family's home the previous night is allowing the wealthy to rejoice and engage in festivities that day.

[@ralphjosephrjm326]

I almost forgot about that part. Thanks for reminding us by bringing it up :)

[@BigSleepyOx]

And this is an example of why it got nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

[@111qhrms]

rain also simply can be interpreted as an economic crisis. it seems nothing for the richs but huge disaster for poors

[@Megaghost_]

@@111qhrms And sometimes, some of the rich get even richer after a crisis. It's sickening.

[@victoriamk6693]

The idea of 'trickle-down' economics'!!! Because like the current capitalist system, rain will never flow up - it always flows downwards and affects the most disadvantaged. Also another thing to note, I think Bong also designed the big window to have the same dimensions as a movie theatre screen? For the Parks, the rain is simply entertainment. But for the Kims, it's the loss of their home and belongings.

[@jilliancramer9196]

Another thing: I think the reason Ki-Jeong is so "at home" in the upper class environment is that she is the most ruthless. She chastises her family for starting to feel guilt for knocking the former employees down because she already knows and accepts that oppressing others is what it means to stay at the top.

[@meggy0]

I agree with this, but then at the end it switches, Ki-Jeong is the only one who tries to take the food down to the basement at the end of the film, and shows concern for the Park's - which shows that while she can pretend to be ruthless, she isn't at her core, she can try to belong, but she never will.

[@Sarablueunicorn]

@@meggy0 but the mother is the one giving her the plate with food and asks her to take it down because "they might be hungry". So both characters show empathy and care. Remember that all family agreed to let the ex-housekeeper in to go get her stuff at the basement. Maybe they were moved by guilt but not heartless at all.

[@lukesouthern3640]

@@meggy0 i dont think that means shes not ruthless, shes acting the same way the rich family acts, "sweet and nice" because they can afford to. when she is in that position, she has the luxury to "be nice" to the one who needs thefood, the same way mr and mrs parker are nice to the ones who need their money.

[@fd8493]

empathy? i think it's only the mother. remember at the drunk scene when mr. kim asked his family & make sure the old driver get a new job and jessica only said "think about us first" or whatever it is which means she has no empathy at all

[@user-ur9wy1lt8z]

True. She was the one who was mocking the wife to be naive and stupid to believe her. Good observation!

[@leedraconis5793]

His daughter is bleeding out DYING in his arms, yet his boss calls for him to help the son who has merely passed out. I’ve never felt the emotion I felt during that scene. It’s indescribable. And for his character to feel that emotion x1000, enough quiet rage to murder a man. Pain. Just pain. No word works better to describe it than pain.

[@urinal81410]

but didn't mrs. park say something like it's 15 minutes until the convulsions have irreversible damage on the child? that's why the boss might have been asking for the keys to the car so quickly, although I completely agree with you that what the Kims are dealing with when the daughter gets stabbed is WAY more important than a child passing out. there is way less time to save someone stabbed than to save a child with a seizure.

[@leedraconis5793]

Matthew yeah that’s true, totally. It’s more the fact of they could simply call an ambulance or drive themselves, instead of demanding their driver whose daughter is dying lol

[@urinal81410]

Liam Vic but!!!! at the same time they didn’t know that the driver was the girl’s dad

[@generateemail8451]

@@urinal81410 Oh that's interesting, I forgot about that while watching the scene.

[@Typhoid-K]

@@urinal81410 Even if she's just a acquintance at workplace, he won't call the one who's holding the wound to drive the car instead if he cared.

[@netpunk5890]

That scene where she acts so offended by Mr. Kim’s scent, while her bare feet are in his face is just UGH!! The NERVE!!

[@earthbenderjfjdj4335]

Oh my God! Yes!! I just now noticed the irony!!

[@earthbenderjfjdj4335]

And the actress too!! Definitely my fave among the cast!! The amazing portrayal of naivety and authoritativeness, seemingly blending the two is great! She may be naive and gullible but when she was buying the groceries, she was just so, so sure of herself, truly a picture of a rich woman.

[@GimGardashian]

Yes. Maybe that foul smell was her feet smell. Ironically.

[@owenbunny4023]

imagine that smell. hmmmm

[@treacherousjslither6920]

She can put her bare feet in my face anytime 😛

[@westernpigeon]

remember at the beginning when the poor mom said his friend should’ve brought food instead of a rock? that scene comes back around and near the end, if they the poor girl would’ve brought the food downstairs, instead of the poor guy bringing the rock, he probably would’ve never been attacked with the rock and his sister wouldn’t have been killed/stabbed

[@kennethbryant5819]

Maybe but they killed his wife. He was coming for them regardless.

[@bangchansonyeondan2016]

@@kennethbryant5819 if they brought food there wouldnt be any killimg to begin with..if i remember correctly the wife wanted to feed her husband if they just worked with her.. they could've continued to leech off the parks but this time as an accomplice of two others

[@gera1544]

@@bangchansonyeondan2016 The wife was pretty much already dead since she was kicked and got hit on her head when falling downstairs

[@evanmason7478]

Mind blown dude

[@marvel096]

Not really, he only would’ve killed the daughter first. After the wife died he snapped

[@Mbejar09]

One thing I noticed that I don’t see anyone commenting is the upper class obsession with American culture as a symbol of refinement or culture. Just the mention that someone lived in the US or studied here (regardless of where) impresses the Parks. Also when the son is fantasizing about becoming wealthy to buy the house, he looks very different. His hair is longer, lighter and he looks like a K-pop start. I knew by that detail that it was a fantasy.

[@yunase]

also very unlikely he achieves it... The last ost at the ending meaning is "564 years" if I'm not wrong, meaning ironically the numbers of years it would take for him to buy the house... So, basically, very unlikely he succeeds.

[@gostavoadolfos2023]

I am from Morocco, France used to be the symbol of refinement for the corrupt upper class however USA is starting to compete with France for the spot.

[@bubbleous9994]

he also looks a lot more like his friend in the beginning. at first i even thought that was him

[@ShinigamiInuyasha777]

In most of Latin America is either the US or Europe (even the crappy places) the ones of glamour and status

[@TumblinWeeds]

Mbejar09 maybe a reference to the American Dream? The belief that anyone who works hard enough can reach the top, the fantasy of a house with a white picket fence.

[@robeyhines8149]

I find it interesting how the Park's daughter reflects Jessica's ambitions in the opposite sense. She is the only family member seen going down the stairs at the end of the film, while the rest of the Park's are never shown to go downstairs. They merely ask others to go there for them like when Mrs. Park asking Mrs. Kim to get the tables in the basement. This shows that she sees herself as aspiring to be more grounded than the rich family she wants to rebel from by showing interest in her tutors and distancing herself from her family and their ignorance (she is the *only one* who never mentions the _"smell of poverty,"_ as all three other members mention them smelling the same). Jessica is the one with the most drive and potential to move up in the world of the rich, naturally fitting into the Park's household like the puzzle piece they never knew was missing. The Park's daughter has plenty of opportunities to be successful and is beautiful like her mother, meaning she can marry anyone she wants, yet she is drawn to a life away from the wealth, the polar opposite of Jessica. Maybe she writes about her angst in her diaries.

[@xxyzxxyz690]

But Mrs. Park did go downstairs once near the beginning when she was worried about Jessica being with Da Song, so she asked the housekeeper to bring them something to drink to check on them.

[@albertrex6851]

@R. Tolmach naah. Jessica was a opportunist . Being female doesn't means that you are a good person from heart . That's just sexist .

[@Mariana-jb4pn]

@@albertrex6851 she never said Jessica was good from heart, they said she was smart. What is wrong with being an opportunist? Jessica saw and opportunity and took it but sadly that ended her life.

[@starrytala]

She was also the only one who was seen helping an injured member of the Kim family during the entire chaos of her brother's birthday. Everyone else simply stayed away or saved themselves.

[@luliu4572]

@@starrytala what about the musician that got cut when he swung his instrument?

[@cflores859]

Also, the Scholar Stone floats in the flood waters in the semibasement because the stone is hollow inside. That is why the son doesn't die from the head injury when he is hit-over-the-head with the "metaphorical" rock. The stone is a lie just like the hope that it represents.

[@everenferno]

What insight! Good job!

[@MissValerieTan]

good one!

[@eriken9309]

Dude you just blew my mind. Great observation and analysis!

[@gorfgapley4371]

cflores859 doesnt he put the stone back in the river at the end though?

[@dianalondono5599]

wow thanks. This movie has so many details like that, but I couldn't catch it

[@Untitled10154]

i also feel like the parallelism between the opening and closing shots is much more emphasised by the fact that the protagonist was using the phone in the first one and now he is holding a paper, as if he had gone backwards and is at a worse point now than he was when the film started

[@brodeekane4445]

That's true. It was stated that the phones work fine in the basement. Yet, they use morse code to communicate. Truly accepting a place underground at rock bottom.

[@napppstar0]

@@brodeekane4445 Hey wait, then couldn't the dad steal a phone and call his son or wife?

[@owenbunny4023]

@@napppstar0 or the son can just sneak in and meet his dad there no one is guarding the house with guns anyway

[@itsbonkerjojo9028]

@@owenbunny4023 I mean can you do in real . Huh .... I can't there are so many house around us but we don't dare to go without reason and where no one expect us . It's just scary and impossible .This movie is keeping it real in all way . The house itself is a wealthiest house with proper security . He could have never thought of going into if not for his friend who believed him just bcauz he was sure he will not fit or dare to set romantic angle with the girl . And now he have to live with this trauma also mentally unstable kinda how could you expect him to sneak into same house which brought him into this stage ? Isn't it painful 🙄?

[@Nueztoy]

And from been hit by the sunny day (in a later scene is established he likes the sun, and he is bathing in it at the big house) to be in almost complete darkness

[@MlleFunambuline]

One aspect missing in your analysis is the admiration the rich family has for anything coming from the US. That's how "Kevin" and "Jessica", and their father can be hired. It shows how, even if they are rich and powerful, they still hope for something they think is higher, better, out of reach. It's a ridiculous fact at the beginning, that makes us laugh at the housewife, but each new apparition of this trope in the movie help us understand how every class is always aspiring to something else. Even the ones, literally, on top.

[@keziaate5859]

And also when Mr. Park afraid that Da Song tent gonna leak and the wife simply said. "It's okay, we bought it from USA." as if anything from USA is the highest quality you can get.

[@eleven11three]

Right, this also show another "class" of nationalities. Even the most privileged in Korea believes that their country is below USA in almost every aspects.

[@funofboredom]

I saw an interview of a mixed race Japanese guy the other day. He was bullied in school for looking like a foreigner, but in the work place, his seniors, who would normally bully juniors, treated him differently because they thought he was white.

[@Littlepolarbear]

I like how my name is used in a movie for once.

[@TheMsLady4Real]

@@keziaate5859 The USA doesn't take care of its own people and are blatant racist and has robbed African Americans(ADOS) and Indigenous people of their generational wealth! The US doesn't make a damn thing and if they do it doesn't last! The US sold are of their great manufacturing jobs, products, and workforce decades ago! The US is just a facade now! Look closely and you'll see racism against their own black foundational citizens, racism against everyone who isn't white! Donald Trump has encouraged this racism against black people globally!

[@suhailamehrez4010]

Ki-jung (Jessica) had to die. She was the only Kim who actually had a good chance of climbing the social ladder and becoming successful (a true con-artist, she "fit" in the Park household, bossed the Parks around). But Bong Joon-Ho wanted our final thought in the movie to be "the Kim's will never make it out of that house", so he killed off their only chance of doing that - Ki-jung.

[@Pamven]

God I love this movie

[@ntbored7727]

I believe she was the perfect mimic, but like her brother wouldn’t have “made” it either. She had no chancd

[@benkim2016]

I better be careful not to lose life like Kijung. I am quite happy with my social status that is just a middle class!!

[@benwasserman8223]

The poor family is always descending into their architecture. Meanwhile the rich family is always moving up the stairs. Perfect symbolism

[@napppstar0]

The scene of the son going to the house and you see it from the bottom looking up and the top looking down really set the tone for the first 2 acts. It's always dancing around the distance between them, no matter how close they actually get. The rain scene showed how far they have to travel everyday just to get to the parks house, just to get that level.

[@owenbunny4023]

a capitalist hellhole. south korean. maybe reuniting the south and north can provide some eco boost for south korean factory (like the post cold war germany miracle)

[@sunmin0316]

Owen Bunny south koreans dont want to reunite, i mean why would they?

[@dangnagoo8311]

@@sunmin0316 Huh?

[@sunmin0316]

Dangna Goo the reunification

[@pindaenbeer]

What I find very aggravating is how people keep repeating the Park family did nothing wrong. It is explicitly addressed in the movie: "She's rich but she's nice" "She's nice BECAUSE she's rich" and "money is like an iron." The poor families seem more morally bankrupt simply because they are put in a position where they cannot afford not to be good people, they quite literally do not have the luxury. This is exemplified in the scene where the poor families are physically fighting and the Park's are comfortable and oblivious to the struggle. They are safe from violence not because they are saintly, but because they are not in the basement (!!!). There are a few indications of their character (both symbolic and literal): As addressed in the video Mr. Park talks about how he cannot stand those who cross the line. He actively cultivates an environment in which the lower classes and servant know their place. When he fires his chauffeur, he fires him mostly because he dared to have sex on his seat, quite literally crossing the line of where he is allowed to be. Mr. and Mrs. Park express their shock and disgust at finding out their chauffeur had sex with a girl possibly on drugs, only to roleplay it during sex later, showing that underneath the decorum they are no less filthy. Mrs. Park fires her housemaid, who raised her children and lived in the house before her, on the basis of having a disease. She literally threw a woman she thought was dying out on the streets in the pouring rain, with no concern for what would happen to her without a job. When Ki-Jeong, the woman who was helping their son cope with his trauma lies dying, Mr. Park urges Ki-Taek to stop trying to stop the blood and drive him to the hospital instead (ignoring that he could drive himself, get someone else to drive, call an ambulance). The lives of servants don't matter to him. Other indications include dressing up as native Americans (an exploited people) for entertainment (plus casting them as the villains during the birthday), Da-Song being able to understand the morse-code cries for help but doing nothing, and of course the complaints of the "poverty smell", indicating that no matter how well the Kim's perform their jobs, the Park's do not want them in their periphery for their background. Again, the Park's are not better people. What I find great about the film is that everyone is literally just as terrible. It is merely that the Park's are in a comfortable position where they do not need to lie, scheme, claw and fight for the sunlight. Edit: I know most of the people who this applies to are barely sentient but please refrain from posting dumb comments or crackpot theories. I have over 70 comments on this thing, no one is going to read it and it's clogging up my notifications. Thanks so much

[@sallylee4924]

And I think that's part of the brilliance of this film. On the surface, the Parks are not inherently malicious people. They seem nice. They have no clear evil intentions. At the same time, they have complete disregard and consideration for others, especially those who are of lower social and economic standing than them, and the society that they live in (that WE live in) seem to find this behavior acceptable because of their wealth and high social standing. The movie even teases with the notion that the Parks might be secretly evil in the first half of the film, when the discovery of the basement initially make many viewers think that the Parks have hidden something sinister there, only to discover that there's a man willingly living there. I think all this fits really well into the themes of the movie. Rich people like the Parks don't have to be inherently evil or malicious to cause harm and great suffering to those who are less fortunate than them.

[@pindaenbeer]

@@sallylee4924 Yes! Exactly, you worded it very well

[@Julia-ii6th]

Sally Lee i don’t think all rich people are inherently evil or malicious, which is what you seem to be implying. the system is, but the Parks weren’t.

[@sallylee4924]

@@Julia-ii6th Yes indeed! And I think this is what makes the social commentary of the movie so refreshing, while so many other movies reduce societal problems down to "a few bad apples." Of course the system being at fault does not excuse the actions of any of the characters in the movie. But it does show that the conflicts and problems that these people face at not just the issue of a few bad apples. There's a larger social infrastructure that is at the core of these issues.

[@pindaenbeer]

@@Julia-ii6th I mean, "evil" is a childishly redundant way to look at the film, or real life for that matter. It's not a superhero movie with good and bad characters. That said, the Parks are kind of objectively dicks, just like all the other families in the movie.

[@benmyu9277]

I like how movies like these brings out the intelligence of people

[@Spikastru]

BenMYu movies that make you think after you’ve seen them are the best movies.

[@fffernsw4dl539]

I know right, I can one hundred percent guarantee that one of the viewers of this movie went out of their way and research multiple things included like culture backgrounds and story techniques. This movie ended with people learning new things. It quite (in a literal sense) taught them. (Though positively or negatively is a whole other topic).

[@selty]

This movie is a parasite in my brain. I literally cannot stop thinking about it, and recommending it to friends.

[@jillmeredith2012]

Ditto.

[@memeali3941]

i watched it about 4 times and still watching vedios about it

[@yathux885]

Same !

[@royalidols1783]

can we also talk about how when the Kims were celebrating their jobs Mr. Kim said "lets offer a prayer of gratitude to the great Mr. Park" and the homeless man living in the basement also worship Mr. Park. I do not think this is a coincidence.

[@ricatorres171]

Yes I also noticed that she goes where it is buried

[@qwertyuiopz123]

Its to symbolize how the poor always idolize the rich. Steve Jobs. Bill Gates. Elon Musk.

[@jeremybeau8334]

@@qwertyuiopz123 Most of the time billionairs are the ones that causes poverty in the first and they portrait themeselves as saviors when they create often low pay crapy jobs and give charity (wich is a way to avoid paying taxes and get even more money to themselves)

[@capoeiristachik1]

The homeless man also thanks Mr. Park by flickering the lights, and then the camera immediately pans to the light in the Kim family's basement flickering as well, as their house floods. And as the homeless man's wife pukes into the toilet, toilet water immediately spews out of the the Kim family's toilet in the next shot. I don't believe that is a coincidence.

[@tiffanypersaud3518]

capoeiristachik1, I really thought those shots one after the other were done purposely too.

[@controladortv]

This movie is terrifying, like a Black Mirror episode. Absolutely the best and most important movie of the year, if not... the decade.

[@axxeNadZ]

This movie is more Black Mirror than the last season of Black Mirror

[@Theefashionchilld]

facts it really felt like it was a black mirror episode

[@owenbunny4023]

black mirror is cringe and low iq (pretending to be a show for woke ppl)

[@controladortv]

@@owenbunny4023 black mirror had it's pretty intense and thoughtful moments, unfortunately the screenplays of the show doesn't match anymore with the purpose for what it was made.

[@controladortv]

It feels like we are back to the Middle Age.

[@mysisterisafoodie]

Recent social commentary: Idris Elba and his wife said contracting coronavirus and quarantining has been a blessing and allowed them to get closer to each other and check out from all the stress of the world. They suggested we should quarantine every year to remember this time fondly. Such a crazy thing to say considering the effects of coronavirus on people have largely been unemployment, loss of income, death of family members. This reminds me of the Park family saying the rain was such a blessing, when the underclass clearly suffered from it.

[@memethingz6004]

Literally rich ppl are so out of touch with reality

[@kmj782]

So easy to quarantine in a mansion with unlimited resources..once again the wealthy have no understanding of the less privileged

[@user-qo8om3zt3g]

You don't need to be rich to enjoy covid.. I am an office worker with a salary below median and I love the lockdown because I am an introvert and can work from home

[@user-qo8om3zt3g]

@@ceci--lia my situation is better than the one you described, but I am nowhere rich, my salary is below 20% of the median salary of my city. Life is not black and white.

[@suelynncho]

@@user-qo8om3zt3g you’re missing the point

[@jillmeredith2012]

The comments are so well written and interesting. It's an excellent forum. Thanks y'all for your insights.

[@fffernsw4dl539]

Seriously. I'm astounded reading comments back to back that are helping me appreciate the movie more and more. It's a gift.

[@esleodi]

I totally agree. Well cultured and full of great information. Thumbs up. 👍

[@zapazap]

Some of the comments are great. Some (many?) are asinine. Cheers! :)

[@1028wash]

Another key point in this film that has been touched on is the unwillingness of the Parks to stoop to a level below them, choosing to remain in their own figurative and literal elevation above others. This is particularly seen in 2 major instances. The first: when the Parks decide to sleep on the couch they quite obliviously overlook the Kims hiding under the table, even though their hiding place is very open. Even when Mr. Park mentions that he smells Ki-taek he doesn't make any effort to check right below him. The second instance is when Dae-hye doesn't check under her bed when Ki-woo is hiding there, even when the dog quite obviously sees something of interest. The hiearchy of stairs and elevation between the two families becomes evident in the Parks refusal to interact with anything below them.

[@ichtozavuzovsky8370]

thas gud

[@adorablerepresentativemcfo9892]

why are so many people in this comment section getting the details completely wrong, Da-hye was about to look under her bed but she heard her mom come upstairs and went to her first

[@whitneynelson9124]

Also, don't forget the scene when Mrs. Park is instructing Chung-sook to retrieve several things from the basement for the camping trip; she stays on the stairs giving orders (and doesn't bother to help carry any of it, of course).

[@tiffanypersaud3518]

Tr3yJohnson, true!

[@sydthasquid]

Also, the Parks never went down into the secret bunker, allowing people to live there without being discovered. Maybe the Parks did not know this bunker came with the house. However, it is not a concern that the family living above will decide to visit the bunker but is a concern for those who live secretly in the bunker to "take my life in my hands" to climb upstairs for supplies.

[@maanco549]

The part where the girl is on the toilet having a smoke like nothings wrong as sewage comes through is also symbolic.

[@erikaleuterio642]

Mathew it’s symbolic of when she was in the Park’s bath

[@starry_skies]

Also what amazed me about that scene was that while sewage was gushing through the toilet, it also cut to the ex-housekeeper puking in the toilet in the Park's basement.

[@tbr_hoarder]

When we see the son writing the letter about his plan to get his father out, I couldn't help but think of what his father said earlier in the film - "if you make a plan, it will never work out that way."

[@intheclouds4453]

this film hit me so hard because my family is poor and my father is a driver, for so long people have praised me for my skills and good english, saying that i'm the only one in the family who have a chance in success, well it turns out to be more than difficult to raise my value , i gave up hope, and now i'm just focusing on finding what kind of service and significance i can help the world with, that what matters, giving what i can give so we can all rise together..

[@js83]

Positive mindsets will always result in good outcomes. Never give up hope. The most richest and happy people I know in real life never has negative thoughts about themselves or the world and things always works out...mysteriously for them lol.

[@alexc.1346]

@@js83 lol missed the point of the movie did we?

[@js83]

@@alexc.1346 The movie was great, but I have a different view of the reality we live in. You experience what you focus on. Go ask a person with a poverty mindset opposed to a rich person and see what the difference is. Whatever you believe is upto you.

[@saturated3821]

@@js83 You forget that wealth breeds that attitude of entitlement. It is easier to be self-confident with money, when your status has saved you perhaps countless times in the past from problems, and it is way more likely that things will work out for you when you have money and self-confidence. I'm not interested in the outlier exceptions, this is the general pattern of capitalist society.

[@seatheparade]

I'm so sorry to hear that, and wish you and your family the best. This film is simply for the general public to have a wake up call to understand that power structures are unfair to those who are in the middle class/upper middle/filthy rich class of society, I don't think it was meant to put down people disfranchised by the system. If it helps, the movie also depicts how the two different poor families in this movie did not work together to begin with in order to move up symbiotically, and that brought about their downfall. Perhaps a positive lesson to take is to work with those who are in similar situations and build each other up rather tearing each other down, and to teach others to do the same to avoid the toxic behaviour of pulling others down in order to get ahead

[@ginger0215]

You could write a thesis on just the smell. At the beginning, the dad is shown flicking away a stink bug. Later, the dad overhears Mr. Park talking about his own stink while he is hiding under the table and he hides his emotions with silent tears. To confirm this comparison, the camera hangs over him as he scurries out from his hiding place--like an insect.

[@akshada01akki]

This movie gave the upper-class massive anxiety.

[@alexandreribeiro8200]

Actually, Parasite became one of the favorite movies of Ellon Musk

[@kittyloverandcat66]

And the lower class a reality check with a massive side of depression

[@caracre]

@@alexandreribeiro8200 America and Canada are unique in this classist world... These two countries were created by Europeans that refused to live by class systems; thus, their constitutions and laws were made for a meritocracy. Yet now, due to self-victimization perceptions, you'll find Americans, that have become fat and spoiled complaining that they are all suffering so (we only have one car/ only make 80,000 a year).... but they don't know what it's like to live in other countries "with the people" (no money supports to help the experience).

[@of_the_void_and_stars]

The middle class is what starts shrinking when an economy takes a downturn, the upper class stays the same.

[@kynikersolon3882]

The United States were founded by slave owners who wanted to be free and every effort was made to ensure that the poor would never get their way. Read James Madison on the Philadelphia convention. The goal of the entire Constitution was to protect the rich from the poor.

[@danougi2405]

I never knew climbing the social ladder was this hopeless until I watched Parasite. My family came from a poor third world country. They worked as tenant farmers and often never knew if they'd have food the next day. I want to say they worked hard to become wealthy, but really they had luck from the generosity of an American military captain who saw the potential in my granduncle and hired him on. Without that single stroke of luck, I would all still be in poverty. I wouldn't be in America right now, I'd be on a farm half a world away and the thought of that single act from someone higher up changing my entire life terrifies me.

[@ananya779]

only shows how much power the small actions of rich people have and the scary amount of control they can exert on social mobility.

[@johndaryla.1280]

My Take: Parks: Big Window = Wealthy Kims: Half Window = Poor Oh Geun-sae (Basement guy): No window = Has nothing

[@traivan5853]

Nice notice tho

[@mjsgirl13]

John Daryl A. That made me think of windows of opportunity. The Parks with their big windows have all the opportunity in the world. The Kims have just a slither of opportunity, of hope to make it out and move up. While the couple in the basement have no opportunities or chances of moving up.

[@thunderslug1066]

england had a window tax in the 1600's i think, taxing wealthy people with bigger houses . now a lot of big old housed have bricked up windows to avoid tax. just thiught that was relevant lol

[@anoni6108]

@@mjsgirl13 damn ashli, your brain is working, like damn 🤯

[@abimon76]

i think the half-window symbolizes hope and anxiety that the Kims face. they are living almost underground and at any point they could drop lower, and that is the anxiety. But the Kims have a tiny window of hope above them, and they still hold on to that sliver of hope that they could become a higher level in society.

[@umbrellacorporation4435]

Rich people watching Parasite: Huh, I wonder who that’s for

[@owenbunny4023]

it will gives them some perspective. its like traveling to africa and see how well we have got it in the west tho you can only create jobs and build school if you have money.

[@sunriseparrabellum5505]

Owen Bunny it’s more like “huh we really do be like that” and then carry on with their day

[@negentropyagent7337]

@@owenbunny4023 rich people don't really care

[@user-mb9nm7bq5e]

Owen Bunny no, it will make them paranoid about who they hire. Trust me, my mom worked as a housekeeper to a wealthy family for 20 years and they did not give a fuck about her despite her being loyal and honest for years. Her back is totally shot and despite being millionaires they never wanted to give a raise just increase her work load. Upside is I did get to graduate college debt free thanks to her, and so will my sister. Love this movie and am so grateful I will actually be able to provide for my parents in the future unlike the main character.

[@revolvency]

it seems kinda true. I watch it with my rich friends, and after the movie ends, they can't really say anything about it

[@eleanna2236]

Maybe the real parasites were the friends we made along the way

[@lauraflorez2990]

The real parasite was inside us all along

[@goodolmeplant5809]

The real parasite was family

[@CrabTastingMan]

Maybe our real friends are actually the parasites we have within us.

[@pdzombie1906]

Maybe people not contributing with good comments are the parasites...

[@emileroberge9459]

Maybe the parasite was just a dream all along

[@altgamer3347]

Some parallelisms! 1. The scene where Jessica takes a bath in the bathtub, and having a smoke over the overflowing toilet 2. Jessica being stabbed, with Da song fainting in the back, and Mr. Park being stabbed, with Mrs. Park fainting behind 3. The semi-basement window, and the large house window as architectural symbols of their social status.

[@kavis.4709]

And when Jessica is stabbed and da-song is stabbed, mr park runs over to da song and mr Kim runs to Jessica and kneels by her

[@scbe3443]

The kid's painting on the wall is the basement guy's finale look with a bloody face from the rock.

[@Cheers.-]

You might have missed the bigger point which isn't that they just have a different point of view of the same event, but rather that the water from the storm, a natural event, fell down from high up carrying with it all the pollution & junk that dirtied the hills and bringing it down in the poor neighbourhood, where it's "supposed to be". Ms. Park is happy because the storm put things back in their natural order, taking the dirt out of her neighbourhood without her actually having to worry about it. During the storm, all the employee go down (in the basement or in their neighbourhood) carried away by the water like dirt.

[@tiffanypersaud3518]

Cheers! 진아 이야.♥, true.

[@keeganparkhurst]

This movie is so good. I need to watch it again and catch all this stuff I missed

[@abimon76]

that's a really good point

[@daniahomsi4176]

This video really helped illuminate why Ki-Jung had to die in order for the film's message to hit home. She was the real hope in the family to rise above their station. Ki-woo's tutoring job only lasts as long he is needed and he is given a name by his employers- Kevin, and they determine his pay and how often he works in the week. When Ki-Jung comes in as Jessica a name that was not bestowed by the Parks she instantly sets the conditions of her employment. You are not allowed in the room, I need this many sessions a week and you must pay me this much. She is the Kim who earns the most money from the Parks (most likely) and hers is the con that could extend beyond the Parks and lift her up. Another reason is that I think that she is the Kim that is the least subservient to the Parks and the least sympathetic to them, she controls the lessons with Da-song and ensures he respects her, and she is often the one that curses and says the meanest stuff especially about Mrs Park, mocking her, and calling her a dumb bitch. In that sense she is the one that seems the least dazzled by the Parks' luxury which is why she was the one that fit in the best.

[@rupeshs7378]

***Unpopular opinion Parasite was better than Joker in terms of filmography, yet 11 nominations for Joker and only 6 nomination for Parasite, I hope Parasite for Best Picture and Mr.Phoenix for Best actor! Edit: my prediction just came to reality.

[@wout.schreurs]

Phoenix elevated a pretty alright script. Parasite's screenplay was great to begin with.

[@caracre]

To compare these films is absurd. They are different genres and deserve respect in their own right. What's popular are people like you that love to shit disturb because that's the only power they have.

[@owenbunny4023]

hollywood is a white and and jews world

[@rupeshs7378]

@@caracre yes both are different genres, does that mean genres like Parasite which exposes society imbalance will be excluded from major nominations? Hollywood is truly hypocrite and jealous of Asian culture and art. Nevertheless the director of Parasite himself said that Oscars are local award show meant for Americans, he will not be mad if he looses. Period.

[@islagreenburg1145]

Bong Joon Ho said it himself. The Oscars is "very local."

[@razmiddle9410]

Something I noticed is that if they had just been happy with the son and daughter having good jobs, they would have been just fine. But their greed and need to improve the position of their elderly parents as well resulted in all their troubles. The son and daughter didn't get their jobs by forcibly replacing anyone, and could have continued to do even better in their futures. I think this represented how young people who could exceed their parents are dragged back because of their families.

[@maximusyoung]

Nice analysis. I have personally experienced this.

[@LoveAndSnapple]

I just watched parasite a few minutes ago and I was wondering the same thing as well. It’s not like the children were under age and had no choice. They were very much adults and could shape their own destinies. They could work hard and get their parents out of the basement just with the skills they had. I mean, they were young, healthy, strong, and able-bodied. I mean, even the pizza guy in the beginning of the movie said that they needed somebody part time. Sure, they are really good as crooks and scammers, but did they even really give honest work a try? Something as simple as folding boxes they couldn’t do because the girl said one out of four were rejects. Sure, the world is unfair but if you’re going to do a simple job like that, do it right, yeah?

[@SJ-ku7hk]

@@LoveAndSnapple If you believe that all they had to do is keep working hard enough then they would be able to help their parents, so no need for the parents to work, you've missed the point of the movie.

[@LoveAndSnapple]

@@SJ-ku7hk Don’t look for implications and assumptions and look at what I really typed. I meant exactly what I typed. I didn’t say anything like that. They weren't going to become rich and well off like the Park family anytime soon, but you have to let children go, unencumbered so they can save themselves to bring back help. I, myself, have expereinced this where I was chastised for leaving the family home and "abandoning" my family, but I was never going to strive unless I crawled out of the hole and "went to call for help." They've already shown that they were willing to do whatever it takes so realistically may the son would have been gambling on horse races and used his money to help his parents or that the daughter would have married a rich man.

[@mimiwey9014]

If the stone had been real, then Kevin would totally be dead,so literally hope keeps him alive??

[@skeptic8032]

whoa...

[@funofboredom]

Hope keeps us all alive just to suffer.

[@cheruichew1385]

fake hope keeps him alive

[@camilaparedes4182]

It’s the false hope (the rock is fake) that keeps him alive to suffer

[@storm0fnova]

but if the rock had been real, it would have been much heavier and therefore not easily moved around and not easily dropped. maybe the whole story would be different. i've tried to move a large piece of rock before it was 18 kgs and despite being able to curl 20kg for 12 reps, carrying an 18kg rock with both hands was difficult after 2 minutes, now imagine carrying that in the rain to a shelter and to the rich family on foot up all those stairs... he would have had the time to rethink, maybe given up due to its heaviness.

[@Vincent_C]

For a family believing they had nothing to lose, and only to gain. They ended up losing each other.

[@KentMichaelHansen]

My family watched this and we thought it was super relatable, so now I'm applying to be an English tutor, and my sister is studying art therapy, and my mom could be the driver, and my grandma would apply as a housekeeper. Yes, it's all coming together.

[@mikitooo]

Wonder how that's coming along now lol

[@ooin_otaku4282]

5:21 That shot of the "ghost" freaking terrifies me.

[@hollywoodshopaholic]

Same, if I saw that I would have a fucking seizure too

[@wrathybear]

@@hollywoodshopaholic nah, i assume you would be fainted by heart attack

[@prisonmike6886]

@@hollywoodshopaholic I would've straight up projectile-puked if I saw that

[@lrike2250]

The stone may also represent the contribution that the rich give to the poor,it is heavy and useless but somewhat the lower class boy is still fascinated to it

[@guymanperson1]

The stone's value is determined by how people choose to see it. The son saw it as a metaphorical gift, but when he dropped it, the basement guy saw it as a weapon. It's money, a material object with no value in itself. This is like how poor people can view charity money as wicked self-promotion OR actual good will. They can react violently out of distrust.

[@es2903]

Don't forget that it's fake, just like "trickle down" economics. That which the rich claim to give the poor is fake.

[@edcz559]

Parasite deserves the best picture Oscar more than the other nominees this year.

[@exu7325]

Oscar is overrated American circle-jerking event. Parasite *has* received recognition that it's one of the best pictures of the year (if not the decade) from all over the world, it won't change whether it receives an Oscar or not.

[@fzcbh4698]

I agree. I will be mad if "Once Upon Time in Hollywood" will winning the award of best picture as it won the Golden Globe award of best picture 😠😡

[@anthonymartensen3164]

@@fzcbh4698 why? It deserves it

[@fzcbh4698]

@@anthonymartensen3164 For what Seriously?? Making fun on Bruce Lee? Foots fetishes? Showing a girl undershoulder hair? Giving a young actress emotional scene with Hollywood legend(like it is the first time in our life we saw a young person act like that?)? Casting Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Pacino, Kurt Russell,........etc in one film? Cause it doesn't matter if the movie had a great cast and good acting. What the matter is if the movie have a point or sense. But there is no even plot about that film unlike all previous Torantino films. The movie was two hours and 45 minutes, two hours from this movie is about nothing and waste of time and even you can't spoil the film cause there are no spoilers even for first two hours, if you slept one hour or more from the first two hours so you will not miss anything necessary cause everything were unnecessary. I just felt the first two hours is about Tarantino shows the world what Leonardo DiCaprio was looks like if he is acting in 60s films, so the first two hours were just like commercial or a KZbin video about team of Leonardo DiCaprio fanboys and girls who want to imagine what Leonardo DiCaprio looks like in 60s films. The only thing was necessary in film is the last 45 minutes(when Rick Dalton came back to America from Italy with his new Italian wife), from here I felt the movie made a point and shows as the real Tarantino theme, if anyone asked me if this film is a good to watch, so I only will suggestion him to watch only the last 45 minutes and don't wasting his time with the first two hours, cause it is all about to see the alternative time surprise of the real Sharon crime scene, and it is not about to waste your time to see Leonardo DiCaprio stereotyped as 50s and 60s actor. So the movie was mediocre with simple plot that five years old kid would created but without any rude languages, so I gave the film 5.2/10 just because the 60s background and Torantino nailed that style and theme but the story was boring and overratted just because it is Torantino film and had famous actors, and I swear to god if this film was directing by not famous director but he could direct as Torantino and the casts were not famous but they can really act great as how the actors did absolutely in this film, so I am sure that no one would loved and most people will hated and offensive attacked. In the end I gave the film 6.2 or mostly 6.7/10 which mean it is an enjoyable film to watch once just because the last 45 minutes and without that so the film would be mediocre as I said 5.2/10. The acting in this was well done, but the story sucked so bad that the acting didn't matter. I usually love Quentin Tarantino movies but this was absolutely his weakest film and it is still good film but not that great film as like many others of last year that deserve Oscars award for best picture more than it. I don't mind if Leonardo or Brad Pitt will winning the award of best actors or the film itself will winning awards for best costumes design, make up, production design, cinematography, sound mixing and editing. But what I am not okay with that if the film will winning as the best picture and the best original screenplay since the plot was awful, boring and mostly had no point or sense.

[@anthonymartensen3164]

@@fzcbh4698 eesh

[@magyesproductions]

this is the most in-depth and, in my opinion, accurate explanation for parasite i've seen here. well done!

[@user-ey7xe6ms6w]

One fact- It is very expensive to place cremated body in high position in Korea.(some lucky Koreans are randomly assigned high positions). After waking up, Ki woo laughs at the police and doctors. They had a job that did not match their appearance And seeing Ki-jung's high position , he laughs he is looking at someone who is in an unsuitable place and laughs. In other words, he realized that there was a decent place for man, and to escape it was very funny and vain.

[@riyalukose6688]

im pretty sure they also described jessica as pretty as well thus showing that her conventional attractiveness helped her fit into upper class society with ease. especially during the party scene where she is holding the cake with the park family, she looks to be apart of their little bubble. also with the skit of the "native" attacking jessica portraying her as the damsel in distress who is always traditionally a beautiful woman. even right before the party scene where kevin watches all of the Park familys friends outside he mentions how they are all gorgeous and carefree people and how good they look just being outside and having fun

[@butterbubbles5375]

A few things you didn’t mention: 1. The beginning of the film starts with them searching for the WiFi password. I think this is symbolic of their *lack of connections* . They are only able to live comfortably AFTER their only connection links them with the Park’s, and only through their recommendation do they all invade the Park household. It shows that prerequisites and skill isn’t really important, but the link to others is, which is a pretty flawed ideology to me. 2. The protagonist’s friend says he’s “taken the college exams 4 times”. Considering he can’t afford college, it’s implied the protagonist took the college exams in rich people’s place to get them into school, and that’s how his friend was so sure he could teach the Park daughter. 3. Sorry, you made this point but I wrote this before I finished the video. When they leave the Park house, they scurry from under the table, much like cockroaches. This is symbolic of their *lower place in society* and their view as those beneath. 4. In the basement of the Park house, there are some books on the wall. The books are study books for a special Korean exam which is the only one that gives lower class men the instant chance for wealth and social mobility. Only a small percent actually pass the test, and many go insane or even poorer trying to pass the test. It’s implied the original man in the basement failed the test and then lost his business, which is indicative of the false stigma of “hope” for escaping poverty in many countries. 5. You already made this point, but I’ll make it again. To me, the rock being used as the “weapon” which falls down the stairs is an allegory for how *hope is the biggest parasite* . While it gives people the ability to move forward, it is elusive and feeds on their hard work. Their Hope exploits them while never truly giving them a future, much like in the way the rock is seen as a symbol of good luck but is just a false veneer of possibilities. It’s not real, which is why the mother said “You could’ve given us real money” when they were given the rock. 6. The father is the ultimate loser. This is seen first when he has to go through the extreme shame of being under the Park’s table with his kids, them listening to the condescension of the Park’s. Then again, when the mom is throwing the shot-put in the yard. It shows that, if the father where to ever fight the mother, he would be physically weaker than her. Just another sign of his incapabilities. This is further exacerbated by the kids having to get the driving job for the father, not the other way around. 7. Like you said, the Native American motif was a nod to how the Park’s moved into a house already inhabited, forcing the former (and valid) resident to move into the basement. 8. The Park mother seems to be skilled in party planning, the only skill shown of hers in the film. She perhaps was much like her daughter when young; went to college, did well in school, got married, etc... but, because she had no ambition due to her wealth, she channeled it to frivolous and vain activities. This point is quite sad, and also infuriating for those in poverty because the Park mother has the opportunity to act silly when it probably fulfills her very little, and doesn’t really represent a modicum of self satisfaction to her. 9. The daughter of the poor family is shown to be the one only truly *able* to fit in with the rich, and also the only one truly aware of their position. Interestingly, she hides her cigarette addiction (probably due to her knowing it’s too high an expense for her family). Her sitting on the toilet while it’s gushing feces is perhaps the largest indicator she will “go to Heaven”, leaving behind her shît-stained existence. She is the only one able to mimic the rich people with no resentment, and yet she dies because she’s the only one who truly knows there’s no chance. It’s so pitiful and sad, but she didn’t get a future because she knew there was none for her in the first place. 10. The laughing after being hit on the head thing was in reference to the Joker. 11. The son, after seeing the Morse code of the “ghost” asking for help, didn’t do anything. This is perhaps showing that the rich don’t help the poor unless immediately beneficial to them. Also, his paintings were most likely of the ghost, which is why his mother was confused that it was a “self-portrait.” 12. He probably needed discipline, which is why it was so easy for the sister to make him obedient. The Park mother clearly coddled her son and represented the rich mentality of “oh, he’s so talented and intellectual and amazing”, which is why he turned out quite spoiled. 13. Fruit is incredibly rare and hard to afford in Japan/Korea, and the Park’s eating it so casually (while the ex-housekeeper is allergic to a type of fruit) was probably yet another jab at the poor. 14. Keep in mind, while the Park’s are frivolous and condescending, they aren’t mean. It’s showing the rich aren’t just one-sided “evil”. Rather, their naivety and entitlement is what made them unbearable. They can’t help they were born rich, and raised with that mentality. They aren’t bad people. They, like everything else, are almost unknowingly playing into a system they’ve been adjusted to their whole lives. It only takes the truly self-aware and destitute to see the truth of that manipulative social situation. Edit: 15. Them splashing water on the homeless men peeing outside is yet another display of the poor fighting each other and never wanting to be in that “lowest position”. The slow-motion water hosing while the man pees suggests that the human desire to organize each other and *look down upon those lower than us* is one of the biggest reasons that the poor can never restore social balance. If we constantly are looking at those lower than us, it’s hard to look at those above us. 16. Another way the Kim father is shown to be a “loser” is that all the other Kim’s have significant skills. The son is smart and clearly a good teacher. The daughter is smooth, charming, and is proficient in the internet. The mother is a tennis champion and physically strong. The father, however, can only really drive, which in and of itself is a fairly easy skill to acquire. He is the epitome of a loser, which is probably why he’ll never leave the basement; he’s ashamed he can’t care for his family and he couldn’t protect his daughter. That is one of the saddest things of all. 17. An interesting thing I noticed is that the Park’s are emotional parasites as well. The Park daughter is desperate for someone to understand her, hence her feelings for her tutor. Yet she seems entirely oblivious to his emotional needs and only really cares for her own validation in their relationship. The son is in need of a true mother figure and treats the Kim daughter with the respect he craves, the mother is in need of a therapist and unloads her problems frivolously, expecting the Kim’s to listen, and the father is in need of a friend to impose his own ideas of how people should be onto them. While they’re rich, they’re easily gullible and roped into the Kim’s antics precisely *because* their rich life seems so fake-as shown by the Park mother’s drug addiction and constant state of sleepiness. While they do have money, they aren’t shown to necessarily be “happy”, and their need for human connection is one I see often. Customers who overstep boundaries and act like employees are friends or confidants is very common in the service industry, and possibly stems from the false veneer of friendship which is displayed in elite culture. 18. One of the reasons Mr. Kim killed the Park father was because, when the poor man in the basement expressed his love and adoration for Mr. Park, the Park just plugged his nose and grabbed the keys. This moment is symbolic of the film as a whole, because here is a rich man whose beloved for basically doing nothing (which is common for rich men) and he rejects that love because he truly doesn’t care about how he’s helped other people. This is a point I’ve seen often, I think it’s a little bit of a stretch but it is plausible. Certainly, him plugging his nose set the Kim father off, but I doubt the Kim father had much sympathy towards the murderer of his daughter. I think that’s more validating to his belief of what rich people are like towards poor people. 19. To elaborate on Point 7, I think the use of Natives in particular is significant. Natives were very well-known to be equal in societal value for men and women. They were tribes, and although hierarchies did exist the socio-economic climate was much friendlier and more supportive. They were a healthy people, despite fighting amongst tribes. Europe, however, adopted the “advanced” lifestyle of exorbitant economic gaps where the poor were dirt poor and the rich were extremely rich. The Park’s “taking over” the Native lifestyle is perhaps a criticization of the way we view “advanced society”, where Bong entertains the notion that the Native way of cohabiting was much more equivocal, fair, and advanced than our current lives-but simply out of chance they were wiped out. 20. This idea is further explored when the foreign German people moved into the Park house. Although this story is set in Korea, these social and economic problems reverberate all around 1st world countries. 21. These are some points I’ve seen in the comments: the Park’s viewing the rain from their high-up house resembled a television screen, where they could live out their blissful entertainment apart from the tragedies of the flood. 22. The hope rock floated, which was indicative that a) it was hollow (this elaborating on the emptiness/falseness of hope) and b) that’s how the Kim son survived being hit by it.

[@Arcananine77]

Regarding point number 6. I'd argue that the father's low status in the family dynamic is already show in the opening scene since the father and mother are introduced with her yelling at him to get off his ass.

[@monkeyassasins]

I'm curious how when you reference the laughing is in reference to joker, do you mean the film? Because the joker film came out later in the year than Parasite. Ord do you mean joker in general?

[@AndSoWeLaughed]

Awesome analysis. However, Korea (South) not Japan. :) I also didn't think the Park's were mean. The jab at the smell of Mr Kim was low but not mean in my eyes. He was confiding in his wife. But he made sure to stay courteous and still complimented Mr Kim's skills. I also think asking the live-in maid/cook/house mum to do her job (yes bit last minute) that she is paid for is not exactly horrible either. Just entitled. Just like how they let the previous driver go but made sure not to embarrass him (although that could've been their own ego too). I really believed that about the sister too! Your comment was great to read. :D (I also think her sport was Shotput not Tennis.)

[@butterbubbles5375]

Chenoa H. Oh crud, I mean Korea. But yes, in both Korea and Japan fruit is super expensive, which is so odd to me since it’s very cheap in America.

[@Julia-ii6th]

I love all of this and especially your points about Mrs. Park. She was the most interesting character in the film for me

[@nattodaisukii]

Director Bong said in one interview that it will take more than 100 years for the son to earn enough money to buy the house...and that really hit me hard 😫

[@derekhandson351]

546 years

[@L5940]

At that point he should just join a criminal organisation. Make a sequel that comments on how some people are forced into doing criminal activities for money because otherwise they'd stay stuck in poverty forever, mayby have him go to prison and comment on how people get into a cycle of going to prison because they have no other choice.

[@tayduatrinhcoi]

@@L5940 Knowing Bong it'd probably be about how a poor kid joining a crime family only to be killed unceremoniously by another good kid to protect their criminal bosses

[@thaisbehaghel8322]

@@L5940 "No other choice" Lol. Their fate was sealed when they decided to trick a family for their own gain

[@sadietombs5304]

Probably take me that long too, unless i rob a bank

[@devilsadvocate6098]

Just two things I noticed after watching the movie: 1. In this movie, the Park always seen as walking up the stairs while the Kim are usually moving down. This is supposed to symbolize the rich gets richer while the poor gets poorer. in Joker, Arthur the protagonist struggled to move up the stairs when he is burdened by his life. When he's finally snapped/freed, he dances down the stairs even though he has no money, family or loved ones. Seems like moving up the stairs give you more wealth but moving down give you more freedom. 2. 'Hope' is seen as a parasite in this movie. Instead of being a force of pure goodness like many other portrayals, it is treated with a weariness in Parasite. This is almost similar to the myth of Pandora. It shows how hope, while painted as the one thing that gives humankind the strength against evil, is still locked in a prison along with other sorrows and injustice. It's nice to see a more nuance perspective on the effect of hopes and dreams on people.

[@alen7480]

This reminds me of interpretations of Pandora's box where hope is left after all the terrible things are let out. When I first heard it, the teacher explained the symbolism that when things are let out, hope is left in the end. However I heard a really great interpretation that hope is the worst of all the terrible things and that hope being the last thing left in the box is in fact showing that hope is the worst thing you can have.

[@chloekwong3287]

this is great!

[@GiddyPinata]

it's probaby from Mark Manson's book

[@alen7480]

@@GiddyPinata It was in the late 90s, so I doubt it.

[@tiffanypersaud3518]

Alen Combs, that may be true. But I’d like to think that true hope doesn’t come from denying your reality, but acknowledging it and moving forward with what you can do.

[@parkjk2]

I also believe Ki Jung, the daughter, was killed because Bong was making a statement about the place women still hold in society at large. The commentary he's trying to make is that women are often disregarded and forgotten and as a result women suffer the most when there is conflict or struggle. I come to this conclusion because Bong included a few lines where the Park daughter was upset at her mother for not even offering her the leftover Ram-don noodles after Mr. Park and the son both rejected it. Mrs. Park didn't even think to ask the daughter and instead ate it herself. I don't believe Bong left this in the movie as a throwaway. This, along with Ki Jung's death, is Bong's take on where women fit in the larger struggle.

[@netpunk5890]

I thought that scene with the Park daughter was more to demonstrate that she’s just as annoyingly entitled (she could have just walked into the kitchen and asked for some, it’s not like she was imprisoned in her bedroom or the basement, she was clearly aware of everything going on with the food and who it was offered to). She’s a pretty friendly character it seems, and I think you’re right that she is disregarded (you can sense her jealousy when complaining da-song is a fraud), so that scene had to be there more to show that she does have the parasitic streak running through her. Otherwise, I think she would have come across as too wholly likable. But yeah, two women die, and even Mrs Kim, with her medal, was the only one in the family who had any sort of success awarded to her by a panel of “experts”. Her medal was the closest thing any of them had to a diploma. Even a medal casts them as lower class, because it demonstrates they’re good for physical labor (which is typically lower status) as opposed to white-collar types of jobs; the architect gets rich and famous designing homes, but what about all the poorly paid people who actually constructed the things? There’s just so much in this movie.

[@joo7454]

@@netpunk5890 Wasn't this the boy's birthday? I thought this mom simply wanted to make him happy since the camping thing didn't work out for him. When was the athletic achievement considered as physical labor? Isn't the former much promoted amongst women now, to compete with men, and the latter not so much even though 99% brick layers are men? But, don't get me wrong I still love my gf even though she's expert at reading too much into things.

[@Gee-xb7rt]

@@joo7454 Athletic prowess is a way the lower classes can achieve status by entertaining the bourgies, you can mistake a message of diversity in American sports. The Olympics really only exist to entertain the elite, you just get to watch it on tv thanks to charity that isn't really charity, marketers will bombard you with brainwashing tactics to get you to spend if you chose to do so.

[@joo7454]

@@Gee-xb7rt For sure people nowadays are much easily swayed by those brainwashing depending on which group you belong to because of the identity politics.

[@WendywitchWon]

@@joo7454 The fuck kind of logic is that? So what if 99% of brick layers are men? As if women, especially poor women, don't do work. In a disaster, men have a high survival than women. It's men, women, then children last at 18%. Women are usually forgotten in a disaster.

[@bluewater3216]

Someone said If you are the upper class, you can't understand why Ki-taek killed Mr.Park when he saw Mr.Park covered his nose. If you are ordinary people, you can't understand that a house can be flooded. If you are the poor, you feel the whole movie in horror.

[@dalianna1931]

Due to the shot that the film shows us (when they show us the sewage system outside the Park's house when the poor family is leaving it), I assume that it is that the poor family's neighborhood has no sewage system, and obviously that they live in a semi-basement and in a "low" area of the city . Can you explain it better? And I'm sorry if I'm wrong, English isn't my mother language.

[@kani37seo64]

bluewater, that is not true. Upper class, ordinary or poorer somehow get all the experiences along the way in life. Everybody sees someone higher than them and poorer than them. Even Princess Diana, people thought she was like an angel, felt so uncomfortable when she visited old patients in hospitals. The dirty urine smell made her feel disgusted which she never mentioned it in public. Poor people, especially in Korea can have eye shoppings at one of the most expensive shops, malls and hotels. In this movie, Kim's family was a middle class before Ki-taek's bakery business get collapsed by a false statement of media. Everybody doesn't like beggars' dirty smells. It's not only rich people's habit. Rich people can get into a desperate situation and see themselves as misfortuned. One of the facts is that nobody can survive without smelly bowel movements everyday. The queen did go to toilet this morning, so did a poor in Africa.

[@vivianacrisolesutrilla9253]

I am upper class and I understand why he killed him. If you have more, you should help more, that's what I think we have to do, help the less afortune but not to feed ego, to truly help to became better.

[@artificialmermaid9884]

I think the one who is in horror is the rich...

[@issecret1]

And this comment is how I know you're either middle or upper class

[@amyred9652]

This film is the reason why I love films, they’re the perfect opportunity to bring out questions in social problems within our society - as films are a way every person (no matter what hierarchy) come together to watch - connect even, yet still be entertaining and creative for the viewer.

[@adriannaa545]

What I love about Parasite is that the movie is not as black and white as other movies such as US and the other ones that you compared it to. Parasite paints how the working class will trample over each other to reach the heights of families such as the Parks, and that rich and well off families aren't always evil. There is no distinctive line in terms who is right and who is wrong.

[@npcimknot958]

Also , one thing in korean society is that this divide that is very real also created a culture of scamming and cutting corners in order to get out of the lower class. The dad represents a mind set that is very Asian and is explored a lot in kdrama, etc- the father who wants to find means on he,ping his family get out fast ASAP and become rich, however a lot of these parents that do this end up joining scams, ponzu schemes, or doing very immoral things. In turn the ending is also a metaphor of “ sometimes what we think we want for our family actually will punish them as well”. I don’t think anyone is bad in this movie, they are a product of their social status...

[@sp0pie928]

Yeah, even the rock given at the start of the move by the rich friend is fake! During the scene where the house is flooded, the rock is floating in the water. Also, a strong bash to the skull like that would have been fatal if it had been a real rock. I took that to mean even the rich friend's grandfather probably indulged in the scamming and cutting corners in order to bring their family up to the level of wealth that they enjoyed in the film. Also, ponzu scheme? LOL is that citrus-based fraud in asian countries

[@npcimknot958]

sp0pie ponzi sorry hahaha. Oh, I didn’t notice that but ya it would make so much sense. I actually found myself at one of these things (took an odd job) and ya.... scamming is big on all levels...but the scamming and scheme in the rich Arena is next level,

[@reneelasswell3734]

Wow. The racism and elitism in your comment is truly disgusting. Do you have a degree in Eastern sociology or work in the Korean judicial system? Otherwise keep your racism to yourself.

[@vivvy_0]

Renee Lasswell wth

[@npcimknot958]

Renee Lasswell how is it racist when it is factual? The movie points this out.... have you been keeping up with the news and corruption in korea? Do you know how many scandals recently came out ?

[@DaGraphittiX]

Bong has this way with social satires that astonishes you, look what he has done so far: Snowpiecer - Parasite, i gotta keep up

[@DaGraphittiX]

Charla Price I’ll check it out!

[@caracre]

I liked Host yes, because I like monster movies and the father/daughter/grandfather relationship was fantastic, but not Snowpiercer really... It just didn't seem realistic enough.

[@caracre]

@Charla Price Your mini-essay was accurate. In regards to politeness and niceness... the director has this incredible way of making you despise, then feel empathy then detest and love the same character in.a few scenes. How? Even with the Host, the young lazy dad, I despised, but then he was so ridiculed,I felt bad for him, and then in the end, well, you know....

[@caracre]

Charla Price I guess he subtly gets us to see ourselves in these characters when they are doing something deemed good (buy in) because we all want to be the hero, but then he shows us, ‘look what you’re capable of idiot!’ and so we feel empathy because we want to forgive ourself (up on the screen). There’s a method.

[@caracre]

Charla Price I think it’s a human thing more than a personal experience certain people have. Mr. Parks and the lower class family both had the same amount of ugliness to me, although exhibited in different ways. Both unaware of how non virtuous they actually are... The fact that the poor family did not have education and opportunities for wealth was beside the point; they made choices to lie/cheat/kill to profit in the most criminal and brutal of ways with no regard, although they were aware of the plight of the couple in the basement. It made me question, who I want to be in power, dictating the rules and policies of society? Elites, or degenerates that feel entitled without values or integrity? I find these ideas fascinating...

[@adriana1dricks]

An additional point is how the lower classes had a chance to cooperate (hey sister...) but decided differently (you are not my sister). Once one had a slight advantage, they chose loyalty to upper classes (maybe in hope of becoming wealthy as well).

[@LoveAndSnapple]

To me, it reminds me of how on social media people will be defending billionaires and those that have significantly more money than them as if they’re in the same financial tax bracket. The idea that a lot of average people get into their mind that they are “temporarily embarrassed billionaires“ just waiting to come into their first million and stop living amongst us common folk. I mean, she ran into someone who was scamming her way upwords but was in a lower position than her but couldn’t see the humility in helping someone that was lower. They got it into their minds that while they while the Parks were away they had claimed the house as their own. Making fanatical plans about marrying the Parks daughter and becoming in-laws so they can live in the house officially. They thought they could just infiltrate their lives as members of the family when the housekeeper herself was loyal to their family for four years and they cast her out with no hesitation. No class solidarity whatsoever.

[@valentinareis4481]

The most amazing thing - of many - about this film imo is that, while everyone keeps trying to figure out “who the real Parasite is”, the story itself shows that everyone is a parasite in their own way.

[@Molimo95]

There are films i like more personally, but i truly think that this is the most important one of the century.

[@bbs7403]

No

[@jeremybeau8334]

This film Will/is change(ing) the world forever...

[@THEOsu-bu1sy]

Jeremy Beau lol no

[@Eira436]

@@jeremybeau8334 sadly nothing will change. Greed is hard-wired into all of us.

[@scifinerd17]

The reason why Mr. Kim killed Mr. Park was because of Kim’s smell. Park covered his nose as he was grabbing the keys. Kim was always gonna be viewed as someone poor, someone beneath everybody else unable to be a provider because of that smell he can never get off. He was fed up of Park’s condescension and put an end to him.

[@201stars]

scifinerd17 which is sad, they spent parts of the movie fighting the other family, and the realization that the Parks views them just the same.

[@yeetrootthebeetroot3872]

not just the smell. It was also kinda because his daughter was bleeding out and fucking dying but mr.park didn't care and wanted mr. kim to drive his son to hospital when there was literally nothing wrong with him. Another comment said it better idk

[@scifinerd17]

Yeetroot the Beetroot He killed Mr. Park because when Mr. Park rolled over Geun-sae’s dead body to grab the car keys, he was covering his nose. It reminded Kim about the way they described his smell. He thought that Mr. Park viewed him the same as Geun-sae, a low-life nobody who can’t provide for his loved ones.

[@abimon76]

"Mr. Kim realises that the money that Mr. Park has been giving him will never change anything, so he goes for the head of this toxic hierarchy and stabs Mr. Park. But there are endless other rich families to take over this house next. Though the players change, the play remains the same." -from this video The money Mr. Park gives Mr. Kim will not allow Mr. Kim to rise above and join the higher classes. It's useless and it's false hope, just like that Scholar Stone.

[@mindyours316]

@@yeetrootthebeetroot3872 If his daughter was bleeding out why did he expect another man to care more for her than he did? He left to her to die and Mr parks didn't even know that was his daughter

[@looney1023]

I had another interpretation of Ki-Jung's death. Her job is to help alleviate the son's trauma through art therapy, the trauma brought on by the "ghost" in the basement. Throughout the film, she is lying and deceiving them; she is the only one working for the family that isn't actually helping the family, and is only leeching off them. She has not gotten rid of the ghost. Her punishment is the ghost stabbing her, and Da-Song's need for medical attention, which she was supposed to cure, seals her fate.

[@owenbunny4023]

wow dark but ttrue

[@carolineb1192]

But she did help him though? He was way more behaved thanks to her. She was canalizing his energy into art.

[@fairfight9857]

Very good one.

[@yunase]

it's more like the ghost was looking to kill any bourgeois at the party after coming out of the basement. Ki-Jung happened to be mistaken as one of the "rich women" in the party and was unlucky to be the first one since she was holding the cake for the kid (she could be the mom). There's a symbolic meaning as she finally look like a "posh" rich women then got killed by another "poor" social class person. Then there's also your interpretation where she did not believe there was a ghost, then a ghost eventually killed her, punishing her for being so carefree. There's so many layers to interpret, which make this movie fascinating.

[@Sarablueunicorn]

She was good. When kiwoo knows about the kid's behaviour problems he suddenly remembers of someone who is "really good with kids" then he starts to forfeit the other qualifications. The truth is that the girl actually understands a bit of art (she's a photoshop pro) and she's naturally good with kids, that's her real skill. Thats why the kid improves so much while a very affectionate Jessica is shown with even having the kid on her lap while he's drawing.

[@adriannaa545]

"who is the true parasite" That is a trick question, because the director himself said, the movie should have been called "parasite(s)" That only highlights how both the rich and the poor can be parasites and leech off one another.

[@islagreenburg1145]

parasite on this channel is why i am living right now

[@nickcherries]

Love that ending, the fantasy of upward mobility under capitalism is crushed

[@xn7276]

@Typed Scroll the system in Germany works great by what you tell, but unfortunately that's not the reality for most of us :( in my country, poorer people usually can't afford to invest money/time/energy on something better for the future, because they need water, food and shelther at the present time and with urgency... and also developed countries even to this day explore 3rd world countries, so maybe german citizens are not at the bottom of society, but someone else surely is

[@cathrinb4425]

yes you can go to university with not many restrictions, but only few and mostly only those with rich families can afford to support their child going to university. you have to pay the semester fee of around a month’s rent worth, you have to be able to pay rent, you have to buy books and other supplies. so either you have parents who can pay for all of that or you take on a job while studying which either ends in burnout or having to study much longer. only 24% of working class teenagers go to university and even fewer can afford to finish university. the german school system is not a good one.

[@owenbunny4023]

he might do it if he was not half disabled. if he could find a good teacher. but by the time, his dad will die from old age

[@nickcherries]

Owen Bunny was that supposed to be coherent

[@owenbunny4023]

@Typed Scroll full commieunism leads to lazy workers and starving full capitalism leads to cutthroat tactics and oppresion. we all need a mixer of both, deoends on the situation of each countries

[@Toshimi1043]

The difference in who gets hit harder with trauma is a good point. I realized it even among myself and my girlfriend when we watched it. I grew up with quite a lot of privilege, so I had a good time watching the movie and analyzing its social commentary. But my girlfriend grew up poor, so the flooding scene was painful for her because it brought up her very real fears. I had an emotional distance from the hard-hitting stuff in the film that she didn't have because of the difference in how we lived. Of course I felt sad for the Kims, but it didn't strike a raw nerve with me to the extent that it did for her.

[@simonmccross16]

I think at the end the Park family also lost their privileges. As far as we know Mr. Park was the main breadwinner of the family. Considering how dumb the mother his and the age of the children it will be matter of time for them to lose significant amount of their fortune. They will probably fall down to upper middle or middle class by the time daughter graduates college. So in an irony, not only Parks did lose their father but also ended up becoming closer with the people they try to draw line apart so much. Had Parks been less ignorant of people lower than them in socioeconomic standards they would not have lost theirs as well

[@kiwimaracuia9834]

I think that is wishful thinking, considering that they are well connected (not only by having Wi-Fi even in the sub basement).

[@elise2955]

Just a quick correction - the park family couldn't be upper class as only royalty can be upper class. They'd probably fall from upper middle class to lower middle class. Good inference though

[@afroditesis4738]

Simon McCross Well there is a thing called life insurance. And also one of the children would inherit the company.

[@lisamoon2919]

The mother probably comes from a rich family herself considering how ditzy she is

[@abimon76]

honestly i don't think it would have been that easy. even then, the Kim father killing the Park father wouldn't have done anything. rich families will stay rich. poor families will just keep switching basements

[@AnnySoprano]

Is interesting how this channel and Insider interpret the stone meaning when the protagonist go to the basement with it Remember how he got the stone, his richer friend gave it to him to have better luck and a better future and it actually worked He was trying to do the same with the man in the basement, it wasn't a weapon

[@natalielatta6552]

He was trying to make things right

[@swanstep]

In Bong's script the stone isn't dropped, instead Ki-Woo raises it over Mun-Kwang's head to strike but can't bring himself to do it (just as Kun-Sae slips his noose over Ki-Woo's head). How Bong ended up shooting the scene introduces more ambiguity about what Ki-Woo's doing... but really it makes most sense to think of the scene *as filmed* as having Ki-Woo's second thoughts & humanity kick in a little earlier (i.e., after he dropped the stone) *not* as eliminating his murderous intentions altogether. Ki-Woo's actor has said some things in interviews that have confused this issue I'm afraid.

[@madhuridilipkumar1017]

Lol ann

[@AmitKumar-xw5gp]

Nice explanation. Didn't think earlier in this fashion, but after reading your view, it seems more plausible.

[@AzizRahmad]

This is my thought when I watched the movie as well. Why would he bring the heavy stone all the way to Park's house just to kill someone when they got knives in the kitchen.

[@st.jude3181]

Social indifference is the biggest threat to our human survival.

[@Emy-fv5ny]

This movie is exellent. It talks about issues of today world, things that not everybody has the corage to talk about. The distance between rich and poor it's so huge that one side has no idea or considerations towards the other side. It's just sad.

[@basselwehbe8412]

Also, when Mr park is telling him to drive the son to the emergency room he expects them to leave behind someone who is dying because a rich child is having a seizure, which is horrible a child having a seizure is horrible but they expect them to leave someone who is dying just because they are poor which refects on when a rich person is even slightly hurt it's the end of the world but when a poor person is dying they are expected to be left to die just like when a celebrity is even slightly hurt people cry and cry while there are people starving every day but just because they are in a third world country it doesn't matter. Edit:on top of that when he is picking up the keys he plugs his nose as if the stench of poor is more important than his own child having a seizure

[@byakugan2173]

You mean to say that a father show more concern for his young kid than his employee? Do you think it's the money he earned that corrupted him so badly?

[@axxeNadZ]

I just realized the lights that turns on everytime Mr. Park comes home from work kinda look like halo and remind me of how when billionaires do charity work they get worshipped because of the huge number while it's actually just the bare minimum for them while they have the ability to actually help the guy in the basement get a dignified life, which reiterates Bong's words about the lines. I think i've seen every analysis of this movie on youtube and i love the comparison movies you mentioned here and excited to check them out. Also i keep thinking about the introduction(?) scene for Mrs. Park when she's asleep on the table and had to have the housekeeper wake her up since it's really stuck with me but no one ever *really* explained it...maybe that's to emphasize how oblivious she is? It's kind of a vicious cycle of how she keeps this behavior➡️have distance with her kids➡️constantly needing help from other people to fill those gaps. Maybe the parallel with Mr. Park is with how he still insists on having a driver despite how much he dislikes Mr. Kim's smell. Also i really love the take about Kijeong. I never really thought how she's probably the most gifted out of the Kims, i just thought the movie started with Kiwoo so it was just fitting that he would do the epilogue. One last thing the actress for the first housekeeper deserves some spotlight too!!! I think everybody did an amazing job but i've only seen the 2 families on the red carpet and events but she needs to like, accept the oscar or something lol (which i'm sure they'll definitely get AT LEAST one)

[@mikehawk9773]

This movie is told ENTIRELY in metaphors... and that’s why it’s a masterpiece

[@Kleeeenex1]

Additionally, i think the main reason Ki Jeong dies is not because she was close to fitting in with the upper class, but because she was selfish in that approach. When the family was drinking and feeling sympathy for the individuals they replaced , wondering if the taxi driver got a new job. Ki Jeong suddenly yelled in anger , "why think about them? Think about me! We're the ones that need help!" The thunder also symbolizes the destruction/power in that very sentence.

[@Wayne_Robinson]

"It all gets ironed out. Money is an iron." Let's see who is most affected by the current pandemic where huge segments of the population (restaurant and craft brewery staff, musicians, non-essential retail clerks etc.) are unable to work for months. Many of them won't be able to simply iron out this wrinkle.

[@rajanmainali3696]

"They say a ghost in the house brings hope" , also the poor man living in the basement is described as ghost by the son of rich family. This may mean that rich people wealth is created by the brutal labor of poor in the capitalist society.

[@shoto1338]

Mind blown

[@abimon76]

the correct line is "a ghost in the house brings wealth". so literally the wealth of the rich is created by the brute labor of the "ghosts" (described as ghosts because rich people constantly want to pretend they don't exist) in the basement (lower classes). you're completely right

[@ladymoe5395]

i, too, smoke cigarettes to cope with my overflowing toilet of a life

[@deborah8056]

I noticed the way the boss repulsed from the smell from the guy who died even though he's been living in the house the whole time. i think it goes to show that it was just the smell of poverty. It had nothing to do with how their house or the subway smelt like.

[@tayduatrinhcoi]

He lived in a sub-basement where it's very damp and had limited access to hygiene care so I think it makes sense.

[@verakatleta]

their house and subway and everything else about them was the poverty hence it was the smell of poverty

[@deborah8056]

@@tayduatrinhcoi but even later the family tried to use perfumes and soaps to get rid of th smell but they still complained of a foul smell.

[@kcheung678]

One thing that really stuck with me was the scene at the beginning, when they were folding pizza boxes, and the father says to leave the window open in order to have a "free bug extermination". Essentially to me this represented the fact that they, too, are parasites, and are responsible for their own exterminations, as they dug their own holes once they let the old housekeeper in. OH and the fact that the father wanted the windows left open, it also lead to their house being flooded due to the rain

[@brendaluv2017]

this gives me both depression and anxiety on the part where the lower class can't move up the latter and it'll just curse them into getting lower. it also makes me wonder about our reality if that is true. if it is what would that mean for my career?

[@exu7325]

If it gives you depression and anxiety, then you already know whether it's true or not. You've answered your own question.

[@instantregret7858]

My personal solution is to just learn to be happy with your position in life but still strive to keep going. Telling yourself you can only be happy when youre at the top is going to end you in dissappointment because for most people life is just a continuous journey upwards

[@L5940]

Well it'll just mean that rich people won't ever do a favour for you due to lack of connections with them and it'll be much harder to find real succes. Rich people are usually not very humane though (they are sometimes naive but more often cruel) so it's not like you miss out on good friendships. We just have to work our jobs so that the rich can have their fun, that's the way the world works.

[@munfgunrj4324]

Brenda Cervantes kill the rich

[@vampr3751]

Munf Gunrj Nah, EAT the rich 😌💅

[@ajiththomas2465]

One of my favorite KZbinrs talking about one of my most favorite film of 2019, that I'm rooting for to win the Oscar for Best Picture. We're truly living in the best timeline.

[@akshada01akki]

Your comment gave me tears of joy. My exact thoughts.

[@ajiththomas2465]

@@akshada01akki If you'd like some other great Parasite analysis videos, then check out the ones from these following creators as well: Nerdwriter1 Intercut Accented Cinema Spikima Movies Flick Fanatics All of those videos are great as well when it comes to analyzing Parasite and I think it will really enhance your experience, understanding, and enjoyment/appreciation of Parasite.

[@akshada01akki]

@@ajiththomas2465 thanks!I've already seen them! I follow most for the channels listed here. Good to know more people appreciate them.

[@susiesuh1418]

So what happens to the widow Mrs. Park? Will she learn that her husband’s business was drowning in debt? She has to sell everything and go to work in a pizza parlor because she has no skills. It is very difficult to rise in class but it can take a second to drop.

[@schadenfreudeegoism7485]

She inherited money plus she will marry a rich husband since she has a good network and is still pretty

[@alanaigbe7040]

I always love The Take. This was a thorough analysis, and mentions some symbolism that I missed. I wanted to add a few things. Brace yourself, it's long: 1. The scholar's stone being a symbol of hope [it was so metaphorical] is such an important symbol about Ki-Woo's unrelenting belief that he is meant for something greater. In the scene where he is about to leave home to go on his interview, he stands in front of his mother. She is polishing and cleaning the stone while he verbalizes his first hopeful dream; that the documents in his hands are only false now, but in the next year, he WILL attend the university. I think it's important that we see the stone with his mother. It symbolizes that his hope and his faith [from the start] are not in his hands. I think she was the only other person to hold the stone. I forgot. 2. I think that scene is also significant in another way. Choong-Sook is polishing the stone. It's a gift from someone else. Something worth taking care of. The stone is a symbol of something to aspire to. By the end of the film, she is seen polishing a small side table. This is now a symbol that she is aware of "her place", and painfully aware of all that she has left. It's like someone commented earlier about the regression of Ki-Wook with the opening scene of him holding the phone high, and then reduced to clutching a paper-while in fetal position- in the final scene. [Also, Choong-Sook scrubbing the stone and then the table were the only bits of housework we see her doing. At the Park's home all of her housework duties are linked to food/cooking.] 3. I agree with what you said about Ki-Jeong's death, but I think it's also more than that. I think it has something to do with what she shared with her father. When the Kim family is getting drunk, Ki-Taek is the first to bring up the former driver. He hoped that Yoon had found a better job. Ki-Jeong cuts him off and says that instead of worrying about other people, he needed to worry about his own family. But after what happens when they find the former housekeeper and her husband, Ki-Jeong seems to be the most considerate. Ki-Wook considered killing them with a rock, Ki-Taek had no plan, and Choong-Sook was busy working. Ki-Jeong is the only one to ask to speak to them and to negotiate; worrying about herself, but also worrying about the captives in the basement. To me, it felt like she not only fit into the Park's society, but she could likely dismantle it. She is the most "disruptive" force when it comes to the symbolism of the social hierarchic ladder. Her conscience could have likely come into play in a way that if she did ever climb the social ladder, she would not only bring people up the ladder with her, but she would break the rules of that class. A rich rebel willing to help the lower class and be willing to negotiate and meet them where they are? We can't have that, can we? 4. Adding onto all of my points. Ki-Woo and Choong-Sook are the only ones who held the stone for a long period of time, and look where fate led them. Ki-Taek and Ki-Jeong considered the other people within their class; mentioning them and seeing beyond themselves. And look how they ended up.

[@ayushprasad6159]

When Ki-Jung said, "Why can't we focus on me?", I related to that. You do want your actions to have no negative consequences on others, but you know they do, but you can only ignore them to escape from the guilt.

[@elise-uz5bb]

At the end of the movie, the father is hidding in the basement, in order to escape prison. But when we see it, it seems like he is already in a material cell : locked in this small room, unable to see the daylight, and almost starving himself. So this feeling of liberty, that we assimilate to (only) being out of prison, is totally false. This literally shows that him and he fellows are trapped in this invisible cell of "non" wealthiness. I am assuming (it's only my opinion), that what he tries to explain to us that the lower and upper classes beneficiate of the same laws, but at the end, the only people touched by it are the lower classes. And it's almost like the rules where directed towards the poors without telling it frankly. (i hope u understand, english isn't my first language, so...)

[@zakiyaallouche6241]

why didn't the father just go to prison though isn't prison better than living a life in the basement until he dies?

[@sophie7780]

when i watched parasite i didn't quite understand dasong's love of native americans and why bong made that choice. now i see it was another genius move. there's always something new and fascinating to discover in this movie

[@MsGore92]

I've seen this video many times, and I finally noticed another detail. Mr. Park demands that Mr. Kim drive him to the hospital and pays no attention to the chaos around him. So very symbolic of the safety the rich feel. Everyone else at the party is running around looking for safety, the Kim family is doing the same, while Mr. Park who is concerned for his son very efficiently rolls over a poor man's dead body to grab the keys and has time/impulse to pinch his nose. Not for one second does he think he'll get hurt.

[@everythingisawesome2903]

*Parasite movie gave us a lesson that no matter if someone is rich or poor, both people are full of ego and greed. Rich people looking down on poor people and poor people looking down on other poor people and think that in some ways, they're better than them. It taught us that whether you're rich or poor, both type of people have the same filth, the only difference is atleast, rich people can afford to cover it.* 😌

[@Anskurshaikh]

And we should just go on with our sad existence and preserve the status quo, don't even think of maybe changing the system a bit.

[@LoveYoutube12418]

Very good

[@BriarPatchNyra]

Careful now, you're suggesting the poor family isn't totally innocent, which was OBVIOUSLY the message of the movie according to some of these comments.

[@laisfrederick5470]

I think that for poor family is more of survival than greed

[@BriarPatchNyra]

@@laisfrederick5470 If they'd been on the street they'd be about survival. They had shelter (not a great one, but shelter), food (we see them eating before the Parks ever hire them, they def aren't starving) and even wifi, stolen wifi, but nonetheless. They wanted ease of mind, comfort. That is greed, not inherently horrible, most of us have that urge, but it is greed. (And their methods for going about it ARE horrible).

[@saraarmijoprudencio6890]

I don’t particularly agree with the statement that Kiwoo took the stone to the bunker with the intention of doing something sinister, instead I think both him and his sister were trying to appease the couple with gifts Her when she tried to bring them food, and him by bringing the stone, something that was supposed to be a good luck charm, if he had wanted to hurt them he could have easily brought a knife with him not the stone Additionally in the same interview that Choi Woo Shik (the actor who plays Kiwoo) gave to Vulture, the interview you guys quoted, he said that Kiwoo took the stone as a gift to the couple, not being aware that the wife had died already, if anything he was hoping to come to an agreement with them, to make peace

[@shou_191]

honestly I didn't think like that when I was watching the film, I really thought he wanted to kill the man with the stone, but now I realize that wouldn't make any sense, your explanation is more logic

[@pindaenbeer]

It's even sadder because giving away the stone implies he thinks he has "made it" only to soon realize when the stone slips from his hands that he was never even close.

[@mcnooj82]

He was absolutely going to use it to kill the guy. Not to be sinister, but to survive. It's the read that makes thematic sense with the rest of the film. The sister wanted to appease. The brother approached those stairs like he was about to do something drastic and terrible. He was obsessed with the metaphor of the stone. He's not gonna use the knife. It has no metaphorical power to him. The stone is the symbol of HIS family's prosperity which the poorer couple threatens.

[@saraarmijoprudencio6890]

Nooj Ok, I hear you, when I saw the movie I had that same impression, but are we sure that those aren’t just our preconceptions of how a movie ending should be? Like I grew up with American movies with guns and stuff so for me Kiwoo going there to kill the couple felt like the only possible explanation, but let’s go to the facts in the movie: - Kiwoo drops the stone and instead of going back and getting his father help or finding a knife he went down anyways (despite not having his supposed gun) - After finding the former housekeeper on the floor he tried to see if she was okay or if she needed help (had he decided to kill her that would be unlikely) - At the end of the movie he realized that the stone that he had cherished so much (and that he thought of as a wonderful gift) was probably to blame for his family suffering so he got rid of it

[@mcnooj82]

@@saraarmijoprudencio6890 In most cases, I'd agree about having different reads of a movie no problem. (because in general, lots of movies are desperately trying to go for ambiguity to get people talking) But in a movie where Bong Joon Ho is actively NOT wanting to go for ambiguity (surefire kill), it makes little thematic sense (the poor vs the poorer) to make the brother go down so cryptically as he holds that stone so tight. The movie presents it almost like a death march. Dropping the stone? It's a moment of clumsy desperation during which he's in no position to go back up and ask his dad for help and a knife. Each one of his family members are busy maintaining a lie. When he finds the housekeeper? I'm pretty sure he had no idea his mother had kicked her down and essentially killed her. His dad said nothing about it. The sister had no idea, likely thinking that the two were simply tied up down there. Nothing about the visual storytelling indicates that he was going down there with the stone as a peace offering. Sure, I grew up with American AND Korean movies that were violent... but also lots of American and Korean movies about people trying to do the right thing. The brother was not trying to do the right thing. Him being brain damaged by the very rock he was about to use to murder someone for his family's survival is an ultimate irony. I absolutely know that this won't change your mind. Entrenchment and all. Just making my case because that's what I enjoy doing.

[@greathelmm]

Movie is excellent but I really don't want to watch it again. I was uncomfortable watching it the first time. I think I subconsciously realized that I'm living in a half-basement.

[@Centinelle]

At first, when I didn’t understand what was the real topic of this movie, I was like “I would totally watch this again”. After I did my research of the meaning, I regret watching it😭😭

[@blaquefaerie8201]

Wow

[@fzcbh4698]

In the end, the son now lives with his mom and laughs without a reason. And the father in the basement for a while. Sound like "Parasite", "Joker" and "Us" are connected to each others xD

[@jhacello11]

And the son was given an "uncut gem" that didn't actually improve his life whatsoever despite the value he placed upon it.

[@valentina5885]

and Knives Out, and Ready or Not, and Hustlers

[@fzcbh4698]

@@jhacello11 I didn't get that until I watched the film last week and yes you are absolutely right.

[@fzcbh4698]

@@valentina5885 That's right but why Ready or Not? I also noticed that Parasite represented "Jojo Rabbit" and "The Intruder".

[@valentina5885]

@@fzcbh4698 because, like Knives Out, it's about a horrible rich family manipulating an innocent young woman

[@BriarPatchNyra]

PSA for everyone here who seems to have forgotten. The kid did not "pass out" he was having a potentially lethal seizure at the end of the movie.

[@claudiarey699]

I know it's not stated really, but my guess is the kid had Epilepsy. The incident a year ago chained it and he got diagnosed. I have an aunt with Epilepsy, and if as an adult the seizures leave her ill I don't want to imagine what they can do to a kid of Dai-Song's age.

[@byakugan2173]

People in the comments excusing any and all behavior of the Kim family just because they are poor, is legit frightening. What did they rich family actually do that was reproachable?

[@letmegetuhhh3959]

@@byakugan2173 it wasn't about them being bad necessarily just ignorant and entitled. A woman was bleeding out, stabbed at their party and they paid no mind, the crowd of upper class people at no point attempted to help. I understand his kid was a higher priority for him but there was no attempt to help both and even tried to get the father to leave her to drive them. Throughout the movie the rich dad draws a big line and doesn't want then to cross it if it inconveniences him. He doesn't see them as equals.

[@cinematicfilm6559]

I bet every rich family checked their basement after the scene of finding basement guy.

[@pdzombie1906]

Awesome analysis, girls!!! I just want to point out a couple of details you didn't cover: 1) The last name of both families is the most common in South Korea (Kim, Park), the director is truly speaking about his entire society. 2) Both family houses were created and designed from scratch by the director to carry the film's themes as you perfectly explained them. 3) English language and american references are an indictment of U.S. legacy and influence over korean culture (also exemplified in Ho's 'The Host' where chemical waste from a U.S. military base breeds a monster in Seul's Han river). Thanx!!! LuvU, bye, bye....

[@priboltao]

I literally just watched this movie and came here to this video even if I did understand most of the subtleties because I was so shocked I needed to hear someone dissect this movie for a moment... And I'm glad I did cause there was a lot I kind of... not missed, but didn't pay enough attention. I noticed the stairs, but I couldn't really put it on words. I also was hung up on the contrast of enclosed spaces/open spaces, and I noticed A LOT of the color scheme. But this video helped me too cause I was thinking too, "why Ki-jung?" and now I realized how much of her "trajectory" is in colors. The poor are often seen wearing darker colors and the rich people, lighter colors. When Ki-Jung presents herself as Jessica, she's wearing full black. A lot of the time, when the poor people get to wear lighter tones, it's only when they are doing some sort of service, and the rich never wear darker tones, as a general rule (Da-Hye and her mom, specially, seem to only wear white) Then, when Ki-Jung comes out with the cake, she is wearing a flowery white dress, very similar to the clothing the women in the Park family wear. To me it seems like a symbol of her being as close to the top as she can. And, as some sort of "cosmic punishment", she is immediately stabbed, covering the white dress, the symbol of her ascension, in red. Idk how I'm going to sleep after this movie. Geez.

[@tiffanypersaud3518]

Priscila Boltão, I’m not asleep yet myself and I watched it this evening with my family. There is so much to dissect here and I’m grateful for the movie. That’s a nice detail you caught that I didn’t even realize. The thing that didn’t fit for me is why the daughter had to die. It’s like a kick in the face to know her place, as she seemed the most likely to manipulate people or the system in order to get ahead. Yet the son got two blows to the head and still came out of it. Maybe more will come to me after I digest it a bit more.

[@Valecto]

You're right about the colours. There is a logical element to it: dark colours hide the stains while white reveals them. If you are a hard worker in a dirty environment, you need to wear dark colours while the rich Park family doesn't. I have old photos of my grandmother wearing white gloves. They served no purpose other than to show she never needed to touch anything dirty.

[@Chandasouk]

Woo, I cant wait for this to wide release so I can catch it again. Even though I dont speak korean, the translated jokes and comedic beats still landed to me. Towards the halfway point, the movie turns into a suspense thriller. This movie is similar to Us from Peele but I think I like Parasite better.

[@ano898]

Chandasouk the film is on Amazon prime

[@Chandasouk]

@@ano898 Ah, I wish I still had it. Thanks for the heads up. I really wanna catch it on the big screen too!

[@bncbcbbc31]

2019 was a damn good year for movies: Parasite The Lighthouse Marriage Story Portrait Of A Lady On Fire just to name a few there is so many more

[@bella-tt9hk]

oh i agree! The Nightingale was a great one too!

[@chinbrows6245]

the farewell too

[@santoshadi8563]

where is once upon a time in hollywood ?

[@fzcbh4698]

For me it was a mixed year since there are still many bad films and not great as 2012, 2014, 2017 and maybe some others years of the decade but I believe 2019 films was better than 2018 and even 2015 and 2016. For fact the Marriage Story is a rip off from "Kramer vs Kramer" and I don't know how no one noticed that.

[@guymud4500]

Joker

[@mikeyjamieson4715]

One thing I liked was that the Park daughter rescued the Kim son and clearly took him to a hospital. The fact that the rich daughter genuinely seemed to care about the poor son enough to save him, implies that the younger generation has the chance to break the exploitative cycle. That's at least my view.