Parasite: An outlandish look into a real problem

Parasite, a dark comedy thriller, premiered first in 2019 at the Cannes Film Festival, where it became the first South Korean movie to win the Palme d'Or, the highest-ranking prize. It also won "Best Director," "Best Screenplay," and "Best Foreign Language Film." Directed by Bong Joon-ho and co-written with Han Jin-won, it is a film that centers around class consciousness, wealth disparity, and inequality as a result.

Despite the major themes seemingly being received well and understood, the Seoul Tourism Organization was criticized for making a tourist route for people to tour filming locations. This defeats the purpose of the film, using the low-income neighborhoods as an attraction for people to gawk at further exploits those actually in that situation. The president of the pig market featured in the film commented, "It is an honor for our store to appear in Parasite, but it makes no sense to make it a tourist attraction" (Kim, Hyeon). Most residents question this decision, noting that the government cares more about the tourists than the people living in that area.

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Though some of the content of the film, including the ending, are fairly outlandish the living situation of the Kim family is a real situation for many. The Organization for Economic Cooperation's "Economic Surveys," discusses the issues that South Korea is facing economically and provides some solutions that may resolve these issues. Some of the issues include employment, social cohesion, and the environment. As of 2016, "the limited take-up of maternity and parental leave and the availability of high-quality childcare," hinders the employment of women (OECD). By taking such breaks, the wage gap between women and men is widened. The employment rate of youth ages 15-29 is also low, the lowest in the OECD. On the other hand, those ages 50-64 who already hold jobs, are pushed out early due to competition with younger workers who may have more skills. This in turn, forces older workers into seasonal jobs (anything they can get) or self-employment.

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Fortunately, the relative poverty rate of senior citizens has been declining but it is still the highest out of the age groups among members of the OECD. The relative poverty rate, or "the percentage of people living with an income below 50 percent of the median income," of those aged 66 and older was at 40.4% in 2020, which is down from the previous year which was 43.2% (Yonhap). Compared to those aged 18-65, their relative poverty rate is 3.7 times higher.

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One of the more disheartening residencies in Seoul is the Guryong Village, the last remaining slum in the capital city. Formed in the 80's after people were forced out of their homes during redevelopment for the Olympics, this village sits six lanes of traffic from Seoul's wealthiest district, Gangnam.

The government has offered to buy the land for about $383 million, though Lim Moo-lyul, leader of the Guryong Landlord Association demands more for the undervalued property. He wants at least $18,000 per 3.3 square meters, which is four times their offer but still 30% less than the price for an apartment in the Gangnam district. Landlords and residents of the village would like the government to allow development of the land, for a better suited life. Lim says, "The government should really take its hands off from this project...they've done nothing over the past decades. They should give us the rights to develop the area, as how it should be done in any democratic country" (Lee). This is all in response to the government's bid to replace the village with public housing, likely displacing the residents for a second time.

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Soohyun Kim, a former resident of the Guryong Village, visited again in 2015, taking pictures along the way. He visited for the purpose of providing photographic services, such as passport photos, but also to bring attention to the living situation of many people including his family. Give his post a try, it is a quick read but the personal nature of it is evident.

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Parasite is a great film that can give you a look at how some people in South Korea really live. After the film was released and tourist attractions were made near people's actual homes, the government of Seoul offered prioritization for the around 1,500 families living in the basement type homes that the Kim family lived in. Though it is a nice start, the issue is a much larger one than that. Low-income families are still being exploited by turning their actual residencies into an attraction for people, who are likely not low-income, to take pictures of their town. More needs to be done for those who are living in poverty or who are searching for jobs without any luck. Hollywood is great at creating movies depicting hardships and turning those hardships into an aesthetic, rather than listening to the actual problem.

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Kim, Hyeon-jongbell. “기생충 촬영 돼지슈퍼 동네 ‘가난구경났나요.’” 한국일보, 18 Feb. 2020, https://www.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/202002152060093417.

Kim, Soohyun. “Guryong Village in Seoul.” PhMuseum, 2014, https://phmuseum.com/thekimsoohyun/story/guryong-village-in-seoul-1d1956bb9e.

Lee, Jeong-ho. “The Slum Next Door to Gangnam Exposes South Korea's Wealth Gap .” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 17 Dec. 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-17/seoul-slum-near-gangnam-guryong-exposes-south-korea-wealth-gap.

OECD Economic Surveys Korea. 2016, https://www.oecd.org/economy/surveys/Korea-2016-OECD-economic-survey-overview.pdf.

“Parasite (2019 Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Apr. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite_(2019_film)#Spin-off_television_series.

Yonhap. “S. Korea's Senior Citizens Suffer High Rate of Relative Poverty: Report.” The Korea Herald, The Korea Herald, 6 Apr. 2022, http://news.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220406000560&np=4&mp=1.