Analysis of Social Class and Deception in the Movie Parasite (2019)

This essay provides an analysis of the film "Parasite" directed by Bong Joon Ho, focusing on the portrayal of social inequality, lies, and fraud. The essay examines how the movie highlights the stark differences between the rich and the poor, illustrating how the working class is forced to compete for survival while the wealthy enjoy comfortable lives. It delves into the Kim family's infiltration of the Park household, exploring the lies and deceptions they employ to gain employment and a better life. The analysis examines the consequences of these actions, emphasizing the importance of verification in hiring and the troubles that arise from dishonesty. The essay concludes by reiterating the thesis that social inequality leads to lie and fraud, recommending that individuals avoid lying and employers conduct thorough verification processes. The essay uses examples from the movie to support its claims, referencing specific scenes and character actions to illustrate the themes of social class and deception. The essay also includes a list of references used.

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04 March 2020
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A parasite is that organism that lives within other creatures and retrieves all its benefits at
others’ expense. The current social issue based film Parasite (2019) is considered worth
reading because the filmmaker and actors have depicted the social classes that existed in our
society in a very apt manner (The Guardian). The movie follows the storyline in which the
Kim family are struggling to survive their livelihood until their son Ki-woo was given an
unexpected opportunity of tutoring the daughter of the Parks family. Without having any
prior experience, Ki-woo accepted the opportunity and helped the entire Kim family to get
infiltrate into this lavish household by assigning them with specific responsibilities (Alex
Jung, 2020). After getting a secure job, the two families, Kim and Parks maintained a
servitude and riches based relationship. This relationship maintains until an unforeseen
parasite threatens to destroy exposing the real truth. The topic of the paper is to provide an
analysis of the movie "Parasite" Luigi's directed by Bong Joon Ho. The thesis topic is “social
inequality leads to lie and fraud”
The story highlights the difference in social status between poor and riches. The movie
parasite describes how the working-class people are forced to involve in conflict against each
other for scraps. On the contrary, the rich families can maintain a comfortable life which is
achieved by the efforts of individuals working beneath them. The major question asked in
this movie is that "is it possible for the poor to step into the life of the rich?". The first
example is that the Kim family is bound to fold pizza boxes to make some cash, while their
children cannot afford their Wi-Fi and therefore steal it from a nearby coffee shop. This
example supports the poverty situation of Kim's family (Suhyun 2010). Another example
describes the richness of Park's family. In this plot of the movie, it is showcased that Park's
family enjoys their vacation for a camping trip, which is not possible for Kim's family. This
example also describes the difference between the social status of rich and poor. Another
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example reveals that in the absence of Park’s family, the poor Kim's family explores their
luxuries and sips their expensive liquor (Alex Jung, 2020). This specific scene in the movie
which reflects the poverty of Kim's family. Thus, the topic sentence “difference in social
status between poor and riches" is proved.
It is evident that every lie comes with trouble (Alex Jung, 2020). In this movie, the king's
family and Geun-sae are the people involved in lying to their boss. However, their lie does
not have a long life and they have to face consequences. The first lie is told by Ki-woo that he
is a university student and has experience in teaching English (The Guardian). This lie has
created a problem for him to teach the daughter of Mr. Park and is finally convicted for fraud.
In the second example, Geun-sae has kept her husband in the basement without letting you
know the house owner (Shuai, Wang). This lie resulted in the death of Geun-sae and injured
his husband. In the third example, Mrs. Kim told lies to Park's family about Geun-sae for
having tuberculosis with an intention to gain her job (Alex Jung, 2020). This lie eventually
resulted in the generation of anger within Geun-sae and she started to blackmail her. The
topic sentence that “every lie comes with trouble” is found to be true.
Most importantly, it is to be noted that people should verify before recruiting or terminating
anyone. There are many instances on part of Park's family which describe a lack of
assessment of employees has led to a fraud situation. In the first example, Geun-sae who was
working for years with Park's family but they are unaware of the presence of her husband in
the basement (The Gaurdian 2020). This example reflects a lack of awareness and security
among the family. In the second example, Mr. Park terminates his driver upon a small
suspecting without further verification (Gabilondo, Joseba, 2020). This lack of verification
opened the path for Mr. Kim to enter the Park family illegally. In the third example, Mr. Park
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did not verify Ki-woo before recruiting him as his daughter's English teacher (Matthews
2020). This lack of verification opened a path for the entire Kim family to enter their
house. Hence, the topic sentence that ‘people should verify before recruiting” is true for all
cases.
In conclusion, the thesis topic for the current report is “social inequality leads to lie and
fraud”. It explains the story of a poverty-stricken family, the Kim's, who cleverly infiltrate
themselves into the household of a wealthy family, the Parks. However, this wealthy family
is unaware of the fact that they are providing shelter in their basement to a stranger for
several years. It is therefore recommended that people should avoid lying to their bosses and
the bosses should also verify properly before recruiting someone.
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References
E. Alex Jung, Bong Joon Ho on Why He Wanted Parasite to End With a
‘Surefire Kill’, NewYork Vulture, 14 Jan 2020.
Gabilondo, Joseba. "Bong Joon Ho's Parasite and post-2008 Revolts: From the Discourses of
the Master to the Destituent Power of the Real." International Journal of Žižek Studies 14.1
(2020).
Matthews, Joshua. "Movie Review: Parasite." (2020).
Shuai, Wang. "Analysis of the Realistic Aesthetic Features of the Movie “Parasite”." 한한한한한한한한한한한한한한한 13.8 (2019): 151-156.
Suhyun, K. I. M. "(In) Commensurability of Korean Cinema: International Coproduction of
Korean Films in the 2010s." Korea Journal 59.4 (2019): 136-166.
The Guardian, Parasite review – searing satire of a family at war with the
rich, The Guardian, 7 Feb 2020.
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