The first time I knew there was a movie called Parasite was when I was at the cinema for another show actually. I looked at the poster bill-board along the cinema hall, and I thought to myself... must be another Korean horror movie ... I had only seen 1 Korean show so far - Train to Busan, the zombie movie, and honestly that was quite enough for me, since I am not a horror fan. Of course I had a turn-around change of heart when news emerged that Parasite had the distinction of being the first foreign film to win a number of Academy Awards, one of which was for best picture; and no, it wasn't a horror movie after all. It was being re-run at the cinemas due to the Oscar win and so contrary to normal, even though it was a weekday, the hall was quite full. But since I was alone, I managed to get a good (single) seat right in the centre, which offered an excellent view of the screen. The movie was actually quite long - a good 2 hours. I didn't expect much, as my children who had already seen it said it was an 'ok' drama.
But I liked it. Probably because it's easy for me to relate to the themes of family and the rich vs the poor in society. After all, it's not just in Korea; the poor are everywhere. Early in the movie, the scene where a drunk peed outside the basement window where the Kim family live reminded me so much of the homeless guys I meet every Saturday in a KL backstreet- alley, urinating at the big garbage dumpsters in full public view. I drive home after feeding them at our sessions there to my (nice) 2 storey house in the suburbs, passing by the bungalows in my (nice) neighborhood, which is really just like the residence of the rich Park family in the movie.
So yes, I can definitely relate to Parasite's pointed juxtaposition of class, where poverty and riches differentiate human beings and drive people to do crazy (sometimes really awful) things on both sides of the divide. Lest we think the rich have it easy, well, I would just say they only have less one, albeit important, thing to worry about - money. So they can afford to buy camping-tents from America, shop for fresh big prawns in air-conditioned malls and have drivers, maids and private tutors at their beck and call. They may have very well-stocked refrigerators and private basements full of wine, but they still have to deal with not-quite-normal children and love not-so-lovable spouses.
Whenever I am inclined to envy the rich, especially when I hear news reports of how some people in this country actually have billions passing through their bank accounts or RM2 million is just pocket change to them, I remember they may also have much bigger problems to handle than me. I actually pity the fragile wife in the movie; all the shopping, trips and partying only add up to more stress in her so-rich life. What's there to envy when your only son has behavior problems on top of throwing fits, and your husband gets murdered before your eyes in the midst of a "nice" birthday party, right in front of all your VIP guests?
Of course that's all drama - it's a movie. But like I always say, reel life imitates real life. Lots of money in the bank doesn't equate to a "good" life, depending of course on how one defines good. There's an old uncle I regularly meet at my street-feeding sessions but no one would have guessed that he is actually rich. He stands quietly in a corner to smoke his pipe, and then sits down to eat free food in the dirty back-street alley in the company of society's forgotten "drifters and rejects". He's got a house somewhere, but it's not a home. His kids are all overseas, which means they must be doing well. After the Chinese New Year, he tells me none of them came back, and none of them invited him to join them for any family reunion. If only I had known earlier, the least I could have done would be to invite him to my house for CNY dinner.
Obviously the poor gets hit harder. So I can sympathize with the Kims' lot, living in a cramped basement where literally everything gets swept away when the rain floods in. I remember the early years of my own childhood, living upstairs in a rented room of a tailor shop, sleeping in between my father and mother on a mat covering the wooden floor-planks, all our meagre earthly possessions stored in paper bags hanging around us. At night I always imagined there were monsters hiding in those bags. I was trained from young to empty the urine-pot every morning, because there was no bathroom upstairs and my mom had weak legs . Just like the Kims having their meal at a truck-eatery, I would cross the road to buy a few cents worth of porridge and salted veg from a stall, where all the local trishaw-pullers ate squatting on wooden benches. I didn't realise I was poor then, because I was too young to know what it is to be 'rich' and have a whole house all to oneself.
I can definitely relate to the Kims enjoying the comfort of their employer's house, as if it was their own, 'stealing' the time to eat, drink and be merry, when the boss and family go away on a camping trip. As the plot unfolds , I appreciated why the film is entitled Parasite - an organism that feeds off the host. But surely being poor does not, cannot justify, deception and fraud in playing on the vulnerabilities of a rich, not-very-smart family and even more so at the expense of hurting others in the process of 'better-ing' one's own circumstances in life. What an irony, that the "poor" Kims literally robbed their own kind when their devious schemes disposed of the Parks' original driver and house-maid, so they can feed off the 'host' family.
There's a saying that what goes around comes around. Evil will always haunt the evil-doer. So it's the old house-maid and her dark secret in the basement of the mansion designed by an award-winning architect that proves to be the unraveling of what was supposed to be the Kims' perfect plan. It had all started out so well; step by step, one after another of the family had been successfully brought into the Park residence under false pretenses.
But even the most well-laid plan can go awry. So as the film draws to a climax, with the father and son turned 'refugees' sleeping in a public gym to escape the flood that hits their neighborhood, and the son asks the father what/how now? - he replies almost stoically, "... you know what kind of plan never fails? No plan at all. No plan. You know why? If you make a plan, life never works out that way....... With no plan, nothing can go wrong and if something spins out of control, it doesn't matter. Whether you kill someone or betray your country."
Indeed some people are so 'fluid' they go through life without any plan; whether it's something as simple as what to eat for lunch to serious stuff like if they should get married or migrate. This kind of people wouldn't bother with Benjamin Franklin's famous quote , "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail." On the other hand making all sorts of plans from A-Z to cater for every contingency can end only in unfulfilled expectations and disappointment.
Just like what happened in Malaysia recently, when there was such a confusing mass (maybe mess is more accurate) of plans tossed about that kept changing at such dizzying pace, no one quite knew what was happening behind all the scenes. I dare say Malaysia must be the only country in the world where the position of ruling and opposition parties can be reversed literally overnight through the "plans" of just 222 out of 32 million people. There were plans, plans and more plans, and I suspect the planning is still going on.
In such tumultuous times, I take comfort in what the Bible states : "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails (Proverbs 19:21) . Men can shout all they want about their "oh-so-well-intentioned" plans, but as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I'd rather depend on God's Word that says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11).
That promise was given to a people taken captive into exile after their nation had been invaded by foreign forces. It definitely wasn't a "good" time at all. But thank God for God, as His purposes are always for good, no matter how long it takes, no matter how bad things appear in the natural realm. Unlike man, God is totally dependable, so His plans are always the best plans.
"God is not a man that He should lie....Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it? " - Numbers 23:19
Obviously the poor gets hit harder. So I can sympathize with the Kims' lot, living in a cramped basement where literally everything gets swept away when the rain floods in. I remember the early years of my own childhood, living upstairs in a rented room of a tailor shop, sleeping in between my father and mother on a mat covering the wooden floor-planks, all our meagre earthly possessions stored in paper bags hanging around us. At night I always imagined there were monsters hiding in those bags. I was trained from young to empty the urine-pot every morning, because there was no bathroom upstairs and my mom had weak legs . Just like the Kims having their meal at a truck-eatery, I would cross the road to buy a few cents worth of porridge and salted veg from a stall, where all the local trishaw-pullers ate squatting on wooden benches. I didn't realise I was poor then, because I was too young to know what it is to be 'rich' and have a whole house all to oneself.
I can definitely relate to the Kims enjoying the comfort of their employer's house, as if it was their own, 'stealing' the time to eat, drink and be merry, when the boss and family go away on a camping trip. As the plot unfolds , I appreciated why the film is entitled Parasite - an organism that feeds off the host. But surely being poor does not, cannot justify, deception and fraud in playing on the vulnerabilities of a rich, not-very-smart family and even more so at the expense of hurting others in the process of 'better-ing' one's own circumstances in life. What an irony, that the "poor" Kims literally robbed their own kind when their devious schemes disposed of the Parks' original driver and house-maid, so they can feed off the 'host' family.
There's a saying that what goes around comes around. Evil will always haunt the evil-doer. So it's the old house-maid and her dark secret in the basement of the mansion designed by an award-winning architect that proves to be the unraveling of what was supposed to be the Kims' perfect plan. It had all started out so well; step by step, one after another of the family had been successfully brought into the Park residence under false pretenses.
But even the most well-laid plan can go awry. So as the film draws to a climax, with the father and son turned 'refugees' sleeping in a public gym to escape the flood that hits their neighborhood, and the son asks the father what/how now? - he replies almost stoically, "... you know what kind of plan never fails? No plan at all. No plan. You know why? If you make a plan, life never works out that way....... With no plan, nothing can go wrong and if something spins out of control, it doesn't matter. Whether you kill someone or betray your country."
Indeed some people are so 'fluid' they go through life without any plan; whether it's something as simple as what to eat for lunch to serious stuff like if they should get married or migrate. This kind of people wouldn't bother with Benjamin Franklin's famous quote , "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail." On the other hand making all sorts of plans from A-Z to cater for every contingency can end only in unfulfilled expectations and disappointment.Just like what happened in Malaysia recently, when there was such a confusing mass (maybe mess is more accurate) of plans tossed about that kept changing at such dizzying pace, no one quite knew what was happening behind all the scenes. I dare say Malaysia must be the only country in the world where the position of ruling and opposition parties can be reversed literally overnight through the "plans" of just 222 out of 32 million people. There were plans, plans and more plans, and I suspect the planning is still going on.
In such tumultuous times, I take comfort in what the Bible states : "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails (Proverbs 19:21) . Men can shout all they want about their "oh-so-well-intentioned" plans, but as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I'd rather depend on God's Word that says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11).
That promise was given to a people taken captive into exile after their nation had been invaded by foreign forces. It definitely wasn't a "good" time at all. But thank God for God, as His purposes are always for good, no matter how long it takes, no matter how bad things appear in the natural realm. Unlike man, God is totally dependable, so His plans are always the best plans.
"God is not a man that He should lie....Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it? " - Numbers 23:19
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