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Matthew Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather infiltrate Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, a communitarian satire of contemporary Korean society which is absolutely not a sci-fi body horror creature feature about parasites from outer space or genetic engineering or whatever.
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2019 has been a great year for activism, with a lot of stand-out examples. But when Pete made the assertion, bold but true, that Parasite is one of Superman’s most underrated villains?
That was speaking real truth to power.
I was wondering, do you think that the daughter being the one who dies is significant? The basement guy is TRYING to kill her mom, so there’s a sense that the children are being punished for the sins of the parents. On the other hand, the daughter is arguably the best conman of the family, so it’s not like she’s innocent by any means.
I’ll go one better on the working-class trend. What I find especially interesting about the recent turn in horror structure is how the genre has turned from resting on existing prejudices (vampires exaggerate anti-Semitic tropes, zombies exaggerate anti-communist tropes, wish stories basically involve slaves standing up to masters, most horror stories basically being invasion parables or illustrating the alleged dangers of letting poor people run free) to interrogating those prejudices and trying to expose the systems that led to them. I can’t help but wonder what other genres are sitting there ready to be turned inside-out like this. The “middle class white guy gets attacked and goes on a vigilante rampage” crime thriller sub-genre seems like the only significant possibility.
This union song kept running through my head the whole time I listened to this podcast:
The bum on the rods is hunted down as an enemy of mankind
The other is driven around to his club, is feted, wined and dined
And they who curse the bum on the rods as the essence of all that’s bad
Will greet the other with a willing smile and extend a hand so glad
The bum on the rods is a social flea who gets an occasional bite
The bum on the plush is a social leech, bloodsucking day and night
The bum on the rods is a load so light that his weight we scarcely feel
But it takes the labour of dozens of folks to furnish the other a meal
As long as we sanction the bum on the plush, the other will always be there
But rid ourselves of the bum on the plush and the other will disappear
Then make an intelligent organised kick – get rid of the weights that crush
Don’t worry about the bum on the rods; get rid of the bum on the plush