As a student who is studying film, and as someone who genuinely enjoys watching films, 'Parasite' is by far one of the best films ever created. I may be Asian, but my opinion on this film has nothing to do with race. This film has many amazing film techniques and storytelling that it keeps making the viewer sit at the edge of their seats.
At the beginning of the film, the family receives a gift from the eldest son's close friend. The gift was a symbol of wealth, which foresight what is to come for the family. The story progresses when the son lands a tutoring job for a very wealthy family, which then leads to the rest of the family slowly working for the family, but as different people who know each other through connections. Their scheme of getting rid of other workers to work together is diabolical and unbelievable that it keeps making you think, "what's going to happen next?".
Once you think everything is working out perfectly for the family, one of the old workers comes back. The secrets of the wealthy family's home unveil and your mind becomes completely blown. Bong Joon-Ho, the director of the film, thoroughly directed the film in a way that facial expressions, and actions, can play a huge impact in the film rather than constant dialogue.
On Sunday, the film won four Oscar awards: Best Picture, Best International Feature Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director. This was a huge breakthrough, as this was the first international film to ever receive so many awards in America. As an Asian American, I am ecstatic that a film from an Asian country has received so much attention in the media and made a breakthrough.
Unfortunately, there are people who don't understand the meaning of film making and did not take the award very lightly. A tweet has gone quite viral regarding 'Parasite' and it was made by Jon Miller. The tweet states, "A man named Bong Joon Ho wins #Oscar for best original screenplay over Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and 1917. Acceptance speech was: "GREAT HONOR. THANK YOU." Then he proceeds to give the rest of his speech in Korean. These people are the destruction of America." Many people were angered by Miller's tweet and commented on this perfect example of Xenophobia.
Xenophobia is the dislike or prejudice of people from other countries, according to the Oxford dictionary. This has been happening a lot recently, especially with the outbreak of the Coronavirus, but Miller has used it against Joon-Ho and 'Parasite' in its entirety.
There is an important message I learned from learning film, and it's that a good film is based on the story, not the language or where it's from. Of course, everyone has their own opinions on whether a film is good or not, but to completely degrade someone because of their ethnicity and not being able to speak English very well, should not be a determining factor of a film receiving so much praise. In film, if you can tell what the story is about based on the character's actions without dialogue, then it is considered a very well-developed film. This is what I learned in my film class. Both 'Parasite' and 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' are well-praised films, but 'Parasite' was just more well-received and many people agreed to that.
Regardless of which film won an Oscar or not, a lot of hard work goes into films. Joon-Ho created a film that took a lot of thought and detailed camera work to be able to produce such a suspenseful film.
Congratulations to Joon-Ho and the cast of 'Parasite' for winning many awards! RESPECT!
