History YMMV / Parasite2019

* HarsherInHindsight: Moon-gwang loses her job after the Kims frame her allergy as active tuberculosis. Although the film's title refers to metaphorical parasitism, some connect it to the scenes where the Kims frame Moon-gwang's allergy as active tuberculosis and she loses her job over it. However, Mrs. Park's germophobia against a lower-class housemaid seems to be even more justified in light of the [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic coronavirus pandemic]].

** Alternatively, if you find the Kims unsympathetic thanks to how they get two innocent people fired so they aren't starving, manipulate their employers without batting an eyelid, and repeatedly exploit a woman's deathly allergy, watching their plans all crumble around them towards the end can be quite satisfying.

** [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ki-taek-from-parasite-driving Ki-taek driving]] [[note]]Reaction image macro based on a scene where Yeon Kyo discussing his smell on the phone as Ki Taek, who just lost his home from the flood, drives her. Online, people use the image of Taek driving her to express feelings of class resentment.[[/note]]

** When the Kim family try to get [[spoiler:Moon-gwang]] fired from the Parks, they claim that she has tuberculosis rather than the peach allergy she has, and use hot sauce to fake her blood.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff

%%* BrokenBase: Not so much with the movie itself, per se, but director Bong Joon-ho's remark about getting past the "one inch barrier of subtitles" at the 2020 Golden Globes [[https://www.vox.com/2020/2/20/21134355/subtitles-or-dubs-which-is-better-parasite-debate-history-anime kicked off a bit of a firestorm]] in the entertainment news outlets and on social media with people arguing over SubbingVsDubbing and whether there's a way to enjoy a foreign media property the "right way" (if it even exists at all).

** Related to the above, ''Parasite'' was meant to be Bong Joon ho's return to small-scale Korean filmmaking after two failed attempts to break onto the big-budget international filmmaking scene with ''Film/{{Snowpiercer}}'' (an AcclaimedFlop outside of Korea) and ''Film/{{Okja}}'' (a Creator/{{Netflix}} exclusive that was acclaimed, but mostly went unnoticed in the awards circuit). Against all odds, it was ''Parasite'' that instead became the breakout international hit, earning $266 million and winning big at the awards circuit, catapulting Bong into the comparative mainstream[[labelnote:*]]though ''Snowpiercer'' had also developed enough of a cult following to inspire an [[Series/{{Snowpiercer}} American television remake]] on Creator/{{TNT}}[[/labelnote]].

** The infamous "Jessica Jingle" is based on "독도는 우리땅" ("Dokdo Is Our Land"), a famous national Korean song about a land dispute between it and Japan. The song's melody is so well known around Korea that it's used by school children to memorize information, much like Ki-jeong does here.

** This overlaps with HearwarmingInHindsight. Bong Joon-ho [[TakeThat dismissed]] the Oscars for being “very local”, meaning they only award American movies and forget foreign ones, especially those made by people of color. While many have agreed with his criticism toward the Oscars' (and the American film industry's) Anglocentrism, none of them expected him to win Best Director award '''and''' Best Picture at the Oscars. Bong referenced this during the awards, saying he wanted to have a big drink after winning Best International Film (the only award that ''Parasite'' was considered a lock on), and then as he won Best Director, joking about how he did not expect to be up on the stage again and that he will drink "until next morning". You can see the overwhelming joy on his face each time his film won huge come Oscar night.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Bong Joon-ho dismissed the Oscars for being “very local”, meaning they only award American movies and forget foreign ones, especially those made by people of color. You can see the overwhelming joy on his face each time his film won huge come Oscar night.

** Director Bong Joon-ho made a [[TakeThat critical comment]] toward the Academy by comparing them to "local film festival" for exclusively recognizing only "safe" movies. While many have agreed with his criticism toward the Oscars' (and the American film industry's) Anglocentrism, none of them expected him to win Best Director award '''and''' Best Picture at the Oscars. Bong referenced this during the awards, saying he wanted to have a big drink after winning Best International Film (the only award that ''Parasite'' was considered a lock on), and then as he won Best Director, joking about how he did not expect to be up on the stage again and that he will drink "until next morning".

* {{Applicability}}: Despite being set in South Korea and dealing with exclusively South Korean issues, the movie found [[ValuesResonance los of resonance]] with people around the world when it comes to class conflict and the fact that it deals with capitalism which is experienced worldwide.

** As soon Geun-sae escapes the basement and begins his rampage, Da-song takes one look at the "ghost" who's apparently come back to haunt him and faints dead away in a moment of pure BlackComedy.

* HarsherInHindsight: Moon-gwang loses her job after the Kims frame her allergy as active tuberculosis. Although the film's title refers to metaphorical parasitism, some connect it to the scenes where the Kims frame Moon-gwang's allergy as active tuberculosis and she loses her job over it. However, Mrs. Kim's germophobia against a lower-class housemaid seems to be even more justified in light of the [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic coronavirus pandemic]].

* HarsherInHindsight: Moon-gwang loses her job after the Kims frame her allergy as active tuberculosis. Although the film's title refers to metaphorical parasitism, some connect it to the scenes where the Kims frame Moon-gwang's allergy as active tuberculosis and she loses her job over it. However, Mrs. Kim's germophobia against a lower-class housemaid seems to be even more justified after coronavirus became a pandemic in 2020.

* FriendlyFandoms: With, of all movies, ''Film/Joker2019''! It helps that both films struggle with themes of [[spoiler: morally gray characters]] and a subtle critique of EatTheRich, alongside both being {{Sleeper Hit}}s due to word-of-mouth. Even with ''Parasite'' winning the Oscar for Best Picture (something ''Joker'' fans wanted), the fanbase nevertheless congratulated Jong-Hoo, especially for a foreign movie to succeed at such a caliber.

* {{Applicability}}: Despite set in South Korea and deals with exclusively South Korean issues, the movie found [[ValuesResonance some resonance]] with people around the world when it comes to class conflict and the fact that it deals with capitalism which is experienced worldwide.

** Alternatively, if you find the Kims totally unsympathetic thanks to how they get two innocent people fired to fuel their greed, manipulate their employers without batting an eyelid, groom a high-school girl and repeatedly exploit a woman's deathly allergy, watching their plans all crumble around them towards the end can be quite satisfying.

* CryForTheDevil: After all the actions that they've done, it may be hard for some watchers to actually sympathize with the Kim family during the second half of the movie. But [[spoiler:Ki-jeong's death at the hands of Moon-gwang's husband, and the ensuing grief from losing her essentially drives the rest of the Kim family to abandon their previous ways and to actually make some honest living]].

** Park Yeon-kyo, the [[TheDitz ditzy]] matriarch of the Park family, is important in the story mainly as the RichInDollarsPoorInSense enabler for the Kim family. But many viewers have cited Cho Yeo-jeong's portrayal of her as a highlight of the film, giving Mrs. Park some charm as well as effectively [[PlayedForLaughs playing her cluelessness for laughs]], while also giving hints of a [[AddledAddict darker side]] to her personality.

* HypeBacklash: Perhaps unsurprising, given just how much constant, borderline obsessive praise has been heaped on the movie. A growing number of people have left the film wondering what all the fuss is about, or even accusing the people who praise the film of [[ConfirmationBias only doing so because it flatters their socio-political views]] (or at least, [[{{Applicability}} they perceive it to]]).
* JerkassWoobie: [[spoiler: Moon-gwang and her husband.]] Upon realizing that they have been tricked out by the Kim family through some very unsavory acts, they are truly justified to be truly angered for what they've done and decided to blackmail the Kims for tricking them out.

** By the same token, for many viewers the final attempts to earn sympathy for the Kims and [[spoiler:Moon-gwang and Geun-se]] don't work as well as might have been intended, since ultimately they get everything that was coming to them, with three of them [[spoiler:being outright murderers and a fourth one intending so too.]]

** Yes, the Kims are ([[AntiVillain Anti-]]){{Villain Protagonist}}s. Their criminal acts pile up as the events of the movie unfold. [[spoiler:So do those of Moon-gwang and her husband.]] But the Kims are so destitute that folding pizza boxes initially becomes their only source of income ([[CapitalismIsBad and they sometimes starve nonetheless due to how absurd the standards for box-folding are]]), and resort to letting themselves be suffocated by fumigation gas because they can't afford pest control. [[spoiler:As for Moon-gwang and her husband, he's been stuck in an underground bunker for four years, losing his sanity and making an unhealthy shrine to Mr. Park as he goes mad.]] The affluenza and unintentional classism the Parks display - ranging from trash-talking [[spoiler:Ki-taek for smelling like a peasant]] and unintentionally bragging about their wealth to the [[spoiler:recently homeless]] Kims - culminates in [[spoiler:Ki-taek snapping and stabbing Mr. Park in a rage when Mr. Park reflexively recoils from his smell.]]
** Alternatively, if you find the Kim's totally unsympathetic thanks to how they get two innocent people fired to fuel their greed, manipulate their employers without batting an eyelid, groom a high-school girl and repeatedly exploit a woman's deathly allergy, watching their plans all crumble around them towards the end can be quite satisfying.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: The culmination of the garden party scene is genuinely shocking and gut-wrenching, but when it's followed by [[spoiler:the shot of one of the Park's dogs eating sausages off the skewer ''with Geun-sae's body still impaled on it'', it's darkly hilarious]].
* CryForTheDevil: After all the actions that they've done, it may be hard for some watchers to actually sympathize with the Kim family during the second half of the movie. But [[spoiler:Ki-jeong's death in the hands of Moon-gwang's husband, and the ensuing grief from losing her essentially drives the rest of the Kim family to abandon their previous ways and to actually make some honest living.]]
* DeathOfTheAuthor: There is a solid argument to be made that this movie is a DeconstructiveParody of KoreanDrama series. (That being said, the class warfare tends to be the recurring theme in that genre as well).
--> [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhEgGxaeCqM&lc=Ugx3PKKnlol3tBgeBCh4AaABAg YouTube comment]]: So....am i the only person who read this movie as a parody/subversion of K-dramas (Korean soap operas)? Like, the vast vast majority of k-dramas are about class differences but usually peddle a fantasy about the elite--that they're powerful, smart, and ultimately good at heart. A young woman (and sometimes a young man) will meet a rich and handsome person who will reveal their heart of gold by lifting them out of poverty. Parasite shows a more realistic scenario (in some ways) of how the wealthy and poor actually interact. I'd say it also specifically takes a lot of the visual styling from k-dramas ESPECIALLY in how the son is filmed at the end of the movie when he [[spoiler:fantasizes about buying the house.]] Plus, the plot of the movie ([[spoiler:a housekeeper whose family is secretly living in their client's basement]]) is the same as the drama [[https://mydramalist.com/90-stars-falling-from-the-sky Stars falling from the skies]]. The actress who plays the sister is also a pretty well-known k-drama actress (I'm not sure how big the korean film industry is and how much cross-pollination there is, that could just be a coincidence).

** When the Kim family try to get [[spoiler: Moon-gwang]] fired from the Parks, they claim that she has tuberculosis rather than the peach allergy she has, and use hot sauce to fake her blood.
** While [[EvilGloating gloating]] about their "victory" over the Kims, [[spoiler:Moon-gwang]] delivers a spot-on impersonation of the [[NoIndoorVoice famously]] [[LargeHam hammy]] North Korean news anchor Ri Chun-hee to [[spoiler:her husband.]]

*** Mrs. Park pleading to her husband "Buy me drugs!" when they get passionate on the couch has sparked disagreement about her character, even on this very wiki. Is it a revelation that she's an AddledAddict and her husband is bribing her with drugs to keep their sex lives going? Or is it a romantic AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther situation where they were role-playing as their fired driver Yoon and his hypothetical drug-addicted conquest?

* HarsherInHindsight: Although the film's title refers to metaphorical parasitism, the scenes where the Kims frame Moon-gwang's allergy as active tuberculosis and she loses her job over it can be this due to the novel coronavirus panic of 2020.[[note]]nCov is a valid cause for concern, but there's been plenty of scaremongering and misinformation about it, which has led to a lot of discrimination against Asians, especially East Asians.[[/note]]

** This movie won [[UsefulNotes/PalmeDOr Palme D'Or ]] almost a year after Hirokazu Koreeda, who's a good acquaitance with Bong and from the neighboring country of Japan, won the same award for ''Film/{{Shoplifters}}'', which shares the same premise of a family of petty criminals trying to survive in poverty. This led many critics and journalists to consider the former as SpiritualSuccessor/[[SpiritualAntithesis Antithesis]] of the latter.