Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 150 posts

Re: For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

#31

Post by ALittleLight »

claudeganon wrote: post #21
Aunche wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were absolutely terrible people. They weren't so poor that they had to trigger an old lady's dangerous allergy just to get the mother a job.

The point of the film was that poverty forces the poor into ruthless conflict with each other as they battle for the scraps of the rich. It’s pretty blatant. As was the indifference of the rich to the struggles of the poor and their own inhumanity toward them.

In one scene, the poor mother says something like "If I was this rich, I'd be nice too" and then immediately scolds or hits a begging dog. In this scene, the poor woman is relatively rich - she has the house they've taken over for the weekend, plenty of food, and the dog is poor and begging. I interpreted this, as the two events happen one right after the other, as the movie clearly rejecting the woman's claim. Even when she has a lot, she won't share with one who has little and is just fundamentally mean.

Likewise, when the main family meets the hidden family - are they generous? They have much from fleecing the rich family, and the hidden family has, and asks, for very little. Nope, the main family is cruel to the hidden family and by rejecting them they initiate the final conflict.

Other poor people aren't as mean. The original staff at the house are diligent workers. The original driver offers to go above and beyond to drive the sister home. The hidden family are dedicated servants. The first tutor tries to help his friend.

Re: For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

#32

Post by [deleted] »

Aunche wrote: post #14
cycrutchfield wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They lied and cheated constantly because they were forced to due their poverty. It is absolutely a movie about class inequality and resentment.

They were absolutely terrible people. They weren't so poor that they had to trigger an old lady's dangerous allergy just to get the mother a job.

[deleted]

Re: For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

#33

Post by dba7dba »

ALittleLight wrote: post #29
zpallin wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Universal healthcare does not mean "free healthcare". What it means is that all people have equal access to healthcare, the kind that would otherwise be provided by everyone having private healthcare insurance, such as what would need to happen in the US. The intent is that this would be more affordable for the average person than not having a universal healthcare system. Of course, affordability is not a guarantee f…

How is it universal care if some people can't get care because they can't afford it? By that logic the US has universal care - any legal treatment your doctor wants to give you and you can afford it, anyone can get.

Below blog posting is old but one of the best info available in English on the Korean Healthcare system.

http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/01/healthcare-system-in-...

Some may consider the fact that Korean national health insurance only covers around 55 percent of the total healthcare cost to be problematic. This may be true if one takes the idea of guaranteed socialized medicine seriously. But for fiscal conservatives with some measure of compassion for the plight of the uninsured, this could be an attractive balance. While corruption is definitely still a problem with Korean government, the NHIC is surprisingly efficient and well-run. It does a great job squeezing out maximum value out of the tax it receives.

Re: For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

#34

Post by 9nGQluzmnq3M »

justicezyx wrote: post #8

Similar situation exits in many orders of magnitude larger scale in China, but the government so successfully keep everyone not paying attention.

China is arguably much worse, because fixed hukou registration creates an official caste system that ensures the migrant worker underclass can never have access to proper schools, housing, etc.

Re: For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

#35

Post by WilliamEdward »

RichardHeart wrote: post #10

The movie reviews well in most countries, because we mostly live in the same country, capitalism. (This is me paraphrasing a quote I saw the director give in an interview.)

As inequality rises, and as people are tired of the same old stories, i can see why more and more people resonate with Parasite.

Re: For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

#36

Post by Aunche »

claudeganon wrote: post #21
Aunche wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were absolutely terrible people. They weren't so poor that they had to trigger an old lady's dangerous allergy just to get the mother a job.

The point of the film was that poverty forces the poor into ruthless conflict with each other as they battle for the scraps of the rich. It’s pretty blatant. As was the indifference of the rich to the struggles of the poor and their own inhumanity toward them.

When exactly is the family "forced" into conflict? They freely chose to take away from other working class people in order to boost themselves. Obviously, the rich were depicted as part of the problem. However, the family could have improved their lives if they restrained themselves.

Re: For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

#37

Post by dba7dba »

httpz wrote: post #16

One unrealistic part about the poor family in the movie is that, there is no way a family of four healthy adults can be that poor in S.Korea (unless they have a large debt payment). If all four of them worked 40hrs/wk doing a minimum wage job ($7/hr in S.Korea), it puts them around $59k/yr, which is above the median household income.

Unemployment/underemployment has been a huge problem in S. Korea for a long time such that a college graduate getting a career track job (any like Police officer, government worker, job in a chaebol, etc) is a cause for celebration.

One thing Americans might fall into thinking is that they poor family in the movie is similar to welfare queens in US. Afaik, there isn't enough support for one to live as a welfare queen in S. Korea.

Another different factor is Jeonse. In S. Korean real estate rental market, monthly rent is rare. Most are rented out as Jeonse. With Jeonse, instead of paying monthly rent, a renter will make a lump-sum deposit on a rental space, at anywhere from 50% to 80% of the market value.

This allow a poor family to have relatively secure housing (although it would be undesirable) while having no money for other essentials.

Re: For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

#38

Post by pkaye »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #26
httpz wrote: post #16

One unrealistic part about the poor family in the movie is that, there is no way a family of four healthy adults can be that poor in S.Korea (unless they have a large debt payment). If all four of them worked 40hrs/wk doing a minimum wage job ($7/hr in S.Korea), it puts them around $59k/yr, which is above the median household income.

What would life be like for 4 people on median wage, though? Did they live in a slummy part of Seoul? Or were they in an expensive part in a crappy house? If a family of four tried to live in Santa Monica on $59k -- they would only have $39k after taxes. You can't rent even a single shitty room for less than $1k per month. That leaves them $500 a month per person. Health care would take at least $58 (the fine if you…

How did you determine the $39k after taxes. Are you considering 2 parents and 2 dependents? They could probably get covered under Covered California also.

Re: For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

#39

Post by [deleted] »

ALittleLight wrote: post #29
zpallin wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Universal healthcare does not mean "free healthcare". What it means is that all people have equal access to healthcare, the kind that would otherwise be provided by everyone having private healthcare insurance, such as what would need to happen in the US. The intent is that this would be more affordable for the average person than not having a universal healthcare system. Of course, affordability is not a guarantee f…

How is it universal care if some people can't get care because they can't afford it? By that logic the US has universal care - any legal treatment your doctor wants to give you and you can afford it, anyone can get.

[deleted]

Re: For Seoul’s poor, class strife in ‘Parasite’ is daily reality

#40

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

pkaye wrote: post #38
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would life be like for 4 people on median wage, though? Did they live in a slummy part of Seoul? Or were they in an expensive part in a crappy house? If a family of four tried to live in Santa Monica on $59k -- they would only have $39k after taxes. You can't rent even a single shitty room for less than $1k per month. That leaves them $500 a month per person. Health care would take at least $58 (the fine if you…

How did you determine the $39k after taxes. Are you considering 2 parents and 2 dependents? They could probably get covered under Covered California also.

You can claim an adult that has a job and income as a dependent???
Post reply on HN