The movie The Parasite is a fantastically morbid and sickening depiction of class divides in South Korea. In the film, a poor Korean family infiltrates a rich, socialite household by manipulating the gullible mother and leveraging her wish to provide for her husband and children. What begins as a normal depiction of family life becomes a murderous frenzy as greed and the want for personal gratification consumes them. The director, Bong Joon-ho, is a South Korean native who often directs movies with an element of horror. In this context, he used the genre of horror and thriller movies as a vessel for his commentary on the class system in South Korea. By presenting his commentary in the form of a fantastical plot with outlandish characters, he is making his points more easily digestible. The point of doing this is to say, "It's silly how the world would rather accept these points through a world of gore and grotesqueness as long as they don't have to see it in the context of reality." He knows that people are more accepting of things that don't attack them directly, so removing the story from reality allows him to gain an audience. And he does not fail to attract attention. For one, the entire movie is bizarre. There are so many moments of tension and crazed looks exchanged by the characters that you have no choice but to be sucked into their world. In addition, the healthy dose of blood spurts and psychotic arm-flailing appeals to the sadist hiding within each of us. Despite the insanity of the film itself, Bong Joon-ho is still able to comment on class-divides, gender stereotypes, family dynamics, poverty, gross misuse of wealth, the tensions between North and South Korea, and general human disconnect through his film. There is a scene in the movie where an ex-housekeeper imitates a North Korean news reporter, and the result it deeply uncomfortable. Given what we have learned about the divide between North and South Korea, I can only imagine how this film will come across to North Koreans. The citizens might never have a chance to view it, but the censorship offices will. However, as an American native rather than a South Korean or North Korean one, my perspective is removed from their reality. I can only imagine the reaction of someone who have a more direct experience with the things being commented on in this film. The one problem with this film is that it was written and directed by the same man, so the vision represents the perspective of one person. This means that various opinions and ways of viewing the situation have been omitted from the final depiction of South Korea that's displayed in the film. However intense and meaningful it is, there will always be a hint of falsity in the message. All of this being said, the film was absolutely amazing and everyone should take the time to view it.
Perfume campaigns are notoriously vague, and they often portray sexualized famous people trying to convince the commoners (us) that we will be beautiful once we smell good. This campaign, "Si by Giorgio Armani," takes a different approach. Its main message is that women should take control of their lives and just say, "SÌ." By using their perfume as a symbol of power rather than sex, they are riding the wave of feminism in popular culture and telling their viewers that women will finally have the autonomy and control we deserve the moment we walk through a cloud of their smell-fluid. Shockingly, I think this is absolute bullshit. First, the character in the commercial is very far removed from reality. The idea of freedom she embodies involves sky-diving, wearing couture in a shopping market, and stealing a man's jacket. Few sane people who would buy this perfume, i.e. their target demographic, have the money to go sky-diving, sport couture simply because the
The standard of truth held dear by news media organizations and American culture has been diminished and often disregarded because of the rise of the internet. That is not to say that we were ever entirely truthful. While our version of democracy has always required a certain degree of transparency and communication, we have never shied away from propaganda and smear campaigns and rose-colored depictions of our own society (except when it was inconvenient). However, the internet has given way to a whole new form of communication and unprecedented access to information. People are free to choose whose writing they read and whose version of truth they listen to because there is an overwhelming variety of options and no time to listen to all of them. And this is bad. It opens new markets. Because we want to hear what we already believe, we seem to have reached the consensus that there is no longer a need for local papers and truthful news,
One of the people interviewed in the PBS Frontline episode "Merchants of Cool" was 13-year-old Barbara, who epitomized the impact of media on youths and youth culture. Barbara, who had grown up watching Brittany Spears and the other over-sexualized Midriffs of the world, was intent on becoming a model and looking like the women she had seen on TV. And it broke my heart. It was horrifying that a child, a 13-year-old girl, was so moved by the image of femininity forced on her by advertising that she flew to the International Model and Talent Association's annual convention and walked on a stage to be judged by adults who wanted to use her in advertising campaigns that would further perpetuate the stereotypes she fell prey to and line their pockets with money. She beamed when she was told that she could pass for a 16 or 17-year-old, and she was told that she was a "good girl," when she said that her main goal was "success." She wore skimpy, sexualiz
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