On this week’s Movies vs. Capitalism, Rivka and Frank are joined by political commentator Jessica Burbank to discuss Bong Joon-Ho’s 2019 masterpiece Parasite.
In the midst of increasing wealth inequality and rising poverty across the planet, it’s no surprise that this film — a violent parable about class conflict — became a cultural phenomenon. The group digs into the themes of class relations, failed solidarity, and elitism that run through the film’s complicated social dynamics.
They also break down how the film uses “the smell” as a perfect metaphor for working class disdain, why being stinky in real life is actually a good thing, and how the film gave us one of our greatest modern memes.
For next week’s episode, the group will be discussing the series finale of Succession.
A rough transcript of the episode is available here.
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