Parasite (2019), if seen from the perspective of the Park family, is about an innocent family’s misfortune.

Here we can see why liberalism, steadfast in the category of rights, could/would never perceive revolutionary reason.

— 7minscifi 七分科幻 (@7minscifi) November 1, 2021

This goes back to “perspective” in fiction (and history), and why it is structurally impossible to tell an anti-war film from the perspective of a soldier who is blowing things up in battle; why it’s not really a subversion or critique to have an antihero who does horrible things be a protagonist; why you cannot critique the wealthy by showing them being powerful, opulent, and cruel.

It’s not the plot that matters in “Parasite”; it’s the perspective. It’s who you identify with and root for to see more of what you like happen, and the rewards you feel when you see it.

If you watch the Marvel movie “Iron Man” from the perspective of people living in fear not just of aerial military drones and bombs that blow up mountains but now armored billionaires that drop out of the sky to kill people and fly away unaccountably, it’s a horror film. But when the power fantasy is that you’re the one in the suit, it’s a superhero film.

This is also why it’s notable how few films and works of media in general revolve around cooperation and mass organizing. Unions exist to be controlled by mobs, you see, not ever achieve anything for worker rights. Politics is shown to be a handful of public figures or shadowy puppet masters making all decisions rather than results of collective action and decades.

It’s easy to say, “Well, individual heroism is more dramatic and makes for a better story.” But does it? Or does it help us accept and reproduce existing power structures so they’ll continue to benefit a few people at the expense of all the rest of us?

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Twitter 7minscifi 七分科幻 @7minscifi
Parasite (2019), if seen from the perspective of the Park family, is about an innocent family’s misfortune.

Here we can see why liberalism, steadfast in the category of rights, could/would never perceive revolutionary reason.

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