<em>Parasite </em>and the Curse of Closeness
Bong Joon-ho’s film depicts a class system in which the most profound harms result from the relationships of interdependence between rich and poor.
This story contains some spoilers for Parasite.
The answer lies, as it sometimes does, in instant noodles. Halfway through , when a rainstorm washes out the ultra-rich Park family’s camping trip, the matriarch (played by Jo Yeo-jeong) calls her housekeeper with a dinner order: “As soon as we walk in, .” The popular dish is an amalgam of two instant-food products—black bean–flavored Chapagetti noodles combined with spicy, seafood-based Neoguri udon—and costs $2 to make. But in the film, Mrs. Park’s recipe includes a genuine luxury: Hanwoo beef. At an August screening in Sydney as part of the , many of the Koreans in the audience laughed twice—first at the mention of the noodles and again at the mention of the meat. The rich were just like
