Violence and Redemption in the Film Parasite

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Violence and Redemption in The Film Parasite
In 2018, Parasite was the film of the year. The comedy/thriller from director Bong Joon-ho follows a penniless family called the Kims who carve their way into the super-rich Parks' home. Their scheme escalates until the film reaches its whirlwind ending. One that viewers mulled over long after they left the theatres. Looking at the last scenes in the movie, one can unpack the loaded social critique within them. This paper explores violence in the film's last scenes by examining what led to it and how it adds to the film's meaning.
Bong shows how climate catastrophe can heighten existing class tensions. The day after the flood, as Ki-taek drives Mrs. Park around on her errands, she keeps raving on the phone about what a blessing the rain was as it cleared out the air pollution and left a nice blue sky for their outdoor gathering disregarding the significant portion of the city that the storm displaced. Ki-taek listens to Mrs. Park's out-of-touch conversation from the driver's seat and can barely hide his resentment. Just a few hours ago, he was wading through sewage to save himself and his family. These strained class relations reach their climax at the party. The explosion of violence set to come is foreshadowed by Mrs. Park's table arrangement, which she models after the crane wind formation. A deadly military maneuver of Korean war hero, Yi Sun Sin.
The Parks celebrate their son's Da-song's birthday, which marks the anniversary of his traumatic run-in with Geun-se, living in the secret bunker below the house. Geun-se is not dead yet in the physical sense, but he suffered a social death due to his poverty. The flickering light that he uses to try to communicate is a classic motif of ghost tales. At the party, the Parks go to absurd lengths to indulge their son's fixation with "native American aesthetics." The Parks' coddling of Da-song's native American obsession reaches a new height when Mr. Park recruits Ki-taek to act-out a mock native American battle in stereotypical costume and headdress. When the camera lingers on Ki-taek's face, one can see his growing resentment. He is reaching his breaking point.
Every day, the Parks make an effort to distance themselves from the underclass people and th...