Tenchu's Thoughts: Parasites
In case no one paid any attention, the winner of Best Picture went to a Korean film, Parasite.
It’s just the Oscars — but my God, it matters that ‘Parasite’ won best picture
Now I have not yet seen the movie, but I plan to. (My wife saw the movie, and she said it was excellent.) I'm not into seeing movies just for the sake of social commentary, or just to "represent" my race. I only want to watch movies that are actually good movies. And by all indications, Parasite was indeed a good movie, and I need to see for myself.
Anyway, the media is abuzz over how this accomplishment "shatters the glass ceiling" with regard to foreign-produced films with foreign actors in foreign languages. They're right, of course.
But here's the thing. Parasite didn't get here thanks to affirmative action. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Black Panther, and all the people who thought that movie deserved to be nominated for Best Picture.)
Parasite didn't get here because the Hollywood elite wanted to make up for #OscarsSoWhite .
Parasite didn't get here because Hollywood wanted to stick it to Trump and give an award to a film that was produced outside of America.
Instead, Parasite got here because, according to all the reviews, it was a masterpiece and a timely social commentary that can be applied to pretty much the entire Western world, not just South Korea which is "suffering" from the excesses of capitalism.
Silence is Deafening
Now here's the thing. Although the media is writing glowing articles on Parasite and its awards, none of my liberal friends are saying much. Only my Korean and Korean-American friends are going nuts over the news.
These are the same liberal friends who post regularly about race and social issues.
These are the same liberal friends who post constantly about Trump and the Democrats and all that political stuff.
These are the same liberal friends who showed righteous indignation over a white kid wearing a MAGA hat smirking at a Native American.
They cared more about Brad Pitt making a jab at Trump and supporting impeachment.
They cared more about Joaquin Phoenix winning Best Actor and proceeding to lecture us about the evils of non-vegan diets.
They cared more about Billy Porter wearing an oh-so-stunning-and-brave dress:
They even cared more about the fact that no female director was nominated. Yes, I'm looking at you, Natalie Portman.
But when it came to an actual foreign film winning Best Picture, their enthusiasm was largely muted. Why is that?
It's because the "wrong minority" won.
Asians, especially us Koreans, are not in the same "disadvantaged" category as African-Americans, or Native-Americans, or Latinos. All statistics point to us Asians earning more, getting arrested less, and doing better overall than even white people.
Never mind the fact that, just 70 years ago, Korea suffered from a brutal war that killed millions of people.
Never mind the fact that Korea was split up by foreign powers, and that one half of Korea still lives in abject poverty thanks to communism.
Never mind the fact that the other half of Korea was ruled by a series of American-supported despots until around the last 1980's.
Never mind the fact that South Korea's success story is a tribute to American-style capitalism and American foreign policies that to this day continues to maintain peace, stability, and economic prosperity across the globe.
The fact that Parasite can even be produced, the fact that Parasite can even be about the excesses of capitalism, in a nation where, just two generations ago, poverty and third-world conditions were the norm, is nothing less than amazing. If it wasn't for America, and if it wasn't for capitalism, there would be no movie about the excesses thereof.
The Real Parasites
Yet still, the "wrong minority" won. It would have been even better for the Hollywood left if an African, or African-American, won the award. It would have been even better for the Hollywood left if a female-directed film about women's issues won the award. It would have been even better for the Hollywood left if a Latino, a Latina, a Native-American, or a non-binary used-to-be-a-guy-and-still-looks-like-a-guy-but-dresses-like-a-lady won the award.
Instead, it was the "privileged minority" that won.
And according to the left, "Asian privilege" is a thing, as the movie Crazy Rich Asians demonstrates. (I actually saw Crazy Rich Asians, and it was a fantastic movie. Definitely a good rom com in a time where rom coms are on the way out.)
Why do I bring this up? Am I asking for pity? Am I trying to wield the race card in a shameless promotion of my own heritage?
Hardly.
Instead, I want to point out that all the talk about race politics, all the talk about how the Democrats are supposedly the party that transcends race while the Republicans are nothing but a bunch of white racists, is pure bullshit.
Because when it comes to actually moving toward a post-racial world, white liberals still need to get over their white guilt. Because that's all this is. Nothing but a bunch of vain white guilt.
And that's not going to help future "Parasites." Not in the least.
Instead, that's just going to reinforce the status quo, where #OscarsSoWhite becomes a recurring theme, and everyone at the Oscars will continue to hypocritically lecture us with righteous indignation.
If you think about it, THEY are the real "parasites" here.
Tenchusatsu |
