Analysis/Opinion: How much should you respect the freedom of the rich to hoard their wealth, when you are living in uninhabitable circumstances?

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2020)

The vague incisions that are carved in your mind as you navigate through the elusive metaphors within the movie become clearer as the plot develops and unwillingly grips you with a truly unique plot, charismatic characters, sagacious dialogue, and unexpected events that last from beginning to end. The complexity of the plot resists in helping you answer questions like: Who has the higher moral standpoint? Who deserves to get the upper hand? Is the Kim family truly malevolent? If you were in their position would you do the same? Do you feel compassion and sympathy for Ki-Taek even after killing Mr. Park?
The movie accomplishes a feat that most movies nowadays are not able to: every single character is complex enough to merit forgiveness, understanding, and redemption. One character, despite all the deficits and obstacles, is attempting to survive to be able to get an education, wealth, and prestige, be secure financially and equally valuable as the Park family is; he is trying not to be a parasite. Another character is freer and careless, even self-destructive, acceptant of that fate that life has bestowed her. A bit more lost, but ultimately only guilty of attempting to have enough money to help the family. In the entire movie you cannot find a single instance of sadism or even malevolence from any of the "parasites". They are fervently trying to survive and equipped with sufficient cunning to achieve their goals and can you blame them?
After an hour of receiving the earnest nature of the message of parasite, I recognized that the movie is not particularly expressing a message about meritocracy. If there is a central element of this movie it is social mobility or the lack thereof. The Kim family was attempting to survive, yes; they deserved better circumstances, maybe, but their main juncture was the fact that they are attempting to progress and elevate themselves in the social hierarchy: social mobility. Anyone with a modicum of empathy can empathize with the ruthless suffering of the lower class or underrepresented = the Kim family. The director tries to demonstrate in creative forms the insensitivity of the wealthy class to the precarious nature of the poor. The movie is basically a metaphor of class struggle with comedic, dramatic, and violent gestures.
How much should you respect the freedom of the rich to hoard their wealth, when you are living in uninhabitable circumstances? This is, in straightforward terms, the dilemma of the movie. I am going to be your parasite, because you do not respect me nor help me, quite the contrary: you think I'm lesser than you, dirtier than you, and smellier than you. As a parasite I will inhabit your body and nourish myself taking advantage of you, while possibly murdering you. It's a harsh message, but a real one. Many people are living in untenable conditions, while the wealthy class excuse themselves with meritocracy while they enjoy their opulence.
In the movie as the Kim family understands the crude reality of social mobility they eventually become desperate, violent, and homicidal. The inhumane elitism of the Park family becomes more apparent even after traumatic situations happen. This is one of the morals of the narrative. Elitism will usually triumph against the working class and the myth of social mobility proliferated in class struggle might have to be debunked with bloodshed and imagination. There is a line in the movie that expresses the other moral really well: "If I had all this money and freedom, I would probably be a good person. Heck, I would probably be a much better person than Ms. Park". Finally, Ki-Taek reflection after escaping the flooded house is the last moral of the movie: "You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan. No plan at all. You know why? Because life cannot be planned." In this case, Ki-Taek reflects on his situation and tries to justify his failure by habituating his son to a life of no strategy, plan or ambition. He wants his son to love him, but in his desperation he is also habituating him to failure: make them believe that chaos and degeneracy is their only option, and they will attempt to live happily within their exploitation.