Author: bibbo.6

Text Review – Parasite

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Parasite is a Korean film based around two families, the wealthy Park family and the poor Kim family. In the first half of the film, one of the Kim’s becomes employed by the Park family as a tutor for their daughter. The Kim’s then construct a plan to make all members of their family work for the Park’s. They do this by creating ways to get the old Driver and Housekeeper fired so they can take their jobs. The second half of the film reveals that the old housekeeper’s husband was hiding in the basement. The Park’s return home while the Kim’s try to avoid being exposed for their scheme. 

The film focuses on class and wealth differences in society. This is also done through height in Parasite. Throughout the film, characters move up and down in terrain when events move them up or down in status. An example of this is the different perspectives on a rainstorm that occurs in the film. The Park’s house is located on a hill, while the Kim’s house is a half basement in a much lower area of the city. In the Kim’s house, their toilet is higher than the floor, showing that the sewage has more “status” than them. When the rainstorm hits, the Kim’s neighborhood floods, submerging their house as well. They are displaced and must spend the night in a gymnasium, receiving clothes for the next day from a donated pile. This is in stark contrast to the Park’s, who were thankful for the rain helping the air quality and held a birthday party the next day. 

Parasite and the wealth differences displayed relate to many ideas in this class including Can the Subaltern Speak. The Kim’s face many struggles during the film, but cannot open up about them. They cannot reveal to the Park’s that they are related or that their house flooded because they are employed and dependent on them. 

Parasite is an excellent film that showcases the wealth divide in it’s plot, as well as in how the film is shot. The Kim’s face injustices due to their financial and living situations in contrast to the park’s lifestyle. When watching the film, pay attention to how height changes, light, and smell relate to status and wealth through the film. After being the first international film to win Best Picture at the Oscars, it is safe to say that Parasite is a must see.

Diary of Systemic Injustice Showcase – The Inequality of Snow Removal

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This winter in Columbus, we received a lot of snowfall over multiple days. With temperatures consistently below freezing, the snow didn’t melt and accumulated. Weather events, especially snow, can interfere with travel and make conditions extremely hazardous. Snow removal is an essential service to allow people to travel to work, school, and more. The city prioritizes major roads and has published a map system (warriorwatch.columbus.gov/ww) showing which roads are priority 1, 2, or 3, with the lowest priority being residential roads. This website also shows road service in real time during a snowstorm. This data shows that there are more roads with a level 2 priority in areas like Old North Columbus and Clintonville than more impoverished areas like Linden. The real time data also shows more roads being serviced first in wealthier areas. Many level 2 roads in Linden have not been serviced while level 3 roads in other areas are. Residential areas near Gahanna also have many more level 2 residential roads than areas closer to downtown. This causes these areas to be serviced much earlier than others. The priority of servicing wealthier areas during the snow removal process makes weather events a large hazard for impoverished areas. Car accidents and injuries are more common due to the lack of road treatment, especially when people can’t afford to miss a day of work. This is an example of systemic injustice because the city prioritizes more roads in wealthier areas than poorer areas. On top of this, level 2 roads in wealthier areas also get serviced earlier according to live data from the city. While it is impossible to put all roads at a high priority, and servicing busier roads first is important, the city still does not treat all areas equally. In weather events like the ones this winter, some areas may not be plowed before the next snowstorm, making conditions worse and focusing treatment back to level 1 roads. The city should rethink areas of it’s road priority map to fairly treat wealthy and impoverished areas more similarly in order to reduce systemic injustice against poverty. 

This issue can be related to the concept of the Self and the Other from Beauvoir’s The Second Sex. Wealth differences create a “Self” (wealthy) and an “Other” (poor). In this case, the city is prioritizing the Self over the Other which further separates them from each other. 

Inequality due to snow removal is also discussed in this article from Niagara Falls (https://www.niagara-gazette.com/opinion/guest-view-the-inequality-in-niagara-falls-snow-removal/article_cecda884-0d51-11ea-bbc0-4b927c21be05.html). This article discusses how snow pushed onto sidewalks also shows systemic injustice, giving priority to those who can afford to own cars instead of relying on bikes and walking. 

 

This photo shows a large number of priority 2 roadways (pink)  in a wealthy area of Columbus.

This photo shows the contrast in the number of priority roads in Linden, a less wealthy region of the city. 

Modern Conflicts in Iran – Persepolis Film, Directed by Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi (Context Presentation, Jake Bibbo)

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Persepolis the book was published in 2000 and the film was released in 2007. In 1995, the United States enacted sanctions on Iran for groups such as Hezbollah Hamas which are considered terrorist groups in the U.S. (Iran Profile). This sanction has continued, in different variations, to the present. George Bush described Iran as “part of an ‘axis of evil’ that exports terror” in 2002 (Iran Profile). This was due to the potential development of long range missiles in multiple countries, including Iran. Soon after, Iran’s first nuclear reactor was constructed. This was met with opposition from the United States and in 2003, United Nations inspections of nuclear facilities were conducted, finding no evidence of nuclear weapons. 

Persepolis (the book) was released amidst these events, sharing a different perspective to readers in the United States who had only seen Iran through a negative political lens. 

In 2006, Iran failed to stop its work on nuclear fuel by a deadline set by the UN Security Council, and in 2007, Iran detained 15 British sailors, causing a standoff between the two countries (Iranian Navy). This incident occurred after British sailors entered disputed waters which Iran believes to be theirs. This conflict was soon followed by harsher sanctions on Iran from the U.S. for the failure to suspend uranium enrichment (A Brief History). These sanctions have made the value of currency in Iran fall drastically and have lowered economic growth (Six Charts). 

Persepolis (the movie) once again challenged this narrative by providing a glimpse into Iranian life that was less biased by western political turmoil. Due to conflicts between the U.S. and Iranian governments, a 2013 study found that only 5% of Americans viewed Iranians positively, which is the lowest of any country in the world (BBC World Service Poll). Media in the United States focuses on the negative relationship between the two countries, causing the American people to only know the negative side of the story. Persepolis was released in English for a reason, and both the book and movie versions, released during political conflict, have helped western audiences see Iran unobstructed by politics. 

 

Works Cited

 

“BBC World Service Poll.” BBC. 

“A Brief History of Sanctions on Iran.” Atlantic Council, 8 May 2018, www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/a-brief-history-of-sanctions-on-iran/. 

“Iran Profile – Timeline.” BBC News, BBC, 6 Jan. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14542438. 

“Iranian Navy Detains British Sailors in Persian Gulf.” NPR, NPR, 23 Mar. 2007, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9112105. 

“Six Charts That Show How Hard US Sanctions Have Hit Iran.” BBC News, BBC, 9 Dec. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48119109.