This article focuses on the nexus of power through the cultural text Parasite (2019), directed by Bong Joon-ho. It incorporates socioeconomic and psychoanalytic theories to extend the discourse on related existing research. The interdisciplinary approach in research has broadened the horizons for exploring the intersection of various disciplines, collectively contributing to the understanding of human behavior and societal functioning. Constituents of popular culture, specifically the visual medium of film, enable a study of representations and serve as a fertile ground for probing the interplay of power dynamics through the narrative and the characters by contextualizing them in a local and global scenario. South Korean films have offered insights into crucial and challenging subjects with distinctive storytelling, which can be comprehended and analyzed in relation to the larger domain of contemporary societies. Historical and empirical interpretations of power interrelations, class, ambivalence, and commodification are traced primarily to unearth the director’s storytelling and how Parasite functions as the pinnacle of these underlying complexities. By further examining the notion of representation, the conclusion follows that liberation from internal and external forms of social stratification in a capitalist society remains a contentious concept.
Lalhruaitluangi et al. (2026) studied this question.