This morning I read an editorial in Junkee by Michelle Rennex about Parasite.
Rennex wonders how wealthy celebrities can publicly praise Parasite on social media when the movie is a criticism of their attitudes and behaviors.
Rennex says:
The unbelievably rich being unfazed by Bong Joon-Ho’s themes of class conflict, social inequality and wealth disparity is exactly what Parasite portrayed with the Park family. So, it feels strange for celebrities to see this exact thing on film and not making any parallels to their own lives.
We really don't know, though, what thoughts are happening inside people's heads...even if we get to read their Tweets and see their Instagram posts.
It would be quite remarkable if a celebrity saw the movie; then Tweeted I love Parasite! And it's made me realize I'm way too much like the wealthy family in the movie. I'm going to make major changes in my life!
But maybe the movie did reach some of them, and maybe they're quietly trying to change.
I would think that part of Bong Jo Hoo's purpose in making the movie was to reach out to the wealthy and inspire change in them. I'm doubting he had the sole goal of reaching out to the financially disadvantaged and validating their anger.
I think the purpose of satire is to teach morals in an easier to swallow form.
So in some ways, I disagreed with Rennex's stance in her editorial. And it annoyed me a bit.
On the other hand, I realized it reminded me of something in my own life, and I think I experienced a bit of cognitive dissonance.
What I thought of is when someone in my life makes a statement showing a concern or support for mental health, and I want to scream, How dare you say these things when you have gaslighted me, invalidated me, manipulated me, terrified me, shamed me, etc?
I have seen someone criticize parents for doing a similar thing that they did to me when I was very young...yet what they did was even worse. And when they said this criticism, there was no visible sense of self-awareness.
The initial feelings I had when reading Rennex's editorial then made me question the hypocrisy I've experienced. Was I wrong to not consider the feelings behind the hypocrisy? Even if I don't hear, Hey, reading about this mental health stuff has realized it's wrong to do things like gaslighting and invalidation. So, I'm really sorry about how I treated you. Could they be thinking these things privately? And if they're not thinking them consciously, could they at least be thinking them on a subconscious level? And could that subconscious thinking lead to better behaviors?
Well, after some thinking...this is what I've decided.
I think sometimes behind the aggravating hypocrisy that we witness, there can be private desires and plans to change. But in other cases, the hypocrite can circumvent this by accepting an alternate message.
With Parasite, a wealthy person can watch it and see the poor family as the villains, because they ARE con artists. It's not like the wealthy family mistreated kind, honest, and innocent people. Some of us can watch the movie and take both/neither sides. Like the movie Us, it's a class struggle with both sides being pretty shitty towards each other.
Other people might watch Parasite and think the wealthy deserve their home being invaded by con artists. And others might feel the non-wealthy family deserves to be exploited. Or they might not even recognize the behavior as unfair and exploitive.
Then there are the wealthy people who are just simply lacking in self-awareness. They'll see the exploitation and class differences. It will remind them of their celebrity frenemies, but they'll feel that they personally are above such behavior.
As for mental health, what I remembered is that there are very different and often opposing viewpoints regarding mental health. I side with the viewpoint that mental health issues come mostly from painful experiences and toxic interpersonal interactions. Many other people side with the medical model view of mental health—that it's an illness caused by chemical disturbances in the brain. These people can care about mental illness and treatment without giving attention or concern to things such as gaslighting, invalidation, trauma, etc. OR they might recognize trauma as having an effect on mental health, but trauma to them would be war, rape, starvation, severe physical abuse, etc. They would see things like gaslighting as being trivial and harmless...or they might not even know what gaslighting is.
These people can participate in mental health advocacy without needing to do any soul-searching.
It would be so satisfying for someone to read, hear, or watch something and declare that they have made mistakes and want to change. I'm sure that does happen every so often. But in most cases, we're not going to get that. The best we can hope for usually is that someone is privately wishing to make changes. But even that hope, too often, is a bit far-fetched.
Rennex wonders how wealthy celebrities can publicly praise Parasite on social media when the movie is a criticism of their attitudes and behaviors.
Rennex says:
The unbelievably rich being unfazed by Bong Joon-Ho’s themes of class conflict, social inequality and wealth disparity is exactly what Parasite portrayed with the Park family. So, it feels strange for celebrities to see this exact thing on film and not making any parallels to their own lives.
We really don't know, though, what thoughts are happening inside people's heads...even if we get to read their Tweets and see their Instagram posts.
It would be quite remarkable if a celebrity saw the movie; then Tweeted I love Parasite! And it's made me realize I'm way too much like the wealthy family in the movie. I'm going to make major changes in my life!
But maybe the movie did reach some of them, and maybe they're quietly trying to change.
I would think that part of Bong Jo Hoo's purpose in making the movie was to reach out to the wealthy and inspire change in them. I'm doubting he had the sole goal of reaching out to the financially disadvantaged and validating their anger.
I think the purpose of satire is to teach morals in an easier to swallow form.
So in some ways, I disagreed with Rennex's stance in her editorial. And it annoyed me a bit.
On the other hand, I realized it reminded me of something in my own life, and I think I experienced a bit of cognitive dissonance.
What I thought of is when someone in my life makes a statement showing a concern or support for mental health, and I want to scream, How dare you say these things when you have gaslighted me, invalidated me, manipulated me, terrified me, shamed me, etc?
I have seen someone criticize parents for doing a similar thing that they did to me when I was very young...yet what they did was even worse. And when they said this criticism, there was no visible sense of self-awareness.
The initial feelings I had when reading Rennex's editorial then made me question the hypocrisy I've experienced. Was I wrong to not consider the feelings behind the hypocrisy? Even if I don't hear, Hey, reading about this mental health stuff has realized it's wrong to do things like gaslighting and invalidation. So, I'm really sorry about how I treated you. Could they be thinking these things privately? And if they're not thinking them consciously, could they at least be thinking them on a subconscious level? And could that subconscious thinking lead to better behaviors?
Well, after some thinking...this is what I've decided.
I think sometimes behind the aggravating hypocrisy that we witness, there can be private desires and plans to change. But in other cases, the hypocrite can circumvent this by accepting an alternate message.
With Parasite, a wealthy person can watch it and see the poor family as the villains, because they ARE con artists. It's not like the wealthy family mistreated kind, honest, and innocent people. Some of us can watch the movie and take both/neither sides. Like the movie Us, it's a class struggle with both sides being pretty shitty towards each other.
Other people might watch Parasite and think the wealthy deserve their home being invaded by con artists. And others might feel the non-wealthy family deserves to be exploited. Or they might not even recognize the behavior as unfair and exploitive.
Then there are the wealthy people who are just simply lacking in self-awareness. They'll see the exploitation and class differences. It will remind them of their celebrity frenemies, but they'll feel that they personally are above such behavior.
As for mental health, what I remembered is that there are very different and often opposing viewpoints regarding mental health. I side with the viewpoint that mental health issues come mostly from painful experiences and toxic interpersonal interactions. Many other people side with the medical model view of mental health—that it's an illness caused by chemical disturbances in the brain. These people can care about mental illness and treatment without giving attention or concern to things such as gaslighting, invalidation, trauma, etc. OR they might recognize trauma as having an effect on mental health, but trauma to them would be war, rape, starvation, severe physical abuse, etc. They would see things like gaslighting as being trivial and harmless...or they might not even know what gaslighting is.
These people can participate in mental health advocacy without needing to do any soul-searching.
It would be so satisfying for someone to read, hear, or watch something and declare that they have made mistakes and want to change. I'm sure that does happen every so often. But in most cases, we're not going to get that. The best we can hope for usually is that someone is privately wishing to make changes. But even that hope, too often, is a bit far-fetched.
Dina,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit neighbor! One way on Vonlane was $99...but that was cheaper than a last min ticket on Southwest Aus-Dal. Curious how up you watched Parasite...Did you stream it? Thanks, Janey
Hi! We saw it at Alamo Drafthouse. .I think the one in North Richland Hills? I will have to look into Vonlane. I don't drive. My husband does the driving, but I'm thinking if I ever need to travel without him. With driving to the airport, parking, going through security, and all that...I don't think much time is saved via flying when it comes to short distances!
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