Parasite: Global Phenomenon or Oscars Flop?

After taking home 4 Oscars, including best picture, buzz over Parasite is at an all-time high. It became the first foreign film to ever win best picture, but does it deserve it? 

The Park Family have a disccusion in Parasite

To put it bluntly, Parasite was a let-down. Personally, I believe it’s a movie I've seen 1000 times. The themes of class divide are something that have been commonplace in movies and TV for a long time. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t despise this movie. I thought it was worth the $7 ticket, and I stayed interested throughout the 2 hour and 12-minute runtime. 

The further removed from the movie I get, the deeper some things seem. Although it has impacted me outside the theatre none of these plot points are interesting enough to keep me intrigued. Such as the idea of this family physically living in a lower place than the rich family, to literally show class divide. In all I give Parasite a 7/10 for being interesting and a solid movie, but a 7/10 shouldn’t win best picture. 

What else should have won?

This year, no movies jumped out at me as deserving of the best picture victory. 2019 seemed like a very middling year for movies. Compared to the others nominated, however, Parasite did not deserve its win. Other movies took greater liberties and creative leaps which make them much more deserving. 1917 was shot in one “continuous shot”, a production jump that has rarely been seen before. Jojo Rabbit adapted a story into a comedy-drama that was incredibly interesting throughout, and Joker added a darker twist to a well-known villain. I believe big cinematic leaps should be more respected because they have potential to change the film genre. Looking at the winners from the past 5 years such as Birdman and Moonlight it's obvious Parasite does not deserve to be among them. 

Taika Waititi as Hitler next to Co-star Roman Davis as Jojo Betzler

My choice for best picture would have been Jojo Rabbit, directed by Taika Waititi known for Thor Ragnarök and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. To me, the entire idea of Jojo Rabbit was so much more interesting even more enjoyable to watch than Parasite. The idea of a boy in the Hitler youth, who’s imaginary friend IS Hitler, and whose mother is hiding a Jewish girl in the attic, is astronomically more gripping to me than a movie about class warfare. I will admit no movies this year were completely game changing such as Titanic or The Godfather, which is why I would give Jojo Rabbit an 8/10 and my personal favorite of the year.