Question

Film Culture Report

Directions: Need a 2-4 page report about an Asian film culture about movies like Crazy Rich Asians, Parasite, Bad Genius, or others.

The report should be divided into the following sections:

Rationale and background: Explain why it is a film culture, and give some background information about it.

Media flow: Explain and discuss the significance of the flows into/out of this film culture.

Representations: Discuss common representations within this film culture.

Implications for soft power: How well has this film culture been used to create soft power?

Conclusion: Recap and offer a final thought.

References: The films you watched and books/articles that you mention in your report.

Very Urgent. Please help.

Answer 1

Asian Film Cultures

Movie analyzed: Parasite

It's like its own universe inside this film. Each character and each team has spaces that they take over that they can infiltrate, and also secret spaces that they don't know. The story is about the poor family infiltrating and creeping into the rich house, it seems very obvious that Parasite refers to the poor family. But if you look at it the other way, you can say that rich family, they're also parasites in terms of labor. They can't even wash dishes, they can't drive themselves, so they leech off the poor family's labor. So both are parasites.-( Words of the writer Bong). The main themes of Parasite are class conflict, social inequality, and wealth disparity. The film also criticizes the socioeconomic conditions of the youth in South Korea. Hell Joseon, Hell Chosun, or Hell Korea are terms used (from around 2015) to criticize the socioeconomic situation in South Korea. It is particularly popular among younger Koreans, due to their feelings about unemployment and working conditions in modern society.

European and Asian films are quite distinct from American films as they are more focused on high culture rather than pop culture. Asian and European films usually have a different approach to storytelling. The literary qualities of these films are what make them greatly distinct. From Tagore to Dostoyevsky a range of deep and meaningful life lessons can be found and so is seen on screens too which is what makes and gives these films a sense of soft power in the reality of our current society. The film Parasite has utilized the best work of various kinds of arts. Everything in the film is made and purposefully and is viewed to the audience from an aesthetic point of view to given the effect of the story's reality. The music is intentional, the scenes and color schemes of the objects in each scene are intricately thought of and even the dialogues are written for each character in a way that it produces the much-needed effect. The food of the rich and poor, the homes and lifestyles are all depicted with immense detail in the movie as Bong the writer interviewed real maids and drivers to get a better understanding of the situations in real life.

Such film cultures have come into fruition more than ever because of the way the current world system work and fail many times. Films are a part of the visual arts and they play a great role as they are literary works by original writers who are almost directly criticizing the works and systems of humanity to start a hopeful wave of change in the world. Such works of art are usually the most real and intriguing which is another reason why they gain more popularity in the box offices. Many can relate to these stories as they are inspired by real-life events. Relatability and perspective always draw in people to genuine truths of life.

These films are increasingly becoming an assertive culture that is thriving in the creative arts industry. The internet is what catapulted Parasite to more than its Oscar achievements. Memes and references were made using the movie's popular scenes which in turn was a relatable visual that many people across different generations especially the young(who are more active users of the internet daily). Since the film points to the classism and income inequality of the current world affairs many people became messengers who brought traffic and attention to these issues and their causes.

Common representations of the film include Modern capitalism: the rich versus the poor apart from the other themes that are classism and income inequality. The film displays the paradox of the rich and poor, a dystopian perspective from the writer's mind picked from his ancestors' real-life struggles, stories, and experiences. Asians have historically suffered from an extreme lack of presence and representation in the American film industry. Asians made appearances on the big screen with very particular characteristics which caused some major stereotypes to be formed worldwide as American pop culture is a huge dominator that way globally. Asians were seen on the big screen when mediated through caricaturization and Orientalism (i.e. yellowface). Male Asian characters are usually emasculated and portrayed as unattractive, while Asian women were exoticized as Oriental ornaments.

Soft power is the ability to attract and co-opt, rather than coerce. The film parasite does a great job of this as it smoothly depicts real-world issues in a creative and visually aesthetic way. The screenplay and acting as well as the scenes promote the message in a very calm and pleasing manner. It does not concept any negative emotions in the audience but infact it serves the bittersweet truth of reality. It calls out the wrongdoings of people from each part of a society's various classes and it also shows how each act and decision of every character in the film is a way of helping audiences comprehend the issues of modern capitalism and classism. The film most definitely isn't coercive. The film strives to foster the exchange of views and ideas, promote knowledge of other cultures, and build bridges between communities.

In conclusion:

The public opinion of South Korea has turned from slightly negative to generally positive and they have proven to show better economic and developmental growth in recent years apart from also influencing the world with their music (k-pop), films, fashion, technology, and other arts. The Asian culture has been extremely influential to the world. Another movie Crazy Rich Asians, also a big box office winner shows with its success the importance of inclusivity in a dominantly westernized world. More and more movies that are thought-provoking, critical, and different are getting more chat and attention as they are directly addressing real-world issues and audiences are beginning to become accepting of it. Even the movie Black Panther shows the way American film cultures are trying to get more ethnicities into the big picture where their voices are an important subject matter as well. Things like discrimination and prejudice are being more talked about than ever as well which is hopefully a great step to better change.

References: The film Parasite and some articles as well as videos.