Peaches and Noodles:
The Role of Food in Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite
Parasite is a genre-defying film, blending elements of comedy, drama, horror, and heist. It tells the story of a poor family, the Kims (Ki-taek, Chung-sook, Ki-woo, and Ki-jeong) slowly encroaching and leeching off a rich family, the Parks (Dong-ik, Yeon-gyo, Da-hye, and Da-song). The central theme of the film is class conflict and social inequality, how the rich and poor feed off of each other. All elements of the film, from the script, cinematography, to the editing all work to highlight the contrast between the two families and the two classes. But aside from the consistent use of verticality and lines in space as indicators of class, the use of windows and stairs as symbols for the gap between these classes, and the use of rain in highlighting the real victims of climate change, one element of the film has a subtle but constant presence: food.
Food is at the base of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In its most basic definition, food is synonymous to survival. But beyond mere nourishment, food also has cultural, social, and literary relevance. In Parasite, food act as context clues and helps in establishing a setting, it drives and frames the movement of the plot, and it consistently contributes to the themes of class conflict and social inequality.
As part of the setting, the presence of food is important in building the world of Parasite. In the opening scene for example, as we are given a glimpse of the poor Kim family’s wifi-less situation, we are also shown Ki-taek’s breakfast: stale bread and bottled water. Ki-taek carefully checks the bread for molds and then eats it, flicking a stink bug off the table afterwards. This all happens while he and Ki-woo discuss their wifi problem. The bread, and how it is eaten, is being used to highlight their poverty. The lack of a decent breakfast is part of their situation, eventually showing why they need the wifi in the first place. In contrast, when the rich Parks are introduced in their luxurious dining area, a large refrigerator towers in the background with a rack full of wine beside it. This reaffirms the Parks’ wealth: food is never a problem for them. As the first half of film progresses, the food also reflect how the Kims leech off the Parks’ wealth. As the Kims slowly take hold of the Park household, they celebrate with more and more food. They are shown celebrating with canned beer, frying meat at home, scheming over pizza, and, when their takeover of the Park’s home is completed, they get to try the Parks’ variety of alcohol.
Food is also integral in driving the narrative of Parasite forward. Certain food are used in different ways. First, as an important element to the narrative; second, as a way to frame the narrative; and third, as a reflection or recap of the narrative. Two specific food come into mind: the peach and the jjapaguri.
The peach plays a pivotal role in taking care of the last hurdle to the Kims’ domination of the Park household. In a carefully choreographed and edited montage, the peach is used as a weapon against the long-time housekeeper, Moon-gwang. Food becomes a tool. The reveal of the peach’s use, the showcase of its round and fuzzy parts, the testing of its potency, and its eventual use in the killing blow against Moon-gwang’s position in the Park household plays like a carefully-planned heist on an unwitting target. As Bettina Makalintal says: “Parasite is a food movie, sure, but more so, Parasite is about class warfare; food just happens to be one of its weapons.”1
The jjapaguri, translated as ram-don in the subtitles (amalgamation of ramen and udon), is introduced to add tension to the narrative and as a symbol for the narrative. Just before the food’s introduction, Moon-gwang and Geun-sae are holding the Kims hostage with a smartphone video. Suddenly, Chung-sook sees an opportunity and tackles the smartphone away from their captors. Chaos ensues. As the Kims win (with the use of some peaches) the landline rings. It’s the Parks: they’re on their way back home, requesting some jjapaguri with beef. The ensuing chaos, with Ki-woo, Ki-jeong and Ki-taek scrambling to clean up evidence of their deception is juxtaposed with Chung-sook’s focused preparation of the dish. This use of food preparation as a framing device for the action keeps the actions methodical and easier to follow. It contributes further to the tension already present in the scene. The completion of the cooking process, timed with Chung-sook kicking Moon-gwang down a flight of stairs suspends the tension — slowly carrying it over the next few scenes. The next scene involves a surreal recollection of Da-song’s memory, where he inadvertently meets Geun-sae late at night while eating cake. This contextualizes how long Geun-sae has been in the Park’s home’s secret bunker — that he has been there all along. All of this is done while Yeong-gyo eats the jjapaguri.
The jjapaguri can also be read as a metaphor for the story, a recap of what is currently taking place. Jjapaguri is what you get when you mix two famous inexpensive brands of Korean instant noodles: Chappageti, a popular brand of instant Korean black bean noodles (jajangmyeon), and Neoguri, a brand of spicy instant seafood udon noodles. This can be read as an allusion to the newly introduced conflict between the two poor families. The addition of Hanwoo beef, a brand of expensive Korean beef, is symbolic of the rich Parks. The jjapaguri then tells us the story so far: two poor families are competing for the resources of a rich one. As Andrew Rea of Binging with Babish writes, “Rarely does a dish serve as such a central metaphor for a film’s primary conflict: in Parasite, boujee beef sits oppressively atop bargain noodles in the Park family’s version of ram-don, the way they sit so literally atop others.”2
Sequences of food and food preparation provide additional comment on the central themes of class conflict and social inequality in Parasite. The production and procurement of food is shown to highlight the subservience of the lower class to the upper class, with Moon-gwang and Chung-sook regularly serving out fruits and snacks to the Parks. Ki-taek, accompanying Mrs. Park in shopping for groceries, is shown to carry the wealth of food that, for the most part, he will never be able to taste. Two of these grocery shopping scenes occur, the first is intertwined with the plot against Moon-gwang’s housekeeper position, and the other is in preparation for Da-song’s impromptu birthday party. Both scenes mark two different perspectives in Ki-taek’s character in his introspection as a lower class character subservient to the Parks. In the first instance the Kims are plotting to take over the Park household, leeching so much off of them. The second grocery scene stands in stark contrast to the previous scene in the evacuation center and serves to highlight Ki-taek’s increasing loss of pride as a servant to the Parks. Food then highlights the relationship between the classes: the upper class depend on the lower class for food, exploiting them in the process.
Food imagery permeates throughout Parasite. It establishes the characters and settings, it moves the story forward, and provides further commentary on its central theme. As film is a reflection of life, the role of food in Parasite mirrors that of how the different social classes in society treat food. For people in poverty, food and the lack of it is a problem they have to face every day, it is tied to their daily struggle and survival. Because of their poverty, good food becomes a luxury. The upper class on the other hand, treat food as constant, food is “enjoyed” rather than merely being “eaten”, it’s an ever-accessible experience. Accessibility to food is central to survival. Without edible food and clean water, humans cannot live long. Food then is an indicator of social status, wealth, and security: the more food you have, the higher your place is in society. The food we eat is a reflection of our status in society. It is at the center stage of our daily lives.
Makalintal, Bettina. “In ‘Parasite,’ Food Is a Violent Weapon of Class Struggle.” Vice, October 11, 2019. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ne89wm/in-parasite-food-is-a-violent-weapon-of-class-struggle.
Ram-Don from Parasite. Binging with Babish. YouTube, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge4vghXQTtQ.