The movie I chose to watch is Parasite, partly because I have heard a lot of great things about it. Arguably, I would say that the plot of the entire movie is a series of moral dilemmas. The implication of the title ‘parasite’ is clear in how the Kims benefit off of the Park family, but I would argue that the Parks are also parasites in that they leech off of the service of others because they are incapable of doing anything themselves. They are so reliant on other people, that they cannot live self-sufficiently in any capacity.
The Kim family, down on their luck as they are, plot to pervade the Park house and essentially take control of all of the positions available to serve their self-interest. One dilemma that stood out to me is the way that they took advantage of the house-keeper, Moon-gwang’s, allergy to peaches to get her fired. The Parks, who clearly view their staff as inferior and dispensable, fire her and replace her with Chung-sook Kim, and thus the Kims have achieved full monopoly over the staff of the Parks.
Let’s explore the possible outcomes of this dilemma via the 7 moral positions:
- Listening and following one’s conscience: I think that this is very relative, as everybody has different morals. In this movie, clearly the benefits of securing the job of the housekeeper far outweighed any moral hiccups that the Kims might have had, which led them to carry out their plan.
- Not knowing what to do: The Kims had a very methodological way of achieving their goals. Knowing that the housekeeper had an allergy, and choosing to exploit it in front of the Parks were active choices. They chose to find out that information and use it to their benefit, so there is no way that they could ‘plead the fifth’.
- I would do whatever would improve my own situation: This I believe is the crux of the movie- the Kims did everything that they did because it served their own self-interests. The only things that they cared about were themselves and their success.
- I Would Do What God or the Scriptures Say Is Right: From what I could tell, there doesn’t seem to be any mention of faith at all. I think the Kims were too entrenched, too desperate to be faithful (even though those are not mutually exclusive).
- I Would Do Whatever Made Me Happy: This is similar to point 3, where the actions of the Kim family are justified to them because they are self-serving, and they really need the jobs.
- I would follow the advice of an authority figure: The Kims followed the advice of one another. They worked as a team to win against the Parks.
- I would do what’s best for everyone: Clearly, the Kims were only thinking of themselves, else they would have helped Geun-sae stay hidden, since he had nothing to do with them and their job security. However, the Kims wanted to eliminate anything that would cost them their jobs, and therefore attempted to expose them.
Personally, I do not think my conscious would allow me to act as the Kims did. I believe that dishonesty always comes back to bite you, which would stop me from going to the lengths that they went. My moral compass is often very black and white, a gut feeling that helps me to distinguish between right and wrong. For this reason, I don’t think I would physically allow myself to act as they did.
