At a rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado, President Donald Trump had some strong comments about this year’s Oscars. Before his political career, Trump was no stranger to Hollywood, having starred on both the small screen and the silver screen in works such as Ghosts Can’t Do It, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and most famously The Apprentice.
Two weeks back, however, Trump did not hold back from attacking the choices made by the Academy. Many of these attacks focused on the Korean thriller Parasite. The film directed by Bong Joon-ho details the symbiotic relationship of the Kim family and the Park family and explores the complexities of class relations as the families grow closer. Parasite blazed bright at the Oscars this year winning four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Filmed entirely in Korean, it made history as the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture. The film has received raving reviews, including a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Trump did not seem to share the love for the film. In the midst of his rants against the Democrats, he stopped to go on a tangent about the Oscars: “And the winner is a movie from South Korea, what the hell was that all about? We got enough problems with South Korea with trade. On top of it, they give them the best movie of the year? Was it good? I don’t know.”
Reactions have been imminent and strongly worded. As soon as videos from the rally began to circulate the Internet, many major voices responded to Trump’s comments with remarks on Trump’s billionaire status in relation to the themes of the film. The Democratic National Committee tweeted this in response: “Parasite is a foreign movie about how oblivious the ultra-rich are about the struggles of the working class, and it requires two hours of reading subtitles. Of course Trump hates it.”
Some claimed that Trump’s comments might have some hidden controversial and xenophobic meaning to them. This sentiment is further supported by the sentences following the Parasite comments where Trump said, “can we get Gone with the Wind back, please?” The Civil War film, which won several Academy Awards in 1940, including Best Picture, has been the subject of heavy criticism for years for its depiction of African Americans.
Despite the remarks made by the President, Parasite has continued to impress audiences of all nationalities. From its introduction at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, the film has been a trailblazer for foreign-language films, winning the Palme d’Or with a unanimous vote and grossing over $200 million worldwide, becoming one of the highest-grossing South Korean films. Following its win at the Oscars, Parasite was rescreened significantly both domestically and internationally, increasing its original revenue by more than 230 percent. These numbers show that even though Donald Trump didn’t like Parasite, several other people who went and saw the film enjoyed it thoroughly.
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