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Maureen Dowd of the NYT thinks that Parasite is about "con artists who invade an elegant house and wreak chaos" and that Trump should empathize

RastaMentality

RastaMentality

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Oct 25, 2017
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The New York Times on Twitter

“In Opinion @MaureenDowd writes, "It’s funny that Donald Trump doesn’t like a movie about con artists who invade an elegant house and wreak chaos. He should empathize with parasites." https://t.co/ceHxQIwbdI”
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This movie is a great Rorschach test to see interpretations from out of touch rich people.
 
nded

nded

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Nov 14, 2017
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Dowd doesn't think that, Trump does.

Edit: Or maybe she does? I kinda get the sentiment but the wording is telling.
 
Border

Border

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Do you not understand what she's saying?

Trump is the con artist parasite that has invaded the White House and is wreaking havoc. That's why he should relate.
 
Quzar

Quzar

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centrists and right leaning individuals have difficulty parsing media that critiques themselves or the systems they defend, look at the amount of people who have Disco Elysium avatars here that didn't get it.
 
Eeyore

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Border said:
Do you not understand what she's saying?

Trump is the con artist parasite that has invaded the White House and is wreaking havoc. That's why he should relate.
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The movie is about class warfare between the haves, the have nots, and the have not nots and how some people will find others to look down upon even though the situations should be easier for them to understand. What the author is asking for is self-reflection from Donald Trump. He'd also have to watch the movie.
 
peyrin

peyrin

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it is truly astonishing how many people miss the point of parasite, one of the least subtle political films of the last decade
 

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Quzar said:
centrists and right leaning individuals have difficulty parsing media that critiques themselves or the systems they defend, look at the amount of people who have Disco Elysium avatars here that didn't get it.
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Not sure why you assume the people who have Disco Elysium avatars didn't get it.
 
Teenage Fansub

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They're not? That's just the literal basic plot.

e: Like, their scams to get into the house make them brilliant characters. They are artists at the con. That's not a dis.
 
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Mariolee

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The rest of the article isn't really about that, and it's more or less just a joke not really revealing what she thinks the movie is about but twisting it to make it fit Trump.

How many of y'all actually read the article?
 
KarmaCow

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Even ignoring the absolutely empty headed take on Parasite, the actual piece is garbage. It's less cohesive than a twitter thread and with nothing insightful or novel to say.
 
Border

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Lord of Ostia said:
Is it really though?
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The form of the joke is pretty incredibly common. Bill Maher probably makes a crack like that twice a week.

"Oh, what do you know? <Celebrity/politician> said they did not like <movie/book/TV show>?! You'd think (s)he would really enjoy a story about <summarized plotline that ironically mirrors the life of celebrity/politician>!"
 
Mariolee

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Border said:
The form of the joke is pretty incredibly common. Bill Maher probably makes a crack like that twice a week.

"Oh, what do you know <celebrity/politician> did not like <movie/book/TV show>?! You'd think (s)he would really enjoy a story about <summarized plotline that ironically mirrors the life of celebrity/politician>!"
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Hell, Colbert does it every night.
 

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Border said:
The form of the joke is pretty incredibly common. Bill Maher probably makes a crack like that twice a week.

"Oh, what do you know? <Celebrity/politician> said they did not like <movie/book/TV show>?! You'd think (s)he would really enjoy a story about <summarized plotline that ironically mirrors the life of celebrity/politician>!"
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Yes but did you actually read this opinion article?
 
Kirblar

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Copying my post from poli over-

It's what you get if you remove the class inequality half of the film. Like a big part of the film's structure (SPOILERZ)

Is showing that the main characters are assholes who would still be assholes with or without power or money. It's what makes the movie far better than just a "class is the problem" film with a message straight out of Mr Robot S1 because it's acknowledging that people are the underlying problem that drives the class divide. Buuut if you ignore that class half of the movie you're gonna get a movie about con artists making a mess out of things.
 
Daphne

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Ha! When I saw the film with my brother, I said to him afterwards that there would be people who'd have this interpretation and he scoffed that anyone could be that stupid.
 

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Kirblar said:
Copying my post from poli over-

It's what you get if you remove the class inequality half of the film. Like a big part of the film's structure (SPOILERZ)

Is showing that the main characters are assholes who would still be assholes with or without power or money. It's what makes the movie far better than just a "class is the problem" film with a message straight out of Mr Robot S1 because it's acknowledging that people are the underlying problem that drives the class divide. Buuut if you ignore that class half of the movie you're gonna get a movie about con artists making a mess out of things.
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I feel like you think this take is more meaningful than it actually is. No shit people abusing power over others is the problem with class divides, that's the basis of essentially every class critique.
 
Quzar

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Kirblar said:
Copying my post from poli over-

It's what you get if you remove the class inequality half of the film. Like a big part of the film's structure (SPOILERZ)

Is showing that the main characters are assholes who would still be assholes with or without power or money. It's what makes the movie far better than just a "class is the problem" film with a message straight out of Mr Robot S1 because it's acknowledging that people are the underlying problem that drives the class divide. Buuut if you ignore that class half of the movie you're gonna get a movie about con artists making a mess out of things.
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I mean, the movie definitely leans into Capitalism being the problem since it encourages such behavior. Believing people are inherently evil or greedy is 100% Capitalist propaganda.
 
BADMAN

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Did she even watch the movie? The article only references Parasite once at the top.
 
Haze

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Border said:
Do you not understand what she's saying?

Trump is the con artist parasite that has invaded the White House and is wreaking havoc. That's why he should relate.
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Reading is hard.

For context, parasite identities capitalism as the genesis of the issue of class struggle. The poor family in the movie are pictured as having not much choice but to scam and con to get by because of the system that allows the other family (who unconsciously view them as subhuman) to have the lavish life that they live.
 
BADMAN

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Quzar said:
centrists and right leaning individuals have difficulty parsing media that critiques themselves or the systems they defend, look at the amount of people who have Disco Elysium avatars here that didn't get it.
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Imagine unironically playing through Disco Elysium as Neoliberal cop.
 
Potterson

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Lol, some of you are overreacting. Yes, the Parasite is a great metaphor for class struggle! But it's also about con artists "invading" a rich family. Like, come on :D You can say that, especially if it's not in a review.
 
Border

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Lord of Ostia said:
Yes but did you actually read this opinion article?
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It's kind of just a rundown of shitty things Trump did this week, without any particular thesis other than "This is fucked."

I suppose she could (but never directly does) argue that the administration parallels the film Parasite, in the sense that once one con artist weaseled his way into the house he proceed to aid other unqualified individuals into also leeching off the household. In the same way, Trump continues to appoint many unqualified people to government positions purely on the basis of loyalty while inventing reasons to kick out qualified individuals.
 

Spine Crawler

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RastaMentality said:
That's not what the movie is about lmao.

The poor people are... not the parasites.
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thats up to interpretation.
one shoud point out that the parks did nothing wrong per se. they paid and handled their employees well. they just had a general sense of superiority towards others which was mr. parks downfall. its also not really clear where their wealth comes from this family (they are owning a tech company.. thats as far as we get to know) from so its hard to say that they are parasitic unless you have a plump stance saying capitalist are all parasites.
 
Haze

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Spine Crawler said:
thats up to interpretation.
one shoud point out that the parks did nothing wrong per se. they paid and handled their employees well. they just had a general sense of superiority towards others which was mr. parks downfall. its also not really clear where their wealth comes from this family (they are owning a tech company.. thats as far as we get to know) from so its hard to say that they are parasitic unless you have a plump stance saying capitalist are all parasites.
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Well in order for them to obtain that wealth from owning a tech company, they have to extract the surplus labor from their employees, even if they're paid "well". It's kind of parasitic in itself.
 
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