“If there’s one thing I hate, it’s people who cross the line”: Technologies of cyborg/human relations in Parasite (2019)
This paper was written in 2021
In her 1985 essay A Cyborg Manifesto, Donna Haraway writes that ‘late twentieth-century machines have made thoroughly ambiguous the difference between natural and artificial […] and many other distinctions that used to apply to organisms and machines.’[1] Haraway applies this ambiguity embodied by the cyborg to science-fiction, a genre that is well-populated with such figures. However, in this essay I will demonstrate how the cyborg can be applied to labour relations within worlds no different than our own, including all post-industrial capitalist societies. This will be executed through analysing Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (2019), due to the film’s detailed exploration of boundaries that resembles Haraway’s manifesto. The cyborg’s transcendence of various boundaries is reminiscent of the characters of Parasite, who cross the same lines in spite of society’s class limitations.
However, we must first define the ‘cyborg’ as Haraway’s use of the term differs with each utterance, therefore it should not be applied to a single being but rather noted as a conceptual device that exposes the idealised image of the human. A Cyborg Manifesto defies categories such as race, gender, sexuality and class, whilst demonstrating how such groupings are not natural nor adopted by choice. Instead they are imposed to restrain the worker and secure the dominant social structure. Therefore, Haraway’s work insists that in order to challenge these historical hierarchies, one must acknowledge the paradoxical quality of the human. Capitalist societies demand that humans act as high-functioning vehicles of both production and reproduction. There is a fundamental demand for both economic rationality and social action, which represents the ‘dualisms of naturalised identities’[2] that define and plague the human. The escape from this paradox is placed in the hands of the cyborg for its inherent rejection of wholeness, allowing it to present as both organism and machine. This relinquishing of borders disrupts the stable identity categories that have been used to divide and structure societal order since the dawn of capitalism.
By acknowledging the divisiveness in identity categories, the cyborg is able to embrace the ‘permanently partial identities’[3] that continue to restrict the human. As part organism and part machine, there in an inherent simultaneous presence of humanisation and mechanisation in the cyborg. This is manifested through ‘technologies’ which are used to secure stability within capitalism and it’s ‘transient mode of production.’[4] Technology may be used to represent the cyborg’s convergence of man and machine, or the capacity to favour one or the other at a given moment – an idea that is reminiscent of the industrialised worker. The humanising capability of technology is present in Judith Butler’s writing on gender performance where she states, ‘discrete genders are part of what ‘humanizes’ individuals within contemporary culture; indeed those who fail to do their gender right are regularly punished.’[5] Here, normative gender roles can be viewed as a technology of humanisation, used to regulate labour through gender performativity. On the other hand, Silvia Federici’s work on primitive accumulation in Caliban and the Witch discusses the technology of mechanisation. Federici writes that capitalist accumulation includes ‘the mechanisation of the proletarian body and its transformation’[6] which produces a productive entity that is vulnerable to exploitation. Although entirely oppositional in their methods and outcomes, these two modes of technology are concurrently central to cyborg relations within the post-industrial landscape and Parasite.
The film introduces this function through the Kim family, a group of cyborgs whose primary mode of survival is their skilful uses of humanising and mechanising technologies. At the film’s opening this working-class family inhabit poor living conditions and must resort to low-waged labour due to the rigid class system. The effect of this hierarchical structure is heightened by the presence of the ‘human’ Park family, whose socio-economic superiority juxtaposes the Kim family entirely. Despite the perceived rigidity of class, these cyborgs discover a sense social mobility that allows them to enter a class above their own through securing domestic work in the Park household. In order to demonstrate the Kim family’s manipulation of the cyborg category, I will analyse key scenes from the film in which technology is the focal point of numerous cyborg relations. The first scene is a montage wherein the Kim family infiltrate the Park family’s domestic labour network, whilst the second reveals truths that shatter the illusions of the montage.
Parasite’s striking use of language demonstrates the extent to which the class system can be questioned and contorted for the purposes of survival. Hortense J. Spillers substantiates the significance of language by positing it as one of the means of distinguishing humans from those who are regarded as less than human. Despite the Kim family’s distance from the human category, they are able to weaponise language in order manipulate the class system. This function allows the Kims to appear more ‘human’ and desirable to the Parks, and is central to all capitalist spaces as cyborgs themselves are vehicles of production. Foucault’s discourse on homo oeconomicus extends this aspect of Haraway’s cyborg. According to Foucault, homo oeconomicus is ‘an entrepreneur of himself’[7] forced to treat his life as an economic project since the workplace is now his own body. By working and reworking himself to cater to the market’s demands, all aspects of homo oeconomicus are used for consumption and commodification. Consider the sex worker as an empirical example of this, since sexuality is bought and sold as an extension of the sex worker’s time, body and labour. There is a illusion of freedom that plagues this figure, due to the potential flexibility of work hours and workplace, as well as the social mobility that is inaccessible to most capitalist workers. However, the market’s demands must be maintained by homo oeconomicus who adapts accordingly with capitalism’s growing demand. Observe the sex worker’s relationship with the technological evolution of pornography. Expanding from print, to video, to digital, the sex worker must consistently adapt themself accordingly in order to secure liveable wages.
Homo oeconomicus is present in Parasite’s montage scene through the Kim family constructing versions of themselves that cater to the market’s demands. Foucault notes that this construction includes ‘a breakdown of [their] behaviours and ways of doing things’[8] in response to the needs of the employer. The transformation relies heavily on self-image which intrudes upon and disregards the worker’s own identity. The success of this transformation lies not in individual endeavours by each family member but their collective efforts. As a unit these cyborgs resemble Haraway’s theorisation of the nuclear family under capitalism, which consists of a mother, father and their children. However, they are ‘structured by the dichotomy between public and private and accompanied by the [white] bourgeois ideology of separate spheres.’[9] Therefore, whilst performing the designated labour, the characters must hide their shared relations and true social class from the Park family since their background would result in an immediate removal. Consequently, the Kims maintain the illusion that they are members of an upper class who are unacquainted with one another to protect their privacy and adhere to the separate sphere. Despite the similarity shared between the organic ideal of the family and the Kims’ nuclear structure, there is an overwhelming competency for mechanisation. This weaponizes the Kims as it proves their dual human and mechanic capabilities.
Each character in the Kim family demonstrates their proficiency in this duality during the montage. As much like homo oeconomicus, the Kims respond to environmental variables ‘in a systematic way’[10] by creating personas through calculation and charm alone. Cyborg technologies have secured three successful deceptions wherein the son Ki-woo is the family’s English tutor, the daughter Ki-jung is the art teacher and their father Ki-taek is Mr Park’s driver. This social elevation is reflected in the cinematography as Ki-woo arrives at the Park’s house for the first time where a ‘wide uphill road is shown in the shot, which indicates it is a way for Ki-woo and his family to enter the upper class.’[11] The technologies used by these characters to achieve this include forging a university degree, speaking with disregard to a fellow cyborg and falsely proclaiming commitment to a lengthy career. All of these efforts carefully incorporate an esteemed position of diligence and cultivation, qualities that appeal to the Park family. An additional technology is Ki-woo’s strategic references to Western culture as he boasts a connection to American people and their ideals. The United States’ position as imperial power is present in these moments as ‘Americanness is an aspiration status’[12] to Mrs Park, whose interest blooms when Ki-woo mentions ‘Jessica’ the artist from Chicago. In reality, Jessica is Ki-jung who bears no connection to the US and lacks any supporting credentials; however the implication of a link to the West satisfies Mrs Park’s interest entirely. Notice how each technology mentioned requires humanising work, which consists of observation and the ability to conduct oneself professionally, as well as mechanising work including purposeful, planned and deliberated action.
The final role left to occupy is Moon-gwang’s, whose position as the long-term housekeeper is sought after by Ki-taek’s wife, Choong-sook. This is the family’s final scheme and subject of the montage. Moon-gwang’s unwavering commitment to the Parks is challenged ruthlessly by the Kims who fabricate a calculating plan to eliminate this inconvenience. The family prey upon the Parks’ distaste for disorder, which is communicated during Ki-woo’s first meeting with Mrs Park who remarks disapprovingly at her son’s carefree nature. Therefore Ki-taek informs Mrs Park that the housekeeper is suffering from tuberculosis, a lie scripted by Ki-woo and performed by his father. The script is an additional example of a technology since Haraway observes that cyborg writing ‘is about the power to survive, not on the basis of original innocence, but on the basis of seizing the tools to mark the world that marked them as other.’[13] Playing to Mrs Kim’s infatuation with maintaining an ordered home, this script illustrates how the Kims are prepared to compromise a fellow cyborg for their own betterment, which is heightened by Ki-taek’s rehearsal of the script. Dramatically running through his lines at home with his family, Ki-taek embodies the simultaneous humanised and mechanised quality of this technology. His perceptive ability to perform with such passion demonstrates a firm grasp of human emotions and responses, whilst his persistent effort to seek perfection through rehearsal and use of the script demonstrates his ability to work efficiently. In this moment in particular Ki-taek truly is a ‘cybernetic organism’[14]. The film communicates this through stitching together the rehearsal and real conversation with Mrs Park, which brings together both modes of technology and solidifies the cyborg status.
Despite the family’s ability to erase the boundaries between human and machine, the Kims are ultimately bound to the cyborg category through the hierarchical structure imposed by capitalism and its benefactors. Mr Park is one of these benefactors who gatekeeps the human category in the film, reminding Ki-taek of the importance of remaining in line. The line is preserved through ‘domination rules in practice’[15] that precisely monitor Ki-taek’s professionalism through Mr Park constantly assessing his driving and professional interactions. All workers within the Parks’ domestic network are assessed on this basis, including Moon-gwang, who according to Mr Park ‘knew never to cross the line’ (0:47:40-2:12:25). Although technologies provide prosperities for the film’s cyborgs, the innate artificiality of the category is undesirable for humans, as Haraway writes that ‘cyborg replication is uncoupled from organic reproduction.’[16] Although part organism, the cyborg is inseparable from mechanisation and its existence as a vehicle of production, which is regulated by the true upper classes.
In spite of this limitation amongst humans, technologies continue to secure and solidify the Kim family’s progression; however, this becomes compromised by the return of fellow cyborg Moon-gwang. Now unemployed and desperately seeking aid, the former housekeeper is at first disregarded by Choong-sook who asserts ‘Don’t call me sis’ (1:08:32-2:12:25) in response to Moon-gwang’s friendly and desperate advances. The familiarity of ‘sis’ demonstrates the shared cyborg status occupied by both characters, reflecting the sense of vulnerability within the working class. Despite this however, Choong-sook is influenced by the façade that conceals this commonality, proclaiming that unlike Moon-gwang, she is not needy and therefore does not feel any obligation to extend her aid. The ‘extreme mobility of capital’[17] is evident here, since the security of labour relations guarantees Choong-sook with class superiority over Moon-gwang, whose cyborg status has been revoked, rendering she and her husband who secretly lives in the basement as non-human animals. In Volume I of Capital, Marx writes that under slavery, the enslaved person is regarded as an instrementum vocale (vocal instrument), whilst the animal is rendered instrementum semi-vocale (semi-vocal instrument). This treatment of enslaved people as tools can be seen as an early version of cyborg relations that resonates with Haraway’s figure today. Therefore, it would be fitting to regard Choong-sook as instrementum vocale, whilst Moong-gwang and her husband Geun-sae are instrementum semi-vocales, due to the juxtaposition of power in this moment. This sense of mobility is extended into a power play as Moon-gwang captures an incriminating video revealing the true identities of the Kims, leading to a complete role reversal. The revelation of the Kims’ falsities shifts the Marxian archetypes completely as their credentials and assimilation with humans are now invalidated and weaponised by the couple who seek to satisfy their own benefits. This change is solidified by Moon-gwang uttering, ‘Don’t f***ing call me sis, you filthy bitch’ (1:11:36-2:12:25) once Choong-sook desperately uses the same familial term that she had disregarded moments before. The slipperiness of Haraway’s imagined figure is striking in this moment, as it makes tangible the border war between the human, part-human and non-human. This boundary has historically been the domain of categorisation that groups individuals in ‘greater or lesser proximity to the full human [determining] who should be protected socially and economically.’[18] Deciphering which characters during this power play are most protected differs from moment to moment, demonstrating the instability of the cyborg category in both Parasite and the manifesto itself.
A return to Spiller’s work invites the view that the functions used by enslaved people to liberate the self often result in more dire circumstances. The cyborg’s process of making and unmaking themselves exposes the body to brutality that ceases to differ between captive men and women. All members of the working class in this film are in danger, none are saved by their given genders. This leaves the cyborgs ‘unprotected’[19] and therefore subject to further exploitation or threat as Spiller’s analysis insists that crossing the boundaries between human and machine has historically perpetuated further enslavement rather than liberation. The film exemplifies this as the final scene depicts Ki-woo being violently wounded whilst Ki-jung is brutally stabbed and murdered. Not only are characters brutalised regardless of gender, but the statuses earned by each member of the Kim family are overlooked within a matter of seconds. This proves that the gap between rich and poor is much less malleable than we have been led to believe, since wealth is most often dependent on privilege rather than merit. The ‘spoon theory’ substantiates this view, as it is a socio-economic theory that categorises Koreans as the golden spoon, silver spoon, copper spoon, iron spoon and soil spoon[20] which is used to determine the origin of familial wealth and how future generations will be affected accordingly. At the film’s climax Ki-taek notices the inescapable difference of spoon status between the families as Mr Park completely disregards the surrounding cyborgs due to his own intolerance as a man of the golden/silver spoon category. Therefore Ki-taek stabs his employer to seek revenge and rid himself of this pretence, finally unmaking both himself and his maker. However, the consequences only lead to further domination and oppression consisting of criminal punishment, hiding from authorities and even death. After this climactic scene the remaining members of the Kim family are demoted to their original place within society and Ki-taek has taken Geun-sae’s position in the Parks’ basement, where he is left to perpetuate the cycle of cyborg relations in this oppressive and suffocating capitalist system. This signifies that despite the efforts and uses of technology throughout the narrative, the cyborg will remain an unstable category since Liu Chang notes that ‘social class is increasingly solidified’ and ‘resources are firmly controlled by the upper class.’[21]
In spite of the somewhat bleak ending, the incontestable application of the cyborg to Parasite proves that Haraway’s metaphor can be extended to all post-industrial workers under capitalism. Although the film’s concern with boundaries illustrates how efforts to extend socio-economic borders will inevitably fail within capitalism’s rigid class system, the possibility of resistance should not be overlooked. The film undoubtedly allows a sense of hope by exposing the pointlessness in defining oneself by their proximity to the human category. The Kim family exhibit the futility of our stable identity categories, in that they can be reshaped and even abolished, if not permanently at least for a few moments. But despite the faint taste of social mobility, the Kims’ resemblance to Haraway’s cyborg insists that ultimately their purpose is to serve the capitalist system, preferably without crossing any lines.
[1] Haraway, Donna J., Manifestly Haraway, 37 vols (University of Minnesota Press, 2016), 11
[2] Haraway, 55
[3] Haraway, 15
[4] van der Veen, Robert J. and Philippe van Parijs, 'A Capitalist Road to Communism', Theory and Society, 15 (1986), 639
[5] Butler, Judith. ‘Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory’ Theatre Journal 40:4 (Dec 1988), 522
[6] Federici, Silvia, Caliban and the Witch (Autonomedia, 2004), 12
[7] Foucault, Michel, The Birth of Biopolitics Lectures at the Collège De France, 1978-79 (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire England]; New York; Basingstoke: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire England; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), 216
[8] Foucault, 225
[9] Haraway, 40
[10] Foucault, 269
[11] Liu, Chang, Analysis of Social Class Inequality Based on the Movie Parasite, (Atlantis Press, 2020), 80
[12] Park, Ju-Hyun, ‘Reading Colonialism in Parasite’, Tropics of Meta, 2020
[13] Haraway, 55
[14] Haraway, 5
[15] Haraway, 22
[16] Haraway, 6
[17] Haraway, 37
[18] Franklin, Seb, ‘Human’, Lecture 05/02/2021
[19] Spillers, Hortense J., Mamas Baby, Papas Maybe: An American Grammar Book (Duke University Press, 1994), 68
[20] Chang, 80
[21] Chang, 81
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