In terms of Nichol's discussion, his article "Race and Ethnicity in Film" helps me understand how class and socioeconomic status allows those within the same ethnic community to subjugate each other in the name of getting ahead. Parasite illustrates this concept in the ways that Nathan Park is unable to see himself in Mr. Kim due to the significant gap in their socioeconomic status. Yet it is for this very reason that Nathan Park is unable to see how his family is infiltrated by his own perceived inferiors. The movie echoes Nichol's discussion of "othering" and how it is used to often deceive oneself into the fairy tale of superiority within the global 1%. The underlying message of the movie suggests that the 99% is very capable of using saavy and survival skills to thwart the power of the dominating few. Nichol's work helps explain the motivating needs and greed behind the mindset that allows the ruling class to self-delude and justify their actions. The human tendency to draw a distinction between oneself and an "other" reinforces a sense of hierarchy that feeds a void with a false sense of security. The power that money and asset hoarding provides establishes that hierarchy and affords the 1% the audacity to maintain that hierarchy by any means necessary.
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