Monsters Behind The Monster Introduction In order to maintain an aura of mystique, a monster usually would not expose its entire physical body in the beginning of a sci-fi creature movie; however, the director Bong Joon-ho subverts the genre convention and “reworks genre convention using them as a framework for exploring and critiquing South Korean social and political issues” (Klein). The story of the film The Host mainly depicts how members of a dysfunctional family use their own ways to rescue the missing daughter, who has been captured by a creature emerging from the Han River in Seoul.
The background setting is just like the convention of Hollywood movies. But ironically, all of extrinsic factors involving government and normal citizens continually and ridiculously impede the family on every further step for saving his daughter. The director Bong perfectly captures the spirit of black humor on vivid characterization and implicitly expresses sarcasm on, the overquick modernization, the bureaucracy of the South Korean government system, numbness of the entire society, and the uneven relationship between the U. S. and South Korean. The focus of the film gradually transfers from the physical monster to the backstage manipulator of all social problems.
It is hard not to wonder who is the real monster? Society in the Shadow of America Since establishing close relationship with the United States in the latter half of the 20th century, South Korea has witnessed rapid progress in political, military and economic ties. On the one hand, the unprecedented growth of the South Korea has improved the average standard of living. On the other hand, xcessively worshipping the capitalist modernization, obsessing with the American dream, Korean people have paid “tremendous social and psychological costs” for overly rapid development (Klein). Not surprisingly, the anti-Americanism has derived from public opinions during 1980s. Questioning the uneven relationship between South Korea and the United States, the director Bong embodies this idea in the entire film.
The first and the most obvious anti-American symbol is the prologue scene implying that the monster is a product of chemical contamination created at a U. S. military base. After the monster’s attack in public, the news only reports the American soldier as a hero fighting with the monster but ignore Gang-du’s contribution. In the hospital, when an American official orders the doctor to drill into Gang-du’s head, all medical staffs are totally subservient to him. Furthermore, the American military offers South Korean government a poisonous chemical gas named “Agent Yellow” for exterminating the monster without considering the safety of people and environment.
The Dysfunctional Family Gang-du’s family, lives at the bottom of the society lacking prominent background, status and money, “which has not benefited from the country’s vaunted economic miracle”(Kim). The grandfather is garrulous; the father is lethargic and confused; the uncle is unemployed and drunken and the aunt is unresolved. They seemingly are losers of the society except the brave daughter, but it is also them who stick together in difficulties and finally kill the monster.
The offbeat family members, respectively reflecting typical characteristics of different generations of South Korean people, are the intriguing highlights of the film. The father Gangdu, a shiftless middle-aged man who desperately seeks his daughter, feels guilty about letting go of his daughter’s hand during the unexpected attack of the monster an miscalculating the number of bullets, which directly led to his father’s death. However, he is the “key to restoring the social and moral order of both his family and the nation”(Kim).
Although nobody cares about his speaking or feeling when he tries to convince others that his daughter is still alive, Gangdu acts like a firm rock in midstream, meaning unyielding spirit to rescue his daughter and to reorganize the monstrous society. The grandfather, a lovely old man, has experienced the age of poverty and military dictatorship of South Korean until 1980s. He feels guilty to Gangdu not offering an appropriate growth environment, since he has been bustling about everyday. He learned from the poor age of South Korean how to put down his dignity, compromise and ask for a favor via sending money for the sake of living.
Nevertheless, when the grandfather resolutely decides to fight with the monster, his determined look in the slow motion impressed everyone. As he gives up, turns around and waves to other family members, he is fearless and dignified. The uncle, a formal student cynic and current unemployed drunkard, has participated pro-democracy protest after the Gwangju Massacre during 1980s. Lots of protesters were caught by military power and their files were marked. The uncle is one of them. He complains that he has devoted the entire adolescence to the state, but the state even cannot offer a job to him.
Is the government “the monster” that kills a young’s patriotic feeling and motivation? The aunt, a young archer always hesitates to action at the critical moment and then misses the significant opportunity. The aunt represents the generation after 1980s, suffering from the great pressure of competitiveness. On the other hand, “Archery is a traditional Korean sport in which many Korean women have won Olympic gold”(Kim). Therefore, she also represents the formidable young power from normal citizens of South Korean. Why No One Extend a Hand
If we say that the monster goes the horrifying route, then the South Korean government and social system definitely goes the funny routes. The scene in the funeral hall is an ironically chaotic mess. As all family members burst into tears in the funeral hall, reporters are just busy taking photos, a manager suddenly comes in rebuking a lady parking problem, and a government official in yellow uniform stumbles on the ground and ridiculously switches the television channel. Government agents that are supposed to provide support to citizens, acts like indifferent machine.
The police refuses to believe the family received a phone call from the daughter, and the doctor disregarded the family’s urgent request of entering quarantine. Even the government official asks for bribery with a barefaced manner in front of the entrance of the quarantine area. Furthermore, it is impressing when the uncle’s friend betrays him to the police. The first thing the friend does is asking the police how much taxes need to pay for the award, and ironically, the police actually explains in details to the friend under such condition, satirizing “the very notion of Korea as the miracle on the Han”(Kim).
The government not only offers the family little help in their moment of crisis, but also lies to the public about the existence of the deadly virus. What on earth does the government want? The public on the street are extremely terrified by the spread of “virus” due to massive reports of social media spreading rumors and stirring public scare. Moreover, government official caught Gangdu as a virus-infected patient, pushed him to the operating table and put a cold, metallic helmet on his head. Gangdu is treated like a valueless product, and his struggling and shouting are useless.
Facing such absurd society as a man-eating monster, the individual struggle is almost desperate. The Final Attack The climax of the whole film is the dramatic process of the final assault on the monster along the Han River launching by three siblings and a homeless man. The ups and downs of this scene offer “a perfect mix of global and local, of Hollywood convention and Korean realities” (Klein). Chasing the monster and throwing hand-made fire bottles, the image of the uncle is in accord with the figure of pro-democracy protester twenty years ago.
Amusing and unexpectedly, after the homeless man pour the gasoline down to the monster’s mouth, the uncle exerts all his strength throwing the last fire bottle, but he misses the significant opportunity. The forerunner of the revolution is responsible for igniting the fire, but cannot guarantee the final success. Nevertheless, the fire never extinguishes; a younger generation, the aunt is able to overcome hesitance and irresolution, passing the flame on, launching her archery and hitting the monster.
Finally, the father representing all ordinary people gives the monster a critical strike. Although most of ordinary people live as ants bustling about everyday, they possess the firmest souls, holding on straight to the end. Unfortunately, the family fails to save the daughter’s young life in the end. It reminds us the cruel and cold heated of reality, the merciless of real monster. The bizarre society produces the monster; further speaking, the society itself is the hidden real “monster”.
