When Hulu announced Bong Joon-ho’s award-winning feature Parasite was now streaming exclusively on their platform, not all were happy about it. In fact, the streamer’s tweet heralding the South Korean film’s arrival was met with quite a bit of criticism.
According to MovieWeb, one Twitter user called the pic “pathetic,” to which Hulu responded, “It won…four Oscars.” Other users were more specific about their reasons for disliking the film though. In a tweet featured below, another person voiced their dislike for foreign efforts in general. Claiming sound is “such a huge part of movies,” it assures the streamer that no one will want to check out a pic they must ‘read’ rather than ‘watch.’ And as you can see below, Hulu has now fired back.
if you don't want to read subtitles, you can always learn Korean!
— Hulu (@hulu) April 8, 2020
Of course, this claim from @DaveGardiner11 was quickly disputed not only by many other Twitter users who flocked to the movie’s aid, but also by IndieWire when they reported on Wednesday that Bong Joon-ho’s latest picture had broken all-time streaming records. Although no precise numbers were revealed, the outlet did say that since Parasite arrived to the library on April 8th, it had become “the most streamed independent or foreign language film among all titles available on Hulu.”
While taste is inherently subjective and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, the Twitter users who initially attacked the widely celebrated motion picture – knowingly or not – echoed Donald Trump’s xenophobic sentiment. At a campaign rally in Colorado Springs, the lame duck president took a moment of everyone’s time to share his opinions about the Oscars and specifically, its Best Picture winner.
“What the hell was that all about?” Trump said. “We’ve got enough problems with South Korea with trade. On top of that, they give them best movie of the year. Was it good? I don’t know” and then, after cheers from the audience, added, “Can we get, like, Gone with the Wind back, please? Sunset Boulevard? So many great movies.”
If anything, the continued success of Parasite stands testament to not only the growing want among world audiences for quality content, but also their increasing openness to foreign cultures.