Vigilant Symbiosis Through Managing Fear Emotion—Film Analysis of <i>Parasite</i>

ABSTRACT The film Parasite scrutinizes the inequality of power and status in largely stratified South Korean society. Rooted in the production of film analysis, this paper uses the film Parasite as a single dataset to design the cinematic representation of sociology, aiming to provide a unique perspective on the sociology of emotions, particularly in theorizing fear. The emotional dynamics are depicted in various scenes and episodes of the film. However, despite its title suggesting a parasitic relationship between host and parasite, the climax of the film utilizes fear as a means to manage this unequal power relation, ultimately arguing for the importance of a subtle symmetry between the two distinct families. By adding related real‐life observations from South Korea, this paper suggests two new but positive roles of fear, serving as a deterrence against the misuse of dominant power and as a boundary to maintain balance between classes, a concept referred to as “vigilant symbiosis.”