‘Parasite’ paints a nightmarish picture of Korean inequality. The reality in America is even worse.

Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” is a dark parable about the yawning gulf between the rich and the poor in South Korea. It’s a story of a society where the working class have no hope of attaining a better life, and instead squabble among themselves for the literal scraps of prosperity cast off by the wealthy as they move serenely through their charmed lives.

The film and its message have strongly resonated with American audiences, and last week’s best picture win means its stateside influence is only likely to grow. That’s probably not an accident: By any number of measures, inequality here in the States is much, much worse than in Bong’s South Korea.

Here’s one way to visualize Korean inequality: According to the World Inequality Database, an authoritative resource on income and wealth around the world, the top 1 percent of South Koreans own about 25 percent of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom half of the population owns just under 2 percent. Continue reading.