Parasite Makes History Again, This Time On Hulu

Everyone trapped at home is apparently watching a film about people getting trapped in a tiny basement home.  Parasite has smashed Hulu’s streaming record in its first week.

Parasite dropped on Hulu on April 8th and in its first week it became Hulu’s top foreign language or independent film and its second highest streamed film overall from its currently available titles, according to IndieWire.  We shouldn’t be surprised by this since it was already a record breaker because of its Academy Award wins.  It became the first foreign language film to win Best Picture, and Bong Joon-Ho tied with Walt Disney for the most awards won in a single night.

The irony of the content of the film and our current situation is not lost on us.  Without dropping too many spoilers, a significant theme of the film revolves around cramped living conditions and not being able to leave for an extended period of time.  Sound familiar?  Half of the world has been on lock down this month, so maybe we’re reaching for a shared experience here.

When Parasite dropped on Hulu, we also got a different kind of memorable moment.  When some racist boneheads decided to troll the Hulu account about streaming foreign language content, the company Twitter account snapped back.

it won…. four oscars……

— Hulu (@hulu) April 8, 2020

if you don’t want to read subtitles, you can always learn Korean!

— Hulu (@hulu) April 8, 2020

While 2020 is going to go down in history for many anxiety inducing reasons, I hope history books at least mention this film and all the records its breaking somewhere in all that darkness.  Back in January, the pandemic was just starting and our focus was on this film and all the history it made at the Oscars.  Now that we are in the midst of a full blown pandemic, this film has emerged as a quality and meaningful distraction.

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They identify as queer.

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary