Mental Colonization Through American Intervention: The Host Part II

In the film’s opening, an American military pathologist orders his Korean subordinate to dump chemicals into the Han River, who reluctantly follows his commands. The scene is very symbolic of a lot of things. First, the fact that the American military pathologist is in charge of a laboratory in Korea reflects that despite being a local minority, Americans still wield authority. Despite not being the most qualified, due to the effects of imperialism,inhabitants of the native country are so brainwashed into the colonial mentality, that they feel that they can't well enough without the supprt of the colonizer. To reiterate: The poisonous chemicals are a direct allegory of the toxicity of American intervention in South Korea, with “mental colonization” being one of these adverse spillovers. The American pathologist's carelessness with dumping the chemicals in the Han River is symbolic of past colonial ventures, where European colonizers depleted the natural resources of underdeveloped countries without care for the well-being of the country’s inhabitants and years of history. The interaction between the Korean subordinate and his American supervisor serves as an additional allegory of the United States pressuring Korea to carry out behavior against their will, such with the aforementioned implementation of the screening quota. Further, the dialogue between the American military pathologist and the Korean subordinate exposes the hypocrisy in the American justification of colonization. The American pathologist, of course, representing America, demands his Korean subordinate to be more “open-minded,” while in reality, America has been force-feeding Hollywood films and imposing Western schemas to not only just South Korea, but Asia, Latin America and Africa for decades. Within the first five minutes, in a barrage of allegories, Bong Joon-ho voices his strong disdain for the detrimental effects of American intervention, the American government’s unwillingness to cooperate with Korea and the general amount of disrespect that Americans have towards the natives of the colonized countries.

Attempts to silence the truth through lobotomy of Gang-du

After being taken hostage by the government, Park Gang-du, the father, is taken to the hospital where he learns that there is no “virus” surrounding the creature. The threat of a “virus” was fabricated by the government, who are in reality the film’s primary antagonist, to distract the citizens of Korea from discovering the true origin of the creature. This is admitted by an American scientist to once again, a Korean subordinate. In order to silence Park Gang-du from speaking out, the American scientist lobotomizes him. This blatantly allegorizes “mental colonization.” The American surgeon literally wants to remove the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that enables higher cognitive functioning and thinking from Gang-du. The American scientist represents the ruthlessness of the United States propaganda machine, subtly wiping away the nationalistic views of the colonized country to submit to American ideals. Park Gang-du was completely innocent and yet, the American scientist calls for his lobotomization on a whim, ignoring the laws of South Korea, as well as the morals of the world in general to advance his own objectives. The fact that the virus had been made up to prevent the South Korean citizens from discovering the truth, is symbolic of the tactics that Hollywood programming utilizes to shield audiences, including their own domestic audiences, from learning about America’s history of colonization and the hypocrisy of the nation, diverting their attention away from their own faults and failures through "entertainment."

From news outlets to television commercials, American media waves have been overwhelmingly biased. The schemas present in Hollywood films are based on false and exaggerated schemas to divide people of “Non-Western” qualities in battles against one another, condition minority groups to chase unachievable American ideals, and carry self-destructive ideologies, such as hedonism (David, Okazaki, 11). This is why government officials of ASEAN, India’s Hindu nationalists, as well as Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew have all spoken against the oversaturated inflow of Western media (Trice). Joon-ho alludes to the unfortunate fact that many innocent civilians, unknowingly internalized the schemas churned out by the Hollywood media machine, and this is referenced by the Korean masses not questioning the government’s treatment of the “virus” and the creature. They have been “mentally colonized” with the schema that they should always obey orders from the American government due to Hollywood never portraying the failures of the American government, only the glory. Without challenging corrupt authority, injustices like these, created by Western hegemony have happened(swept under the rug however) and CONTINUE to exist