ZCZC
BFF-21
ENTERTAINMENT-SKOREA-US-FILM-OSCARS-TRUMP-OFFBEAT,LEAD
Trump scoffs at South Korea’s ‘Parasite’ Oscar win
COLORADO SPRINGS, Feb 21, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump on
Thursday scorned the best picture Oscar for the South Korean film “Parasite,”
asking how a foreign movie could get the honor.
“How bad was the Academy Awards this year?” Trump asked the crowd at a
packed re-election campaign rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“We got enough problems with South Korea, with trade. On top of it, they
give them the best movie of the year?” Trump asked in disbelief.
“Parasite,” a dark comedy exploring class divides, made history by becoming
the first non-English-language film to win Hollywood’s biggest prize.
Saying “was it good? I don’t know,” Trump seemed to indicate he had not
watched the film.
Neon, the US distributor for “Parasite,” answered the president on Twitter,
saying his opposition to the subtitled film was “Understandable, he can’t
read.”
Trump, whose presidency has been built on a nationalist “America first”
platform, said it was time to bring back classics from Hollywood’s golden
age.
“Let’s get ‘Gone With the Wind.’ Can we get ‘Gone With the Wind’ back
please? ‘Sunset Boulevard?'” he said.
The success of “Parasite” — which also garnered the Oscars for Best
Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature — has
caused huge excitement in its home country, and South Koreans dismissed
Trump’s comments as unsurprising and tasteless.
“I feel sorry for American citizens” for having Trump as their president,
one Korean poster wrote on Facebook.
Another added: “Trump just proved that the Oscars had indeed been very
local,” referencing an earlier description of the awards by “Parasite”
director Bong Joon-ho.
Bong and the movie’s cast were invited to lunch at South Korea’s
presidential Blue House on Thursday, where President Moon Jae-in said he was
“particularly proud of the fact that… Bong’s ability was so excellent that
it broke down the barrier”.
At his rally Trump also took a crack at Best Supporting Actor winner Brad
Pitt, calling him “a little wiseguy.”
Pitt used his award acceptance speech to support the president’s
impeachment.
BSS/AFP/RY/1600 hrs