‘Parasite’ Distributor Neon Says It’s ‘Understandable’ After Donald Trump Slams Movie: ‘He Can’t Read’
The distributor of the Oscar-winning movie Parasite is firing back after President Donald Trump slammed the movie at a rally in Colorado, saying they’re not sure if Trump can actually understand the subtitled movie.
At his rally in Colorado Springs, Trump took time to criticize the South Korean movie, the first foreign language film to ever take Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
“How bad were the Academy Awards this year?” Trump asked those in attendance, noting that the winner was a film from South Korea. “What the hell was that all about?”
He went on to say that the United States had a number of problems with trade balances and wasn’t sure if the movie was good, and called for a revival of classic Hollywood movies.
“Let’s get Gone With the Wind,” Trump said, referring to the 1939 movie about a slave-owning family. “Can we get Gone With the Wind back, please?”
The film studio behind the movie fired back a few hours later, questioning whether Trump had the ability to actually watch the movie and its subtitles. In sharing a video clip from Trump at the rally, the company said that the president “can’t read.”
Understandable, he can't read.#Parasite #BestPicture #Bong2020 https://t.co/lNqGJkUrDP
— NEON (@neonrated) February 21, 2020
Trump has been criticized for his reading abilities in the past, with reports that he refuses to read daily intelligence briefings and critics mocking the president’s apparent struggles in speeches delivered with the help of a teleprompter.
This is not the first time that Parasite has faced some sharp criticism from a political tilt. As Insider noted, its Academy Award win brought forth some racially motivated attacks, especially after director Bong Joon Ho delivered part of his acceptance speech in Korean. There were a number of comments on social media that a foreign language film should not have won the award, including some that perpetuated Asian stereotypes.
One of the most viral criticisms came from another Trump supporter, journalist Jon Miller, who claimed that the director’s acceptance speech was somehow harmful to America.
“A man named Bong Joon Ho wins #Oscar for best original screenplay over Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917. Acceptance speech was: ‘GREAT HONOR. THANK YOU.’ Then he proceeds to give the rest of his speech in Korean,” Miller tweeted. “These people are the destruction of America.”
Miller appeared to support Trump’s most recent criticism of Parasite as well, tweeting the video clip of the president criticizing the movie at his Colorado rally.
