Solidarity, reciprocity and violence in the cinema. An anthropological reading of Parasites and El Hoyo

Abstract

We thought of two recent cinematographic works to place them at the center of a theoretical reflection on the political, the economic, and the crisis, but not only to better understand the world of economics but to expose an economic socio-anthropology in a comparative key, to while being able to relate it to certain theorizations around political philosophy. The works to which we refer are El Hoyo (Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, 2020) and Parasites (Bong Joon-Ho, 2019) and the theoretical framework from which we will discuss is made up of diverse scientific, social and humanistic conceptualizations. We affirm how both films focus on classic social science issues such as alienation, reciprocity, distinction, informality, exchange or cooperation, among others. To do this, first, we will make a brief summary of the films. Next, we expose epigraphs around: 1) class struggles and distinction; 2) reciprocity and morality. In the final part we argue about the borders of the human, placing violence at the center, concluding about the different lines of flight proposed in the films to understand the human condition and the diversity of capitalist logics in the actions of its protagonists.