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After lighting up box offices across the globe and snagging four Academy Awards, the 2019 film Parasite is now hitting the already well-used computer and TV screens of pandemic life—on Hulu.
But the film's internet intro wasn't without a few troll responses.
Hulu, however, is a bit saucier than we thought and threw shade right back.
South Korean Director Bong Joon-ho's black comedy Parasite spent its release year scooping up awards left and right.
The film won the Palm d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival by a unanimous vote. A year later at the 2020 Academy Awards, Parasite took home four awards: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Film, and Best Picture.
Parasite was the first non-English film to win the Best Picture award in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards—clearly the film held up even when non-Korean audiences watched the film.
So when Hulu gained exclusive streaming rights to the film, its popularity and critical claim seemed to be a sure win for the service. Of course, no amount of awards or global recognition can eliminate the spirited below-the-belt jabs of internet trolls.
One Twitter user respond with a succinct rejection of Hulu's enthusiastic announcement of the film's arrival to the streaming world.
@hulu Pathetic movie— Frente Cívico (@Frente Cívico) 1586365022.0
However, Hulu is a company of the internet age.
It understands the dynamics of Twitter as much as the platform's snarkiest corporate accounts. We're looking at you Wendy's.
The streaming service's official twitter returned a jab of its own, just as succinct.
@Frentecivico it won.... four oscars......— Hulu (@Hulu) 1586365469.0
The door was already open, however, and Hulu would face more detractors.
One dig, a far longer-winded entry, took Parasite to task for the film's reading demands.
Simply put, this guy hates reading. So he watches movies.
But this movie makes him read, so it stinks.
@hulu @Frentecivico It’s not in English, no one wants to watch a movie that they literally have to read to understa… https://t.co/WdECcMd159— Dave II (@Dave II) 1586367591.0
Again, Hulu showed not an ounce of sympathy.
@DaveGardiner11 @Frentecivico if you don't want to read subtitles, you can always learn Korean!— Hulu (@Hulu) 1586370300.0
Other Twitter users, excited by Hulu's defensive maneuvers, got in on the anti-troll action.
@DaveGardiner11 @hulu @Frentecivico Man shut up lol— 李多 (@李多) 1586368312.0
@DaveGardiner11 @hulu @Frentecivico just say you can’t read and keep it moving— ☆n (@☆n) 1586371137.0
@DaveGardiner11 imagine thinking that the whole world speaks and revolves around english 🤡— gaymir⁷ (@gaymir⁷) 1586371221.0
@DaveGardiner11 @hulu @Frentecivico I know the comments are going to destroy you here, but I’m just going to say, I… https://t.co/jKwUZOuBOk— Hazard⁷ (@Hazard⁷) 1586377812.0
@DaveGardiner11 @hulu @Frentecivico https://t.co/WlO2C4XP1G— 𝑲𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒊 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍 (@𝑲𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒊 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍) 1586377913.0
It would be nice to think that the subtitle rejector read all of this feedback and opened himself up to the bountiful world of art made by non-English speakers.
But that would require so much reading.
And he apparently really hates that.