Opinion | In praise of the Bong-Hive, a rare force for good amid the toxic fan culture on social media

Director Bong Joon-ho’s super fans used stan culture to promote best picture Oscar-winner Parasite – and non-English-language films in general

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Bong Joon-ho (right) reacts as he is presented with the award for best picture for Parasite at the Oscars. Photo: AP

Abid Rahman

Published: 8:30pm, 1 Mar 2020Updated: 8:30pm, 1 Mar 2020

Well, it finally happened: the Oscar for best film went to the actual best film. After some head-scratchingly awful 21st century winners – Crash (!), The King’s Speech (come on!) and the Driving Miss Daisy reverse retread Green Book (yes, it really did beat Roma and The Favourite), to name some of the most egregious examples – we finally got a best picture recipient in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite that had voters, critics and the audience all nodding happily in agreement.

Despite the frankly shameful fact that no non-English-language film had ever before won the best picture Oscar, it is heartening to know that plenty of people were happy to clamber over, to use Bong’s words, the “one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles” to really appreciate the subtle and not so subtle brilliance of Parasite . It’s a film I will grandiosely proclaim to be the first great piece of art to document the beginning of the middle of the beginning of the end of capitalism. Probably. OK, I’m hedging a little, but it’s a chilling insight into the inequality and class warfare that plagues modern societies.

I’m not here to lavish more praise on Parasite – but if you haven’t already seen it, please do make an effort, the hype is real. I’m more interested in highlighting one of the many stories that came out of the awards campaign for the film, namely the phenomenon of the “Bong-hive”, or #BongHive as it is commonly written, living as it does on social media.

Riffing off Beyoncé’s virulently loyal fandom, the Beyhive, and stan culture – that is, the culture of overly enthusiastically supporting someone online – the Bong-hive is a small but relentless fan club that has popped up around 50-year-old Bong. It helped Parasite remain in the conversation for awards despite being released all the way back in May, at last year’s Cannes Film Festival (where it won the Palme d’Or, natch).

Counting big-time directors, actors, critics and plain normies among its horde, the Bong-hive would assemble on Twitter and elsewhere to stan Bong, extolling the virtues of Parasite and meme-ing the hell out of the director. This introduced him and the film to new audiences and encouraged people to watch more non-English-language movies.