16 Culturally-Accurate Details From "Minari" That I Just Can’t Stop Thinking About

With six historic Oscar nominations, it's all anyone can talk about.

And while the cast and filmmakers have affirmed that Minari is meant to be taken as a universal film about an immigrant family — not a foreign film explicitly about Koreans or the American dream — there are many easy-to-miss details that authentically represent Korean families and culture.

In a lot of East Asian cultures, ear-picking is a common practice that involves using a tiny wooden or steel pick to dig out earwax. It might sound painful but getting your ears picked is one of the most relaxing sensations out there, and many East Asians have nostalgic memories of laying their heads on a parent's lap while their ears are picked (can confirm from personal experience that it feels amazing!). I'm no scientist but my theory is that the practice might be more common in East Asian populations because East Asians produce dry earwax (while people hailing from Europe or Africa have wet earwax), making it easier to remove.

Physical punishment has, for a long time, been widely accepted in South Korea as a method of discipling students and kids. Raising your hands is a common "beginner-level" punishment that might seem innocent but can feel painful with extended durations. David is lucky he wasn't made to hold a book over his head or forced to do squats. Read more about traditional Korean punishments.

Soon-Ja, Monica's mom, can be seen sleeping on the floor on a hard, rectangular pillow. This isn't a weird makeshift pillow. For many elderly Koreans, stiffer pillows are actually thought to be conducive to better posture and alignment. If you've ever been to a Korean sauna, you might've also seen a bunch of these wooden pillows lying about. They might not look like the softest things in the world, but they're actually designed to relieve tension and stress around your neck!

Some adults (*ahem* my parents) will even go so far as to buy a special bed with a stone surface as a compromise between sleeping on the floor and sleeping on a raised surface.

You might have also noticed that Soon-Ja eats sitting on the floor, while Jacob, a Korean American, eats sitting on the table. In modern-day Korean homes, it's common to switch between the two.

Anyone who grew up with a Korean grandma or parent has memories of being force-fed the foul liquid medicine known as Hanyak. Have a cold? Drink some Hanyak! Feeling body aches? Drink some Hanyak! Known for its bitter taste, the drink is composed of various (mostly) plant-based ingredients and a generous helping of ginseng. No one actually enjoys drinking it, but parents swear by its restorative powers.

If you understand Korean, you might've picked up on this detail (the subtitles simply translate it to "Monica" or "Jacob" for simplicity's sake).

It's extremely common to refer to your friends by their parental title. For instance, you might ask your friend, whose firstborn is named Grace, "Did Grace's mom see the movie everyone's talking about yet?" In general, honorifics (or, the practice of referring to someone by their hierarchical title) are a huge cultural practice in Korean culture, even today. This curious form of address is just another way of referring to someone by something other than their first name (which hardly anyone does, out of respect).

If you want to get technical, the practice of referring to someone by their child's name is called Teknonymy.

It's worth mentioning that kids in the movie, David and Anne, refer to their parents in the formal, which is a form of address more common among Korean-born children, and rarely heard among American-born kids.

In the scene where Monica and Jacob are introduced to the rest of the team at the chicken-sexing factory, Monica bows ever so slightly to respectfully greet her new teammates. Bowing is central to greetings in Korea. The more formal the situation, the deeper the bow.

You'll notice that throughout the movie in general, Monica takes on the role of cultural preservationist (while Jacob, as in this scene, seems quick to assimilate), whether she's cooking with traditional Korean ingredients, bowing, welcoming religion into her life, or exclusively speaking in Korean to her kids.

Korean church culture is a huge touchpoint in many South Korean and Korean American communities. Church is where many Korean Americans find faith, first and foremost, but also a deep community of people who'll help you find jobs, Korean friends for your kids, referrals for the best banchan-making ajumma. In some instances, the community can get uncomfortably insular, which is what their coworker is probably referring to.

The classic Korean card game known as Hwatu involves 48 brightly illustrated cards. It's almost mandatory to engage in a bit of light (or aggressive) cussing when playing this game, as Soon-Ja shows David. These days, the card game is most often played during Korean celebrations like Chuseok (Autumn Eve) or Lunar New Year.

Myeolchi (pronounced "Myul-Chee") are the umami base of many Korean dishes (from kimchi stew to tteokbokki), and it is notoriously hard to find the niche ingredient in many American cities. In the scene where Soon-Ja gifts her daughter with a bag of myeolchi, Monica tears up, recognizing her mother's gesture of love.

As Kristen Kim writes in the Nation, "[Jacob] bears the responsibility of being the eldest son in his own family; this is a pressure so overwhelming that Korean women are customarily warned against marrying firstborn men."

Apparently, silver chopsticks became the choice of eating utensil for the nobility back in the day when they realized that the expensive metal would change color if their food was poisoned. Another theory for metal chopsticks' popularity in Korea is that they're more appropriate for picking up sizzling hot meats. Whatever the reason, one fact remains true: Metal chopsticks are hard to master and are a sign of true chopstick prowess!

In American English, of course, "pretty" has a more feminine connotation. This is why David might've understood it as a slight, correcting his grandma, "I'm not pretty. I'm good-looking!"

Korean Americans will never forget running to the store to pick up the latest episode of Autumn In My Heart.

It's also common to gift your entire first paycheck to your parents, as a courtesy for all their years of hard work raising you.

Try out the recipe for yourself!