THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES & SOCIAL STUDIES ISSN 2321 - 9203 www.theijhss.com 1 Vol 13 Issue 8 DOI No.: 10.24940/theijhss/2025/v13/i8/HS2508-001 August, 2025 THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES & SOCIAL STUDIES Meat, Money, and Modernity: The Politics of Meat Production in Bong Joon-ho’s Okja 1. Introduction The consumption of meat, in the present era of mechanization and modernization, is largely influenced and exacerbated by several powerful mechanisms of capitalist meat industries. The appetites of individuals are piqued by the abundant availability of various meat products in the market and by advertisements that not only provide information about the price and details of these products but also promote the association of socio-cultural values with their consumption. Thus, consuming meat in the present era not only means intaking biochemical components but also inculcating socio-cultural signs and symbols into lifestyles. Though an obvious fact, it is still noteworthy to remember that most of these meat products are made out of the flesh of livestock animals who are 'artificially nurtured' in the factory farms and butchered in the slaughterhouses of capitalist meat industries. The exploitation of these livestock animals and their perpetual plight appear to be an “uncanny” subject matter in the domain of consumers' 'collective consciousness'. Though consumers are aware of the animal origin of meat, they still tend to neglect the connection between the meat products they consume and the animals out of whose butchered bodies these meat products are produced. Although the “uncanniness” of this subject matter, to some extent, is natural, it is largely reinforced by modern apparatuses of the capitalist meat industry. Thus, the drastic increase in meat consumption can be seen as directly linked to the rapid growth of capitalist meat industries, facilitated by technological and biotechnological innovations. It may be contended that the consumption of meat has increased since the population has also increased. However, reports indicate that the increase in meat consumption is disproportionately higher than that of the population. The global number of livestock animals slaughtered per year increased from about 8 billion in 1961 to about 75 billion in 2016 (Ritchie et al., 2017), whereas, in the same time span, the global population of humans increased from about 3 billion to about 7.5 billion (“A changing world population,” 2018). Following the increase in the number of both categories, the mathematical estimation reveals that there has been about an 837% increase in the slaughtering of global livestock, while the global population has increased by 150%. This raises the question of what mechanisms are responsible for this excessive increase in the production and consumption of meat. Two of the potent mechanisms for the increase in the production of meat are the origin of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and the formation of Concentrated Animal Swapnajeet Das Former Student, Department of English, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, India Abstract: The modernization of meat industries, with the aid of advanced technological apparatuses, has led to a drastic increase in the consumption of meat. It might be argued that due to the growth of the population, the consumption of meat has also increased. However, reports indicate that the growth of meat consumption is disproportionately higher than that of the population. This raises the question of what mechanisms are responsible for the excessive increase in meat consumption. Foods, as can be observed, in the present era of consumer capitalism, not only possess biochemical components but also socio-cultural values. A multitude of livestock animals are 'artificially' produced by modern mechanisms that are operated by capitalist meat industries. These animals are kept clustered in small spaces, fed 'synthetic foods', injected with fertility hormones, and then, ultimately, are slaughtered when they reach their optimal weight or when their (re)productivity declines. The plight of these animals appears to be an 'uncanny' subject matter in the domain of the consumers' consciousness. Bong Joon-ho's film Okja (2017), an emotional tale of the unparalleled friendship between Mija, a South Korean teenage girl, and Okja, a 'genetically modified super-pig', her pet-cum-patron, depicts the dark realities of the 'unnatural' methods for the production of 'super-pigs' employed by the Mirando Corporation—a capitalist meat industry that falsely claims itself to be 'environmentally friendly'. The paper aims to explore how the film, by focusing on the strong bond between Mija and Okja, serves as a powerful critique of the capitalist meat industry and factory farming. Some viewers may perceive the film as advocating vegetarianism or veganism through the characterization of Mija. In this regard, it is important to note that Mija and her grandfather are portrayed as consumers of non- vegetarian foods. The paper aims to argue that the film, rather than promoting opposing views on the consumption of meat, evokes concerns about the profit-making operations of capitalist meat industries, which influence the eating habits of individuals by introducing and advertising new types of meat products in the market. Keywords: Genetically modified animals, meat production, consumer capitalism, food industries, Okja