Text by SADIE IBBOTSON-BROWN
High-risk HIT NETFLIX SHOW “SQUID GAME”
“T
HANK YOU for playing show’s protagonist, is a divorced father who with me.” struggles to make ends meet and provide Crimson blood splat- for his daughter — his efforts consistentters stain the dirt of a dingy ly inhibited by a tumultuous gambling alleyway, contrasted sharply by the addiction. Invited to participate in the golden-orange light that casts the Squid Game, his unwavering optimism path in a soft glow. In the middle and kind heart make him an unlikely sucof the road are two blue-jumpsuit- cess, and he slowly gathers a small ragtag clad women, sitting on a stairwell group of friends to help him through the as they share what may be the last various challenges. However, in these twistconversation of their lives. ed games, people are never what they seem, Around them, gunshots and Gi-hun soon finds that there’s treachecho through the streets, the ery in everyone — even within himself. taste of violence hanging in the air. You’d think the constant re- Beneath the surface minders of death would give the Although at first glance “Squid Game” scene a terrifying tinge, but in- seems like many other dystopian dramas, stead, the connection of the two director Hwang Dong-hyuk has described women is oddly poignant, a small it as an “allegory for modern capitalist soglimpse of hope in an otherwise ciety.” The Squid Game is presented as an bitter and violent show. extreme competition, comparable in some Such juxtaposition of false ways to the extreme competitiveness we innocence and garish violence often find in our own economy and job is the lifeblood of “Squid markets, and the mentality of worker vs. Game,” a 2021 South Korean worker — shown by the contention and drama produced by Netflix. The backstabbing between the players — only series has beserves to benefit the come a smash people in charge. hit in the United If you take a closer Human life is States, becoming look, you’ll see how treated as meanthe streaming service’s ingless in the Squid most-watched original horrific the implicaGame, and the blashow, racking up 111 tions really are.” tant disregard for the million viewers during lives of the players its first 29 days on the reflects the deeply — GRACE MUMA, senior platform. flawed and unshakeThe premise of able hierarchy that is the show is horrifyingly dark: hundreds the root of this society. It’s this desire for of people, all in varying states of debt or wealth that defines the Squid Game and the destitution, are invited to participate people who are a part of it. Ultimately, it in a series of children’s games to win speaks to the deeply ingrained human tenenough money to pay back their debts. dency to prioritize our own success over the The catch? In the Squid Game, losing success of others, only in “Squid Game,” means death, and the players must de- there is a much deadlier result. cide whether the cash prize is worth the The harsh brutality shown almost garrisk. ishly in “Squid Game” speaks to another Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), the evil — that of spectatorship to violence
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40 NOVEMBER 2021
