If you have yet to watch the Netflix sensation Squid Game, be warned, there are spoilers ahead. photo courtesy of Netflix
The new Netflix original series, Squid Game, is taking the world by storm with its chilling message on the human experience. *Note: spoilers ahead!*
Netflix is no stranger to producing shows with deep meanings and powerful commentary on humanity, but Squid Game is like no other. Written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk and released on September 17th, 2021, Squid Game is a Korean thriller with nine, hour-long episodes. The show was originally written in 2008, but struggled for over a decade to get support for production. Netflix finally bought Squid Game in 2019, and the payoff was huge. The show received 111 million viewers in the first 28 days, breaking Netflix’s previous streaming record. Netflix executives have already promised the show a second season to satisfy its millions of fans.
Squid Game is centered around a middle aged Korean man named Seong Gi-Hun, who is in major debt. After facing many consequences of his debt, Gi-Hun ends up agreeing to participate in a mysterious series of games. Gi-Hun is joined by 456 other players, all of whom participate as a last resort to pay off their debts. All the players have been told is that a cash prize will be awarded to the winner. None of them are fully aware of the ramifications that come with disqualification.
In the first game, Red Light, Green Light, both the players and the audience get the first taste of what is to come. When players lose the game by moving on a red light, they are shot instantly. Neither the audience nor the game participants knew what to expect up to this point, but now that the true story line shows, opinions are able to form. After completing the first round, the players are completely set on leaving the game, until the game master shows them how much money is on the line. The ultimate winner is promised a reward of 45.6 billion Won, which is the equivalent of $38.6 million US dollars. At this moment, viewers see about half of the players start to contemplate whether or not they wish to quit. As a viewer, I was totally hooked on the show at that moment. The thought of being so desperate for money that you would risk your life is hard to fathom. This move was made intentionally by Dong-hyuk to send a message of how powerful money is. All the participants in this game are ordinary people who have made mistakes and experienced misfortune, the combination of which put them in debt. Their debts negatively affected their lives so much to the point where they were willing to die to pay it off.
Fast forwarding to the seventh episode and fifth game, a new concept is introduced. The games are being watched, followed, and bet on by a group of VIPs. For the fifth game, the game master hosts these VIPs for a viewing of what is perhaps the most cruel round so far. Before an introduction to the game is given, players have to pick a number between 1 and 16. Players pick the middle numbers first, leaving only the first and last numbers left. Gi-Hun ends up with number 16, which turns out to be the best possible scenario for this game. Players have to cross an elevated glass bridge with 18 steps, each step having two glass panels. Contestants must choose between two panels on each step, one of which will hold the weight of two people and the other will break underneath the weight of just one person. At the end, only three of the initial sixteen competitors in this game survived. The element of an audience watching these games paints an even more disturbing image. Seeing enjoyment brought to these VIPs through the suffering of the players really pushes the idea that wealth is cruel. These VIPs are so rich that they are able to help fund and bet on a multi-million dollar game. Their wealth places them above others in society, allowing them to bend the rules and participate in shady activities like this.
Watching this show, I felt a strong message being sent to the audience; our societal value in money is pointless and harmful. On the surface, this show is action packed, suspenseful, and tense, but below all of this is a powerful anti-capitalist message. The overall game in Squid Game would not be able to occur if it were not so easy to exploit individuals using money. Due to money being needed for almost all things in life, people are capable of doing incredibly depraved and risky things to get it. Dong-hyuk’s skillful writing in Squid Game allows him to plant his message within a seemingly non-political show.
