Squid Game

Squid Game (Korean: 오징어 게임; RR: Ojing-eo Geim) is a South Korean survival drama streaming television series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Its cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, Jung Ho-yeon, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung, who has also made other films. It premiered on Netflix on September 17, 2021 and soon gained global attention. it is currently the most-watched K-drama in more than 90 countries worldwide and is widely considered as one of the best Netflix original live-action shows ever made. As of October 2021, Squid Game surpassed Bridgerton as the most watched Netflix original show.

In June 2022, the series was renewed for a second season, which is slated to be broadcast by late 2023 or early 2024.

구성 (Plot)
The story follows a group of people, who struggle financially in life as said in episode 1, that risk their lives for a survival competition. It's supposed to be based of a children's game but things take a dark turn. The reason why they're risking their lives is to have a ₩45.6 billion ($38.5 million) prize.

이 게임이 규칙적인 이유 (Why This Game Rules)

 * 1) The show is a critique on capitalism and class struggles within South Korea and even around the world. Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk even wrote it from his own experiences and observations of the capitalist system within his country. It shows how the rich would watch the poor fight each other to the death for their own benefit. Plus, it's not at all subtle with its criticism, so if you somehow missed its themes, that's on you.
 * 2) * The main character, Gi-hun, has PTSD over a failed strike that he did with his fellow workers. His backstory is based on a real strike that happened in South Korea in 2009. He was laid off by a company called Dragon Motors, which is similar to the title of the company where the actual strike happened, Ssangyong (meaning Double Dragon) Motors.
 * 3) ** Ssangyong Motors had sold themselves to a Chinese company and manipulated their accounting to fake bankruptcy, and then laid off almost 2,000 workers without warning. The workers went on strike to protest this, occupying a factory that got offered as collateral to the company to get more loans. During the protest, thousands of riot police came attacking with tear gas and helicopters, causing the protest to become a violent battle over job security, and the occupation lasted for 77 days before ending in failure. The final agreement only meant the workers got half the severance pay for their layoffs while the other half were for load, though the majority were never hired back. Everyone who participated in the strike couldn't get another job in their field because they were seen as "militant labor activists."
 * 4) ** Even worse, the companies and the police sued the workers in court, ordering them to pay enormous fines with large interests. Over 30 of these workers ended up taking their own lives from the financial stress.
 * 5) ** If you take all this into account, you'd realize it's not truly Gi-hun's fault his life ended up the way it did. He was playing by the rules of society, and worked tirelessly at a job for years, yet he was laid off without warning thanks to the shady higher ups of his company.
 * 6) * If these games were hosted in real life, chances are, people would definitely join the competition and risk their lives just for a chance of getting money. We already live in a dystopia, which Squid Game does a great job at making sure you realize this.
 * 7) * The decision to let the players go home in Episode 2 is an excellent choice in the show's narrative. It makes sense that the players would decide to join the games again, because their lives outside were already absolute hell, and going back would mean they would have to suffer in poverty for the rest of their lives. It adds to the disparity and tragedy of the show because it shows that escape is not an option, which means the players have no choice but to keep playing the game and hope for the best.
 * 8) ** This makes you understand the twisted logic on the hosts' part as well. From their prospective, the games are an act of mercy. They're giving the poor people a chance to join them in the 1%. They didn't force anyone to come back. The players gave their consent by continuing each round. After the first game, the players know full well that failing means they die, so the hosts can brush off this cruelty as "they chose this for themselves, and they weren't good enough to survive, sorry."
 * 9) *** It's basically how the rich see the poor in a capitalist system; the less successful deserve their suffering because they didn't work hard enough or smart enough.
 * 10) ** What's also cruel about the games is that the hosts constantly taunt the players; there's the humiliation and infantilization of making the players play children's games, but the hosts also hid hints about what the games would be on the walls, which the players didn't see at first because the beds were in the way, and they were also too caught up in staying alive to pay attention anyway. Even many of the games might have had an alternative win condition the players didn't think of.
 * 11) *** The hosts could've made some other crap happen to make sure only one person would win, but the point is that they left all these hints so they could feel like it's the players' faults for not figuring it out.
 * 12) ** Another point in this section is the way the show depicts how capitalism warps consent. Coerced consent is not true consent. If the other choice is suffering, that's not a real choice. The hosts claim they were giving the players the freedom to choose just as capitalism claims we all can choose what we do with our lives, but they continuously withheld information to nudge them into falling into the traps in the games. They didn't even specify that only one person can end up taking the prize and go home in the end. Some people thought they could win as a team, which is probably why the husband and wife joined.
 * 13) *** For example, during the second game, the hosts tell the players to pick a shape without telling them they would be given a dalgona cookie to cut out the shape cleanly.
 * 14) *** During the fifth game, the hosts tell the players to choose a number, without telling them it would be the order they go in on the glass bridge.
 * 15) *** What this does is turn the players' emotions inward, either blaming themselves for picking wrong or congratulating themselves for picking right. It diverts attention from that it's the hosts who are to blame for creating this system and these rules in order to exploit people for entertainment. The show creates an illusion of personal responsibility for one's fate when in reality, the outcomes are mostly based on blind luck. The final three only became the final three because they happened to pick the last three of the bridge game. Gi-hun didn't win the games in the end because he was smarter or stronger than everyone else (he looked just like the average South Korean dude). It was just sheer luck, which was probably the whole point. Capitalism is ultimately a luck-based system that rewards the worst outcomes of humanity and punishes the best, yet it disguises itself as a fair competition.
 * 16) ** Before letting them vote on whether to continue the games or not, they showed them a small portion of the money to make them reconsider staying, which convinced almost all of them to do so.
 * 17) * We should also point out how the games turn the players against each other and made them forget who the true enemy should be. There were 456 players, and they could've banded together and revolted against the hosts and divide the money among themselves, but the allure of possibly getting to be the one person to take it all home was just too strong for them.
 * 18) ** The show made Sang-woo out to be the villain, but that's only because his actions were the ones the audience got to see up close. He's easy to blame because we're familiar with him, but the actual villains are the VIPs. It's just like in real life, when working class people get made at other working class people for getting their minimum wage raised or whatever, when the people we should all be angry at are the billionaires at the top of the companies, pocketing it all. The show gives an interesting look at how the pressures of capitalism distorts humanity itself.
 * 19) ** When Gi-hun lashes out at Sang-woo during the end, he most likely wasn't just angry at Sang-woo, but also at himself for what he did in the games. It's probably why Gi-hun tried to get Sang-woo to give up with him in the last round, even though he has pretty much won the whole thing. Many were mad at this, saying it made no sense to his character, but it's thematically appropriate to the storyline. In that moment, Gi-hun had finally rebelled against the games, and what the games wanted him to do. He finally decided that no amount of money is worth sacrificing his childhood friend's life and he wouldn't partake in this system any longer. Think of it as the equivalent of Katniss Everdeen suggesting she and Peeta take the poisonous berries together rather than killing him to ensure her own victory like the capital wanted her to for the drama. Gi-hun and Katniss were done being the puppets of the VIPs, yet this enraged Sang-woo so much he slit his own throat to force Gi-hun to become the winner.
 * 20) ** It also kinda gets meta because the ending we the viewers want to see is Gi-hun finally getting the money and living happily ever after, but that would defeat the purpose of the show. Squid Game isn't an inspiring tale of victory or rebellion. It's a realistic tragedy that cuts deep into the hopelessness of capitalism. It's why Gi-hun's mother died before he could save her with his winnings. It's supposed to make us angry.
 * 21) *** In the final minutes of the show, Gi-hun choosing to get involved in the games again instead of getting on the plane to see his daughter in America, is a very deliberate thematic decision as well. In this moment, Gi-hun refused to turn a blind eye to the system and go indulge in some semblance of a happy life. Instead, he chooses to fight back against the impossible. Remember, he was once a labor striker. He always had this revolutionary fire in him. This decision is within his character and it's both hopeful and yet hopeless. We all know he stands little chance against this group of people with so much wealth and power that they've hosted death games since the 80s. Realistically, he wouldn't win, but if no one fights back, how can the system ever be toppled? He may be a fool, but if enough fools stand up with him, they can indeed overthrow whoever they want, so this ending may not be the satisfying ending we want, but it's very thought-provoking, however.
 * 22) ** The games even tricked players into teaming up with each other and made them think it'll be like that throughout the next games, only for them to play against each other later.
 * 23) * Many people have connected to the themes of the show, as they've become especially relevant in COVID times since the pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world economy.
 * 24) ** In South Korea, there's always been an underground loaning culture where desperate people get loans from shady gangs who charge illegally high interest rates. During Covid, these loans have been the only way some have gotten by, especially small business owners, even though it's basically a bottomless trap. Intense capitalist competition has caused South Korea to have one of the highest rates of household debts and suicides among developed nations, so it's no surprise that media like Parasite and Squid Game have come out of it. Even "Gangnam Style" was a parody of capitalist excess, something lost to everyone dancing along without understanding the lyrics.
 * 25) * Aside from capitalism, Squid Game critiques imperialism.
 * 26) ** It's not a coincidence that the VIPs are a bunch of white guys and one Chinese guy. During the Korean War, it was the imperialist forces of the United States, Soviet Russia, and China that tore the Korean peninsula apart during the Cold War. They used the peninsula as a proxy battleground and toppled the Koreans' own self determination movements to install authoritarian puppet regimes in the north and south respectively. They didn't even end the war beyond an armistice despite all the horror and death, so the peninsula remained split in half by an arbitrary line, and millions of Korean families have been divided ever since.
 * 27) *** On the surface level, the two Koreas seem like a giant social experiment; choosing communism made North Korea impoverished and oppressed, while choosing capitalism made South Korea hyper-developed and full of glitz and glamour, or so pop culture wants us to believe. In reality, North Korea is impoverished because all its cities and infrastructure were bombed to the ground by the US with more bombs than they've dropped into the Pacific Theater during WWII, and then the country was subject to intense international embargoes. On the other hand, South Korea was able to develop economically very quickly because of Western support and it seems like such a success story in favor of capitalism, but what they don't tell you is that the US military brutally suppressed the left-wing movements and workers uprisings with many massacres of civilians, and they tried to bury the truth of these massacres by claiming the civilians were North Korean agents. The details are still very murky because the relatives of those who had been killed were silenced by the US-backed regimes that controlled South Korea for the next few decades.
 * 28) *** How does all this relate to Squid Game, you might ask? The secret mass-killing nature of the games seems very likely inspired by this aspect of South Korean history, which cannot be separated from imperialism. There are still about 30,000 American troops stationed in South Korea, and South Korea still doesn't have full operational control of its own army. If the peninsula ever breaks into act of war again, it's America who takes command of South Korean military, though this is set to change in 2022.
 * 29) *** Basically, the VIPs represent the large economic powers that have hovered over South Korea and other countries since the Cold War. It'd probably make sense that they were childish and crude. After all, they're only in their positions they're in because they were fortunate enough to be born into riches.
 * 30) *** South Korea is lauded as an example of capitalist success, yet here is a South Korean-made show exposing all that's rotten under the shiny surface.
 * 31) *** There's even a deliberate plot point during Episode 6 of Kang Sae-byeok escaping to South Korea because she thought it would be better than the North. When Ji-young, her friend, asks her if she still thinks that's true, she just stays silent. It single-handedly disproves those claims that Squid Game is a critique of communism like Tim Pool, Ben Shapiro, and others want you to think. Communism is not when people wear the same clothes and eat rationed food. You eat rationed food and wear the same clothes in the military and nobody calls that communism.
 * 32) * Even creator Hwang Dong-hyuk had to sell his laptop just to pay the bills to make the show and distribute it to Netflix. When none of us can escape capitalism, we can only work within it to the best of our abilities.
 * 33) * TLDR; Squid Game is an unsubtle critique of the capitalist system and how the rich would want to see the poor fight against each other for their own benefit.
 * 34) Enjoyable and fantastic acting by Park Hae Soo, Wi Ha-Joon, Hoyeon Jung, Lee Jung-Jae, and others.
 * 35) Squid Game has a very interesting storyline, with some elements of Whacked!, Hunger Games and The Game but more catastrophic and clever. The way everything is portrayed in this survival drama is for sure top-notch. If you enjoy those series, you might like this one as well.
 * 36) * However, the fundamental difference between these kinds of shows is that shows like The Hunger Games frame its dystopia as a potential future, that capitalism can eventually lead us down to this road. Squid Game, however, argues that the dystopia is already here, right under our noses, which is a more compelling argument depending on your view.
 * 37) The cinematography is absolutely outstanding and is top-notch in many ways.
 * 38) It has good mixes of dark humor, in some episodes, to very heavy and dark.
 * 39) The show has incredible detail put into it, and it shows with the plot, acting, and much more.
 * 40) The soundtrack fits with the aesthetic of the show. It evokes an eerie mood for the series and gives the series a nice, creepy, and depressing tone.
 * 41) Squid Game has excellently written characters that develop over the series. None of them were too one-dimensional and shallow, because they showed many personalities.
 * 42) The pacing is definitely superb and smooth. There weren't any moments that were too slow or too fast, it was just right.
 * 43) Although it can be violent at times, it's very entertaining to watch, especially where Deok-Su wreaks unexpected chaos but in the dark, another example is, when they are "Red Light, Green Light" when player 324 moves and the other player also dies, almost everyone becomes desperate and many die, it doesn't matter that there is a lot of blood, what matters is to see how entertaining it is.
 * 44) In the episode "Gganbu", there is an incredibly heartbreaking moment where the most endearing and likeable players die, the most heartbreaking being Oh Il-Nam (this is because Oh Il-Nam suffers from a terrible tumor and dementia) where he dies after putting the last marble in his pocket, and Seong Gi-Hun cries why he didn't want him to die and then Oh Il-Nam was shot, another example is Abdul Ali (because he had a family and is very kind), since Ali was about to win, but then Sang-Woo made a deal with Ali and they were tied, and gave Abdul the other marbles, and he decides to get distracted but Abdul realizes that the marbles they gave were small stones and Sang-Woo all this time had the real marbles and then he won, which all turned out to be a hoax, and sadly, Abdul dies, which could leave one in tears for one who likes these characters.
 * 45) The games in Squid Game are simple and not complicated or difficult. It's what's at stake what makes them so intense.
 * 46) Oh Il-Nam running happily in Episode 1 was pretty laughable, even if that wasn't the intention.
 * 47) Thanks to this, the "Red Light, Green Light" challenge is very popular, which is cool, since many made memes and even did so in popular video games like mh:awesomegames:Roblox and Fortnite (in creative mode), their catchy lyrics and even in real life, children play them.
 * 48) "Did you forget the rules? You do not speak unless your superior allows you to."
 * 49) Like Joker, the massacre in the first episode is very chilling to watch as well as the riot scene.

나쁜 품질 (Bad Qualities)

 * 1) Deok-Su is very mean-spirited and selfish. He even went as far as to beat people to death! Although to be fair, though he can be selfish, he can be intimidating and threatening enough.
 * 2) The main character, Seong Gi-hun, could be a mean-spirited and impulsive protagonist sometimes. For instance in Episode 1, when someone pulls on his leg, he leaves them behind with no explanation at all. Thus making him seem selfish.
 * 3) While the VIPs were bad, it didn't ruin the series as a whole. Just only some parts were bad.
 * 4) The translation can be pretty bad sometimes considered by most Koreans.
 * 5) Awful English dub, filled with many subtitle errors. Thankfully, this was fixed in 2022.
 * 6) There were some medical inaccuracies as pointed out by Doctor Mike in this video.

선수/캐릭터 (Players/Characters)
There is a total of 456 people in the survival drama, Squid Game.
 * Seong Gi-Hun (No. 456)
 * Cho Sang-Woo (No. 218)
 * Oh Il-Nam (No. 001)
 * Kang Sae-Byeok (No. 067)
 * Jang Deok-Su (No. 101)
 * Abdul Ali (No. 199)
 * Han Mi-Nyeo (No. 212)

하찮은 (Trivia)

 * A small controversy has ensued, as the show has been accused of plagiarizing from the Japanese supernatural horror film As the Gods Will (2014), However, the creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk finished writing Squid Game's last story in 2009, but it was never approved nor released by any company until it was released on Netflix in 2021.
 * The show's success worldwide and in South Korea has led to many people trying some of the games featured in the show.
 * Speaking of which, many countries are even organizing real life events. The first event based on this game took place in Abu Dhabi.
 * Dalgona, a Korean honeycomb candy which was featured in the third episode has had increased sales in vendors and candy stores in South Korea due to how successful the show has been.
 * This show is currently the second most watched non-English show on the site, the first being Money Heist.
 * This was one of the most watched South Korean Netflix originals along with Hellbound.
 * This show ultimately saved Netflix's reputation as a streaming platform and made the platform popular again, after the infamous film mh:awfulmovies:Cuties almost destroyed Netflix's reputation as a streaming platform after the increase of subscription cancellations and decline in popularity.
 * mh:amazingyoutubers:MrBeast has recreated Squid Game in real life. You can check it out here.
 * The show is popular in the United States, India, the Philippines, Romania, the Netherlands, and, believe it or not, North Korea. (They cite the show to demonize South Korea and promote North Korea).
 * A North Korean resident was even sentenced to death after he was caught secretly watching the show.
 * In China, where Netflix is not available, many people started watching the show from illegal websites and downloading torrents.
 * VIP#4 actor Geoffrey Giuliano is in a meme group on Facebook called Squid Game Gganbuposting, he communicates with the fans there and posts memes sometimes as well.

비디오 (Videos)
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또한보십시오 (See Also)

 * Squid Game at IMDB
 * Squid Game at Han Cinema
 * Squid Game at Daum (Korean)
 * Squid Game at Rotten Tomatoes