Faye Minton

Since its Netflix release on 17 September, Squid Game has been everywhere. Social media has blown up with memes, spoilers, and fan theories – and I’m pretty sure that when Halloween rolls around, we’ll see plenty of costumes inspired by the nine-parter. But what’s all the hype about? What is Squid Game, and why are we all so obsessed?

Squid Game takes its name from a Korean playground game. As explained in the opening scene, it involves one player running through a hand-drawn squid on the floor to reach its head before another can push them outside of the lines. If you’re pushed outside of the squid, the narrator clearly states that “you die”.

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In episode one, 456 financially struggling individuals are approached and invited to play a series of six games. If they win, 45.6 billion Won could be theirs. For context, that’s £28,002,635.09.

The prize would allow them to forget any worries. It would stop loan sharks threatening to take their organs as repayment. It could buy their families a safe and happy home, secure them healthcare, and overall guarantee them a life of luxury.

The catch? The game involves being kidnapped and hidden away for several days with no means of communication. Everyone’s personal items are confiscated, and they’re only left with funky matching tracksuits branded with their player number.

Oh, and if you lose, you die. Literally. You get shot by a creepy masked man in front of everyone and your body is dragged away and cremated in the basement.

Within days of its release, Squid Game had become the most-watched show on US Netflix. It’s now reached that record in 89 other countries, putting it on track to be the most popular Netflix series ever.

“after about 12 years, the world has changed into a place where such peculiar, violent survival stories are actually welcomed.”

But creator Hwang Dong-hyuk recently revealed to The Korea Times that it wasn’t an instant success. He first penned the concept in 2008, and it took a decade before any producers took it seriously. He claimed it seemed too far-fetched for the climate of the time, but a few years ago realised it was worth another shot. He explained, “after about 12 years, the world has changed into a place where such peculiar, violent survival stories are actually welcomed.”

I think most people would agree. While Squid Game is refreshingly different, it’s definitely reminiscent of The Purge, with nods to The Hunger Games and The Walking Dead. Hwang Dong-hyuk has managed to make something brilliant by building on themes we already know and love and completely transforming them.

“The connections he manages to build between the audience and the characters takes an incredible amount of talent”

The plot twists aren’t what we’d expect, but we use what we think we know about the genre to make predictions anyway. It keeps us hooked minute by minute.

The connections he manages to build between the audience and the characters takes an incredible amount of talent – it’s hard not to feel for even the most unlikeable characters. Take Jang Deok-Su, for example. He’s a bully and tries so hard to maintain that gangster image, but at the end of the day, can we really blame him for looking out for himself? You survive or you die. Is wasting time making friendships really worth it?

Even the main character, Seong Gi-Hun, isn’t perfect. We get an unfiltered view into his life and past to understand how he ended up in the game. He’s made mistakes – a lot of them – but he’s got pure intentions and good values, and that’s more than enough for us to back him every step of the way.

Abdul Ali, on the other hand, was pretty much perfect. It’s impossible not to love him and I think most viewers would be willing to jump into the screen and sacrifice themselves for him if they had the chance. It’s not every day that a character has this much power over such a large audience.

For those of us watching outside of Korea, Squid Game has been an amazing opportunity to discover new talent and get in touch with entertainment that we wouldn’t ordinarily be exposed to. I think a lot of its excitement comes from it being different to the shows we’re used to.

“Squid Game exposes us to new cultures, languages, family dynamics and social issues. Its success tells creators that to be good, a series doesn’t need to be whitewashed.”

Because most Netflix chart-toppers here are British or North American made, we’re used to seeing familiar characters in the same types of setting. Squid Game exposes us to new cultures, languages, family dynamics and social issues. Its success tells creators that to be good, a series doesn’t need to be whitewashed.

If the rumours of an upcoming second season are true, we should start emotionally preparing ourselves ASAP. While we could debate for hours the possible directions they could take the story, for now I think it’s best to continue celebrating the show for what it is – a game changer.

Featured image courtesy of Jonas Augustin on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image. 

Faye is a former Empoword Editor in Chief and an MA International Journalism student at Swansea University.

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