[miguelmurca]

To be completely honest I don't understand the appeal of Squid Game. It's a very thin metaphor around super shocking imagery --- and don't get me wrong, although it's not my thing, I can understand people liking slasher movies and the like, but I don't understand why this discourse that Squid Game is very deep (and anything other than cheap gore horror) became so popular.

[nnoitra]

The acting is superb, I really have not seen a single actor fail to deliver. They are all shocked beyond reason given the circumstances. It's like watching what would happen in real life.

It has high realism precisely because not everyone believes in a dog eat dog world. There are those that sacrifice themselves to save someone else. The immigrant that believes he is inferior simply because he came to the land and you have genuine human elements come to the surface even in the brutal world.

It doesn't lose a second on pointless discussions. It just starts strong and goes on and on until the very end. Substance all the way through. It's not just gore for the sake of gore or for shock value.

[silvester23]

> The acting is superb, I really have not seen a single actor fail to deliver.

Have you seen the episode with the VIPs? They are terrible across the board. Their delivery sounds like NPC background dialogue from a third-rate low-budget video game.

[biddit]

If you were to view their script and line delivery through the lens of a non-English speaking Korean audience, which this show was targeting, I think you'd find that this is a non-issue.

The same way that the vast majority of shows and movies produced in America for American audiences contain absolutely atrocious foreign dialog...

[donkeyd]

This is exactly how I interpreted it. I'm Dutch and the film interpretation of my countrymen is usually someone with a German accent, someone who gets high or a prostitute. No American will ever complain about that.

[pkrotich]

I thought that the casting & acting for the scene was on purpose to demonize the VIPs / controllers (westerners).

Evan costumes were horrible MardiGras masks would have even been a step up.

[hnbad]

FWIW aside from the delivery working better alongside the original Korean (which seems appropriate for a series made for a Korean audience first), the dialogue was intentionally aloof and pretentious (while also being tasteless and crass). I don't recall the exact quotes but the actors pretty much stated that their instructions boiled down to channeling the spirit of the equivalent of a fedora wearing teenage 4chan user: stilted to make up for a lack of sophistication but also deviantly self-indulgent and crass.

[peakaboo]

You picked the worst acting of the series as an example here. The previous episodes actually did have superb acting. One huge difference to American and British shows is that nobody tried to be cool in squid game. They were acting like humans would.

[tsegers]

If someone claims that not a single actor failed to deliver it's a perfectly valid response to use the worst actor as a example to the contrary.

[z3c0]

It's also not afraid to have protagonists of questionable character. Northern Asian media at least understands that people aren't perfect and crafts excellent stories of growth at the hands of a self-inflicted struggle.

Western media is full of level-headed, mild-mannered, sharp, witty, moral paragons of protagonists with motives that are practically announced from loudspeakers.

[dagw]

Northern Asian media

OT, but I have never heard of South Korea described as "North Asia". Is that a common thing? Just looking at a map it is clearly way to the south.

[Jansen312]

South Korea is always considered as part of "northeast asia" region along with Japan, China, HK/Macau and Taiwan. If you work in MNC with presence in that region, NEasia is common designation in their sales meeting.

[nnoitra]

Yeah, I agree the VIPs' acting kinda sucks. But everything else is uber good.

[dagw]

I don't understand the appeal of Squid Game. It's a very thin metaphor around super shocking imagery

Sounds to me like you understand the appeal of Squid Game perfectly :)

Squid Game is very deep

I don't think many people are saying that Squid Game itself is very deep, rather that it seems to work as a catalyst for many to have deeper conversations about these topics that they haven't really been having before.

[omnicognate]

You get the same every time this is done: Hunger Games and Battle Royale were also hailed for much more than the competitive brutality idea they were built on, and really they had little else to offer but that. For some reason people seem to feel the need to say they enjoyed it for reasons other than just enjoying inventive, competitive death games (maybe they really do, I don't know).

Anyway, I loved Squid Game but I wouldn't call it remotely deep. It's a formula. You just need to come up with a few decent characters and it practically writes itself.

IIRC, the maker of Squid Game was quoted as being unable to contemplate what a season 2 would involve. Are you kidding? Just put a new bunch of characters through a new bunch of games, sprinkle a bit of extra plot on it and keep up the production values. People will watch an infinite amount of this.

<DerekJacobi>He will bring them death, and they will love him for it.</DerekJacobi>

[Sebb767]

> IIRC, the maker of Squid Game was quoted as being unable to contemplate what a season 2 would involve. Are you kidding? Just put a new bunch of characters through a new bunch of games, sprinkle a bit of extra plot on it and keep up the production values. People will watch an infinite amount of this

Even though you don't see it, I'm pretty sure the creator tried to tell a deeper story in this series. And from that perspective, it's quite obvious why a second season couldn't just be a repeat from season 1.

[silvester23]

> For some reason people seem to feel the need to say they enjoyed it for reasons other than just enjoying inventive, competitive death games

I guess that's because otherwise you are kind of taking on the role of the sadistic spectators. I'm not saying that's true but it might feel like that to some people.

I kind of enjoyed Squid Game but I totally agree with you, I do not think it had much to offer in terms of social commentary, it's pretty one dimensional.

Personally, I prefered 'The Platform' (also on Netflix), which is a bit of a different take on a similar theme, although it is not any more subtle about its metaphor.

[hnbad]

What I think distinguishes Squid Game over The Platform most was that Squid Game directly portrays (and thus critiques) the society outside the "game" whereas The Platform is a self-contained allegory.

(Spoilers galore)

In both participants sign up without initially knowing what they're signing up for and in both there are volunteers who join despite understanding the violence and death, thinking they can "win" (i.e. the returning participants in squid game and the bureaucrat in The Platform). But while in the latter the only reason anyone would subject themselves to the system is suggested to be extreme naivety, in the former we are shown the desperation and hopelessness the participants face outside the game that drives them to such an extreme decision simply for the promise of a chance at getting out of their situation.

Both systems are set up to disrupt solidarity and cooperation (where The Platform even goes so far as to claim the exact opposite). Both pieces of media demonstrate those systems succeeding but end with an act of self-sacrifice.

But Squid Game gives us a motivation for participating in such a suicidal system and the most horrifying aspect of it is that it is not some kind of sci-fi dystopia but what TV Tropes would call "20 seconds into the future": a setting that feels mildly detached from our present but you could easily imagine being set in the present day in a Western country not unlike your own. Yes, the squid game itself feels excessive and has sci-fi or at least fantastic undertones, but the world outside it feels unsettlingly familiar.

[silvester23]

That's a very interesting point, I think you are probably spot on about why Squid Game seems to resonate with people more.

Funnily enough, the inclusion of so much of the outside world is actually one of my bigger personal gripes with the series. The game itself seems so detached from reality and just formulaic that I cannot suspend my disbelief enough to reconcile that with an outside that, as you say, is so close to our own.

I think for me, such a setting works better if it is mostly self-contained, like The Platform or Cube from 1997.

But I guess that's just a matter of taste. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

[imtringued]

There are already so many of these survival game shows and movies. I don't see what a sequel is supposed to bring to the table. In fact, the title "X Game" is so unoriginal... I've watched too many of those.

[catlikesshrimp]

I didn't enjoy parts 2 and 3 of the cinema Hunger Games.

[AussieWog93]

It's the execution. The main plot had been done multiple times before but not to anywhere near this level.

The acting, characters, sets and twists made it chilling in a way that makes Hunger Games et al look amateurish. At least until the English-speaking people opened their mouths...

[vowelless]

Its shocking and gore, portraying a totalitarian sub society with hints of communism. It reminds us of North Korean. But for some reason, westerners think its a “critique of capitalism”.

Edit: to clarify, the “hints of communism” here refers to the game on the island, not south korea. These people willingly left capitalism to join this weird commie authoritarian style game to make money.

[pastacacioepepe]

> with hints of communism

Seriously? It portrays current South Korea, which is one of the most capitalist societies in Asia. Did we watch the same show?

In fact, most of the circumstances that bring the players in the squid game are due to poverty and failed capitalism.

[vowelless]

It showed greedy, flawed people who _chose_ to leave a possibly capitalistic system (they actually dont discuss the outside world too much) and participate in a totalitarian hell hole as they are enticed with cash. Not out of lack of options, but due to messed up promises by the dictator in charge and their own greedy nature, or bad choices (like gambling debt, crashing a overlevered portfolio which is hardly poverty).

It is reminiscent of communist revolutions of the past where people choose to overthrow a system to establish a totalitarian system so that they can get some gain out of it.

[pastacacioepepe]

Boy did you completely miss the meaning of it.

They all live in a strongly capitalist society, which works in the same way as the squid game does, just less gory but still brutal. It is still a competitive race to the top where the losers are left behind. That's exactly capitalism and meritocracy for you, if you didn't get it yet.

What the squid game organizers offer to them is, at least for once a fair-ish opportunity. The players all take it, even if they know they will very probably die. It is still fairer to them than a life in the capitalist hellhole that is South Korea in the show.

[vowelless]

Might I suggest doing some introspection?

Perhaps I “completely missed” the meaning of it. I hardly saw much discussion about the flaws of Korean society (and thus dont presume anything about it with my own biases — I didnt get the visual it was a “hellhole”). What I saw was a horrible father/son in gambling debt (his choice to gamble), a pretentious trader who overlevered and lost peoples money (his choice to be greedy), a bunch of thieves, and a crazy old rich man (clearly a sadist). I didnt see abject poverty that arose due to capitalism. I am trying hard to see how the free market got these people to be like that. Feel free to explain if you would like.

Then I saw these people constantly choose to be inside a messed up totalitarian system so that they could get cash. They were societys degenerates who were driven by so much greed that they joined this quasi commie / authoritarian system to get even more cash.

Maybe you are saying that for degenerates, a normal free market is a “hell hole” and thus they need this game. Ok, fair enough. But that doesnt tell us much about capitalism.

[pastacacioepepe]

Look, just read this interview of the creator[0]. No more need to speculate or discuss what he meant, he will confirm what I'm already telling you.

A couple questions that should help clarify the meaning of the show:

> Why did Hwang create a horrifyingly brutal contest that holds human life so cheap? “Because the show is motivated by a simple idea,” he says. “We are fighting for our lives in very unequal circumstances.”

> Are you making a profound point about capitalism? “It’s not profound! It’s very simple! I do believe that the overall global economic order is unequal and that around 90% of the people believe that it’s unfair. During the pandemic, poorer countries can’t get their people vaccinated. They’re contracting viruses on the streets and even dying. So I did try to convey a message about modern capitalism. As I said, it’s not profound.”

- [0]: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/oct/26/squid-g...

[catlikesshrimp]

Horse races and investment portfolios would be out of context in a communist state.

You didn't watch the same show.

[hnbad]

I think many people don't reflect on the show's messaging beyond the surface level "catchy costumes and violence in a game show" aspect (which honestly wasn't even new when Arnold Schwarzenegger portrayed it in Running Man).

The social critique of Squid Game isn't the squid game. It's the world outside the game. It's why so many of the participants not only volunteer but also volunteer to come back after having already experienced it. The world outside the game show is portrayed as so bleak that hundreds of people would rather compete in a life-or-death "game" that promises fairness and a life-changing cash reward.

And the critical message of the show is that this world outside the game is not significantly different from ours. The game is a grotesque exaggeration of a get rich quick scheme but there are plenty of examples for people hoping to beat the odds or being willing to scam others for promises of great fortunes (look no further than the way the GameStock pump and dump was framed as a proletarian revolution until it was revealed most of the stock movement was the result of established investors jumping in to cash out on the gullible masses still tweeting "diamond hands" memes as the tide was starting to turn).

The cheap gore horror sells the show, but the implications of the story it tells, what people are willing to do to themselves and others for the promise of a carefree life, and how characters from all walks of life can end up in the gutter and devoid of hope, is why people dig their claws into it for more than just a few viral marketing memes. It speaks to the zeitgeist, especially during a pandemic that has repeatedly demonstrated failures of government and society, and economical interests being placed above the individual's well-being.

Before 2020 many people likely believed that their country would come together in a crisis like this, that people with power would forego their own interests for once an help out or that the wealthy wouldn't do less than even the bare minimum to contribute to the society that made them rich. In 2021 I don't think there are many people left having any such illusions about the systems they exist within.

So yeah, detached rich people betting on the dying and desperate like horses in a race strikes a chord with people right now. A show casually presenting a social reality in which poor people are willing to participate in such a "game" even more so. Note that this show's success on Netflix followed both The Platform and Snowpiercer (or the serialization thereof) as well as Parasite and Knives Out. There's a common thread between the themes of these films and Squid Game managed to strike the nerve.

[hvgk]

The whole thing is about maintaining anticipation of the next horror, which it does really well. Also it’s a complete dystopia which is always a good thing to have around as it keeps reality in check. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Also to reflect other comments the acting and the whole imagery was excellent.

[pkrotich]

Same way I would never understand appeal of WWE or super hero movies for that matter.

Did you happen to watch Parasite - it’s sorta cut from the same cloth. Curious if it didn’t interest as well.

[catlikesshrimp]

The protagonist of parasite is rather disgusting.

[pastacacioepepe]

It's pretty easy to understand and not deep at all.

All those people prefer to go back to the game where it's almost certain they will die but that at least gives them one chance, rather than living a normal life in a ruthless capitalist society that treats them as garbage.

[catlikesshrimp]

One of them suicides rather than going back to poverty ( the friend who mortgaged his mother's house )

The protagonist was going to be gutted by his loaners. He had signed a waiver on his body rights.

There are some participants who didn't come back. I assume that we were supposed to assume that they didn't come back because they had died in society.

[mihaic]

The success of Squid Game I think is mostly that it somehow allowed western audiences to put on it the anticapitalist sentiment that is rightfully in the air. It often happens that there's some work that matches common sentiment well enough that it becomes a thing of itself, even if the author didn't intent it.

To me honestly it feels like a boilerplate manga/anime plot, but to a more untainted audience it can be more.

[helloooooooo]

… because some people found it entertaining