Squid Game
On the surface, Squid game, the smash hit on Netflix, is a show that pits contestants against each other in an all-or-nothing game to win an exorbitant cash prize. However, the story has more subtext and hidden meaning, and today I would like to discuss the overall story, my impressions of the show, and some minor, spoiler-free hidden meanings.
The plot centers around several characters; Sang-woo, a brilliant man who was head of an investment team for a securities company, stole money from his clients and is wanted by the police. The next is Sae-byeok, an untrusting woman who fled North Korea with her brother to South Korea and wants to bring her mother to South Korea but struggles to find enough money. Ali is a Pakistani father to a newborn and looking to better his life; he moved with his wife to North Korea. Sadly, his boss hasn’t paid him his back wages, despite the accident at the factory he worked in, causing him to lose several fingers. Deok-su is a gang leader who stole money from his bosses and searched for a way to pay it back. Il-nam is an elderly man who, due to his brain tumor, is slowly slipping into dementia.
The last character and the main character of the series is Gi-hun, a middle-aged man who works as a chauffeur, and no solid job, large school debts, and gambling addiction. He lives with his mother as he tries to put his life back together and gain custody of his daughter, but he constantly runs into problems and resorts to stealing from his mother to feed his gambling addiction.
Gi-hun pilfers money from his mother’s debit card and wins money at the horse racing track when loan sharks hunt him down. A chase scene ensues, and Gi-hun runs into a young woman. When he makes his way into the bathroom, he realizes that the young woman picked his pocket and cannot pay back the loan sharks. He is granted a temporary stay from paying back the money with a heavy ultimatum.
Gi-hun goes to an arcade to win a present for the daughter’s birthday with the last bit of money. When he sees her, he gives her a present, only for it to be a gag gift in the form of a pistol that becomes lighter when you pull the trigger. Mortified by the gift and the night, he brings his daughter home and heads home.
Upon waiting for a subway, Gi-hun encounters a mysterious gentleman who offers Gi-hun a challenge, beats him in a child’s game of ddakji, a game similar to pogs back in the 90s. Flip over the opponent's paper square and win. When his mysterious opponent wins, Gi-hun reveals he has no money to pay him, so, in exchange, the stranger slaps him. After innumerable slaps, Gi-hun begins to win, and after a while, he walks away with several hundred (in dollar equivalent) in cash. The man hands Gi-hun a card and says to call and reserve a spot in the upcoming game if he wishes to make more money.
When Gi-hun arrives home, he argues with his mother, discovering his daughter will move to America next year. He can regain custody of his daughter if the father shows he is in good financial standing, so he goes with his gut, calls the number, and participates in the game.
When speaking with someone over the phone, Gi-hun is given a time and place where a van picks him up; in the back, he sees several other people sleeping, only to realize before it's too late that they aren’t sleeping but knocked unconscious by a gas.
When Gi-hun wakes, he finds that he and 456 other contestants have awakened in a facility, were stripped of their clothes, and placed in a numbered jumper with his number of 456. Inside the facility, he finds the other characters in the story and the woman who picked his pocket, Sae-byeok.
The group meets masked people in strange pink suits who introduce them to the game. They are shown clips of the other competitors as they are all in the grips of financial ruin. They are given the proposition of playing and are divulged how much they will win, but only after the first game's events. The competitors are given time to consider whether or not they wish to continue. Those that do sign a contract with three clauses, 1. A player is not allowed to stop playing the game. 2. A player who refuses to play will be eliminated, and 3. Games may be terminated if the majority agrees.
After signing the forms, the contestants move to a location where they see a surreal colored staircase and photo I.D. is taken; then, they are introduced into their first game.
The game is red light, green light. The children’s game where people line up and try to make it across a line while the person at the other end of the line has their head turned. The person with the back to the group shouts, “green light,” telling the people it is their opportunity to go. When the person shouts, “red light,” they must stop, and by the time the person turns around, anyone caught moving is eliminated.
The same holds here; only the contestants are in an eerie dirt field with a painted background on the wall, a large fake tree, and a creepy ten-foot doll. They are told over the loudspeaker that the game will begin in moments, and everyone will only have five minutes to complete the task.
The doll shouts, “green light,” and the competitors race towards the line. When the doll shouts, “Red light,” the first player is eliminated as the doll detects movement, and a bullet hits competitor 324 is eliminated. The gravity of the situation hasn’t hit just yet, as players don’t know the severity of the situation. When the first person eliminated coughs up blood, the second player, realizing what happens, freaks out and moves, causing him to be killed. This causes a chain reaction of panic as players to scramble for an exit, thus killing or eliminating numerous players.
The game continues, and many make it across make it in time; others don’t and are eliminated.
The group returns to their cells wherein a panic they cry out to be released, they put it to a vote and determine they wish to go home; however, they learn that if they do, they lose the prize money accumulated and that money will be redistributed to the player's families who died.
I will not divulge any more of the plot; that was just the first three-quarters of the first episode.
This show is a play on the human condition, how far would we be willing to go to pay off everything you owe, what would you be willing to do, and would you like or, for that matter, be the same person when you are finished. Going through such a grueling and tramatic experience will rock your core ideas and reshape the fundamental person you are. The same can be said for people who win the lottery; many grow broke because they don’t know how to handle money and are changed by the money.
Something also happened to me. I like to play poker, more specifically, poker tournaments. I won a poker tournament nearly ten years ago for a life-changing amount of money, and as I played and players dwindled, I could feel the stress of the situation. I saw the prize pool growing and realized more and more that one slip could result in me losing everything. I was determined to win, but there was still a random element of chance. So, every decision I made had to be perfect, and when I got to the end, I was exhausted, nauseous, and overall spent after the twenty-three-hour ordeal.
The one element of the story that I love the most is the psychological tactics the show employs. Much like my personal example, the show is a microcosm for things we watch on T.V. When we watch a show where there is a large prize pool, we often root for the players because we see ourselves in them. We wonder what it would be like to be in that situation and answer the questions out loud to an audience that isn’t there. When a brash contestant comes along, we secretly hope they fail and look for the winning person for altruistic reasons to succeed.
Most game shows, in my opinion, are set up like this, we get a long back story, or the host will talk to the contestant to find out more about them. Humanizing them so that we can attach ourselves to them, and so we continue to watch.
The one thing that this show does incredibly effectively throughout the nine episodes is the music. They use classical music and other music in an unsettling or foreboding way, and it will generally start slow and build like an orchestral piece. When you hear music, I want you to think about what is happening? Because you often find there something horrific about to happen.
A minor spoiler, but something to notice; look at the walls in the dorm area, and they will give you a hint as to what the next game will be.
If you are interested in looking at the subtext of capitalism the show presents and the struggle of gaovernaments versus unions regarding labor laws, I suggest you search. Generally, I don’t particularly appreciate discussing politics, as it has become so divisive, but I will say there are many fascinating parables.
There is one parable that I would like to draw a comparison to the concept of happiness. This show tries to present one theme: that money won't make you happy (again, this is my opinion). Both are never happy, whether you are a contestant eeking out a living or one of the super-wealthy VIPs that come later in the show to place bets. The poor are stuck in hellish life hounded by debt collectors, doctor's bills, bank notices. At the same time, the VIPs are unfulfilled with life where they have an excess of money which fills no void. They are constantly left wanting, so much so that their means of entertainment is betting on people as they risk their lives to win money. With all the creature comforts around them, they still can not find joy, only fleeting moments of what feels like happiness.
There are subtle bits that I find fascinating in the numbers the characters are given. Many have a subtle meaning or more profound meaning, and I won't mention much because the numbers could spoil things. One tiny bit is a couple that has numbers 69 and 70. Later in the show, one VIP bets on 69 to win and makes a crude joke. That joke works on multiple levels because it hits the audience that appreciates a simple crude joke. But when you watch the series, the couple were inseparable, two parts of a whole, and what is 69 when you look at it. The Yin-Yang symbol. They were the symbol of perfect unity in this dark place.
Lastly, I will leave you with my impressions of the show, which is I loved it. The more you look, the more you see how much the writers took into account the subtle touches to bring the horrors of the story into full effect. I say horror because this is a horror show. What you see is so horrific it makes you ponder what you are watching. This show will have you thinking, but it will also question many things you may have taken for granted in life. I highly suggest you see it.