Squid Game spreads viewership tentacles abroad

As a global phenomenon topping charts from its perch in the Netflix platform, Squid Game proves that shows produced in languages other than English can dominate the world-wide marketplace. As the Korean drama soared its way to the top show in 90 countries, subtitled in 31 languages, and dubbed into 13 languages, its success is no sham. ‘Have you watched Squid Game yet?’ is a new favorite conversation starter. 

The series begins by telling the story of Gi-hun (Lee Jung-Jae, Deliver Us From Evil), a deadbeat father and gambling addict. In debt to loan sharks and banks by 400,000,000 won ($339,829 USD), Gi-hun is desperate for money and joins the Squid Game challenge after speaking to a salesman who ‘miraculously’ knew all of Gi-hun’s information. The contest is really a series of children’s games where the winner earns money; however, none of the 456 players realize that losing a match ends up in their complete annihilation. The most captivating and intriguing field of the show is the juxtaposition between innocent games and death, as well as other peculiarities the director worked on including.

Squid Game features an exciting choice of background music. Through strains of childish or upbeat music, the director successfully uses distraction in order to sneak in some astonishingly gruesome scenes. For example, a particular fan favorite is when “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra is being played while the players are being shot or stabbed to death. Another artistic element is the color palette as soldiers garbed in pink shoot players, swirling and mixing colors of innocence and sin into a blend of gory and childish imagery. Halloween costumes, as the pink soldiers wear shapes on their masks, are a recent trend, as well as the green tracksuits the players wear.

Despite the thoughtful depiction of protagonist Gi-hun as an incredibly kind (and possibly too friendly) and forgiving soul, there is one character that truly captivated the audience and weaseled their way into the hearts of viewers - that character being Sae-byeok, the North Korean defector. Viewers were unknowingly introduced to her in the very beginning when Gi-hun is running away from a loan shark and accidentally bumps into her, spilling her cup of coffee. The audience later finds out that Gi-hun was pickpocketed by her and they later meet and squabble at the Squid Game. It was a huge success that the show featured multiple strong women personas, such as Sae-byeok and Player 240, Ji Yeong (Lee Yoo-Mi, Young Adult Matters). Director Hwang Dong also planned this out, claiming the bond between the two women was something he later added as he felt it made sense. Initially, the plan was to group Sae-byeok with a male character but director Hwang Dong shut this idea down. More impressively, Sae-byeok played by Jung Ho-yeon, was her very first acting job as she concluded being a traveling model in order to pursue this role. Fans of Squid Game now line up in order to see her face in another role.

As the ending of the show broke hearts with many seemingly good characters becoming evil, the ending creates a tremendous cliffhanger and leaves the audience itching for more of Gi-hun’s story. It ultimately leaves them wondering whether or not Gi-hun will be able to stop the next game. Many viewers punched the air in anger when Gi-hun turned around instead of heading onto the plane to the United States to be with his daughter. After all, his ultimate goal in joining Squid Game was to win, in order to have money to be financially stable and take custody of his daughter after his divorce four years prior. However, some things never change and Gi-hun being a god-awful father is definitely one of them.

Despite the show’s success, director Hwang Dong says he’s in no hurry to begin the next season. This is plausible considering it took him a full year to write the script in 2008 and six months to write the first two episodes alone. The show almost didn’t happen, as well, considering it took 12 years for Netflix to pick it up. Dong also says he lost six teeth during filming due to stress. However, even if he does decide to drop Squid Game, his next work is sure to also be a success.

Overall the show is a huge success that features all the ingredients to make it big. However, the open ending is definitely angering considering there are currently no plans for a season two.

A+

by Cristi Isaula-Reyes

Oshkosh West Index Volume 118 Issue 2

November 1st, 2021