A juxtaposition of a game and society

My main perspective on why Squid Game translates well across borders is because I believe the game reveals a deeper truth of society through metaphorizing the game as society itself. Although some people fail to see this deeper meaning, people are able to relate to the show by sharing the anti-capitalist sentiment expressed in the show. In collecting individuals who are in extreme dept and forcing them to ignore moral values for the sake of accomplishing their own personal goals. The show is rooted in the idea that within our capitalist society we must bring others down in order to accomplish our own agenda regardless of the purity of our intentions. The show does this through extremely violent actions that further emphasizes how people are willing to let others die regardless of their exterior persona of a “good guy”, as depicted by the main character. However, what I believe the more global audience of Squid Game fails to capture the idea behind the use of childhood games to progress the plot. From a Korean perspective, where the show was originally made, it was intended to ignite nostalgia within the Korean audience and remind them of their childhoods; however, the deeper meaning behind that is to insinuate that society today has become too physically disconnected and rather more technologically connected, forgoing deep human connections due to the constant screens in front of people’s eyes. While global audiences may also be able to relate to this, it hits home in using the nostalgic games that Koreans used to play allowing for them to reminiscence on their childhoods and trigger a desire to relive those moments. Thus, while some may argue that Squid Game was “too Korean” to translate well across borders, I believe that it translated well because it was a juxtaposition of the physically violent games to the death with our capitalist society, allowing for many people to relate to it. The show not only deals with the struggles of capitalism but also reaches deep into raw human emotions and instincts, demonstrating how far we are willing to go to accomplish our own personal goals through other peoples’ failures.