Korean thriller, ‘Squid Game’ portrays Capitalism
In today’s capitalist society, minority groups still fight for basic worker rights, families still suffer from debt and afford a roof over their heads. Such an economic system has taken advantage of millions of individuals and their families just so they can make a profit. Similar to today’s society but in a more violent form, a South Korean TV series on Netflix, Squid Game, utilizes desperate individuals who are economically deprived to play survival games that consist of common children’s games to win 45.6 billion won. While many claim that Squid Game translated well to the U.S. because it consists of survival games, I believe that the representation of capitalism and injustices through children’s games caused a connection between the real world and the survival drama series for Americans.
Squid Game is a dystopian drama that depicts “rising income inequality in one of Asia’s richest countries”(Jeong), South Korea. According to the filmmaker, Hwang Dong-hyuk says, “I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society. Something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life”. Dong-hyuk wanted to demonstrate how playing deadly children’s games can relate to the struggles people encounter daily in South Korea such as income inequality due to the corrupt government. “Lee Jae-Myung, a front-runner to represent the center-left Democratic Party in next year’s presidential contest” was able to make an indistinguishable observation between the government of South Korea and Squid Game. According to Jae-Myung, a “different contest was going on among South Korean conservatives that he termed the “5 billion-won game”. (Jae-Myung) Jae-Myung refers to the scandal that occurred in September “when a right-wing lawmaker’s son received 5 billion won, or roughly $4.2 million, in payments after leaving an asset management company in which he had held a relatively junior position”(Jeong, Moon). This shows that private organizations and those who govern in South Korea use their privilege to take control of society and even take control within the communities of those in power. Although the TV series is Korean, many Americans have created an obsession with Squid Game because in the U.S. many individuals still fight for basic worker rights, Squid Game includes structural inequities and class dynamics.
It has translated well in America other than the obvious, which is the options in languages but more because of the way that people can relate to the characters’ stories drowned in debt under capitalism. The United States has become anti-capitalist but there are still millions of Americans who are fighting for basic worker rights, have an immense amount of student debt, medical debt, and are having difficulty getting a job and maintaining it especially after the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Service, “Student debt in the United States has doubled in volume in the last six years to reach more than 1 trillion dollars and become the second-largest household debt, ahead of automobile or credit card liabilities” (Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Service). This is a result of the government in the U.S. creating public policy factors such as cutting the state budget and creating tuition inflation. Not only do many Americans need to pay student debt but also medical debt. According to Steven Reinberg, “More than 50% of those who were infected with COVID-19 or who lost income due to the pandemic are now struggling with medical debt”(Reinberg). Medical debt has been an ongoing debate for many Americans but the most affected are those without health insurance and we may ask ourselves who are those individuals? Well, they are low-income individuals who can not afford health insurance or can pay expensive medical expenses. Squid Game portrays capitalism in different forms that make us question why we allow these capitalist individuals to continue to take control.
Squid Game utilized indebted individuals to play deadly games in front of a group of incredibly rich primarily white men called the VIPs. They are people of power amused about watching debt-laden players fight each other to win money. Capitalist exploitation in Squid Game is shown in episode two when Ali walks into his ex-bosses office at his old job because he wasn’t answering his calls. Ali approaches his ex-boss and says “sir, pay me all the money you owe me” and the ex-boss says “I don’t have any money right now. Our business isn’t doing so well..”(Squid Game). In the scene, we can see that the ex-boss is playing solitaire on his computer while responding to Ali, which demonstrates lack of interest in paying what he owes or in the conversation overall. As Ali is speaking he then notices a stack of cash in a yellow envelope on the desk and the ex-boss realizes and quickly makes an excuse that he doesn’t have time to talk and rushes out of the office. The ex-boss is taking advantage of his workers and not paying them for their work. Neither is he taking responsibility for injuries that occur in the workspace which is something that workers deserve when working in a company that requires machinery. According to the Centro de Los Derechos del Migrante, “Migrant workers are also at risk of ill-treatment and manipulation, including being charged illegal recruitment fees; not being reimbursed for visas, and being subject to exploitation due to a lack of understanding of their rights as workers”(Lowe). Ali wasn’t the only character that had a difficult time during the series and many of the players played in a capitalist society.
In the series, Gihun is addicted to gambling and loses all his money because of it. In the first episode, it demonstrates how men that loaned Gihun money decide to make him pay for what he owed them but Gihun refuses. Gihun is in debt for losing his job after an accident happened and since then he hasn’t been the same. But, Gihun has another problem, his elderly mother is taken to the hospital to receive surgery but she doesn’t get it because she can’t afford to pay for it. Gihun’s mother illustrates, “on top of not being able to afford the surgery, being bedridden also means being unable to work. It means not having a place to go back to when she gets back from the hospital”. Gihun’s mother doesn’t have a choice because she simply can’t afford it and Gihun can’t either since he is already indebted to loan sharks. Everyone in the series had a family member to take care of and it was the main motivation guiding them to continue playing the games. As a result, many of the players betray their teammates to win. There are many advantages and disadvantages that the characters obtain. For example, in the scene where the doctor is taken to a room where all the bodies are taken he is given the task of harvesting organs. The workers give him an advantage of knowing what the next games will be if he completed the tasks he was given. Later in the series, it is known that the workers would turn the cameras off so the man in the black mask wouldn’t see them using their organs for profit. This demonstrates how capitalism in Squid Game encourages the players to cheat to get ahead of everyone else.
Squid Game has demonstrated how the debt of 456 individuals can cause life-risking outcomes where only 1 can win. Even if Squid Game is in a whole different language many Americans can relate to Korea’s capitalist society that causes economic disparity and inequalities. Now, there is no surprise why Squid Game hit the first №1 Korean series in the U.S in less than a month.
Works Cited
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/02/squid-game-netflix-korean-politics/
Squid game is on track to become netflix’s most popular show ever. here’s what you need to know: Netflix says squid game is on track to become the streaming service’s most watched program ever. (2021, Sep 30). ABC Premium NewsRetrieved from http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/squid-game-is-on-track-become-netflixs-most/docview/2577749058/se-2?accountid=14749
Lowe, A. (2021, Oct 23). Why americans are so obsessed with ‘squid game’. CNN Commentary Retrieved from http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/why-americans-are-so-obsessed-with-squid-game/docview/2584685338/se-2?accountid=14749
“UNITED STATES: Student Debt Will Be a Drag on Economy.” Oxford Analytica Daily Brief Service, 23 Oct. 2013, pp. 1-n/a. Business Premium Collection; ProQuest Central; ProQuest One Academic; ProQuest One Business, libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/united-states-student-debt-will-be-drag-on/docview/1444139580/se-2?accountid=14749. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.
