No specific spoilers for “Squid Game,” but its overall themes are discussed. Spoiler alert for a 16-year-old episode of “Doctor Who.”
In answer to the current popular Google question, yes, Squid Game is a real game. Played in Korea by kids, mostly in the ’70s and ’80s, it now lends itself and its name to the worldwide streaming sensation, “Squid Game.” Produced in Korea and in Korean, it is a breakthrough as a worldwide hit.
The idea is simple and terrible. People playing children’s games for life and death.
But it’s not a new idea. People have played chess for life and death in film and television so much, it’s a cliché. From “Harry Potter” to “The Man From U.N.C.L.E” to “The Prisoner” to Mel Brook’s “History of the World, Part 1,” people have played, usually as chess pieces, for life and death. Not to be confused with the trope of playing chess against Death, Satan, or God.
Setting chess aside, there are still interesting examples of playing games for life and death. James Bond played video games that could kill, Death Race, Battle Royale, Hunger Games, and more made death into a game.
For “Doctor Who,” the 2005 episode ‘Bad Wolf,’ with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, and Billie Piper as Rose, features contestants in all sorts of game shows and TV reality shows competing for their lives.
‘Weakest Link’ was very popular at the time, more in the UK than the US. The host of the UK Weakest Link, Anne Robinson, lent her voice to the memorable android, saying the famous line “you are the weakest link”, before vaporizing the contestant.
Many people died in that “Doctor Who” episode. Some were poignant, as the doomed young people in their version of Big Brother. But somehow, the episode isn’t particularly horrifying.
So why is “Squid Game” so horrifying? More horrifying than ‘Bad Wolf.’ And why is “Squid Game” so popular? “Squid Game” looks amazing. The art direction and execution of sets and costumes create a truly compelling set of visuals.
The characters are real and intriguing. The show takes its time in the beginning to establish the life and feelings of our lead character. We know who he is and some of why he does things before anything happens. The writing and the acting bring those characters to life within a world that is visually complex and a story that pulls us in.
“Squid Game” is graphic. In ‘Bad Wolf,’ a laser zaps a person who dies with a special effect. It’s not really real, is it? In Squid Game, a loud gun may blow out a person’s brains with no warning.
It offers a fascinating glimpse into modern Korean culture, including Pakistani worker immigrants and North Korean escapees. It has people searching Google to see if signing away your physical rights is really a thing in Korea. (It is not legal or sanctioned, but it is real. Criminals harvest organs for sale from people who can’t pay debts).
On Netflix, “Squid Game” is available in the original Korean, with dubbing, with captions, or with both. The dubbed version is surprisingly good. The captions are also good. If you watch both, you may get a little confused, or find it fascinating. The dubbing and captioning are clearly not the same translation, but they very much tell the same story. The dubbing may be opportunistic; trying to match the actor’s lip movements, but it offers an insight into the art of translation and the different ways something can be translated. As an aside, what Korean word is it that translates as “babe” and “old man” about 50/50? Old man being like “my old man”, a reference to a male partner, not a parent or elder.
All these things come together to make a series that is highly binge-worthy, and the world is bingeing it. But it is a show that is intense and violent and disturbing. It’s not for kids, and it’s not for everybody. Don’t feel bad if you think you should skip it.
“Squid Game” is hard to look away from. It’s also hard to let go of its horror for a little while.
Written by Evan Conroy
Hi, I’m Lynn, and I Make.
Props, Cosplay, Scale Models, Home Projects, and just about anything else that involves me Making.
A positive podcast about video games. Chris and Ashley go over the video games we love. Updated biweekly.
Evan Conroy
Ron Peterson
Join our Patreon family