You don’t trust people because they are trustworthy. You do it because you have nothing else to rely on.
– Song Gi-Hun, main character of Squid Game
It is brutal, violent and dark. Yet many are watching it. And it is currently the most talked-about piece of entertainment online.
My friends, what I am talking about today is ‘Squid Game’, an original Netflix nine-episode drama produced in South Korea.
Have you watched the drama? Many who watched it loved it. That is why it is now the most popular Netflix show.
Before I watched ‘Squid Game’, I thought it was a South Korean variety show like The Running Man and that it had something to do with soft-bodied molluscs that we call ‘sotong’ in Malaysia.
That was because I saw an advertisement of the drama with some of the main casts running out onto a stage and they were clad in similar coloured jumpsuits. Imagine how shocked I was when I found out it was a drama later on.
‘Squid Game’ was released on Sept 17 this year and within two weeks, the series became the most watched Netflix title in 76 countries, including the US, Australia and South Korea.
In the drama, desperate and heavily indebted people voluntarily take part in a sequence of six sadistic and lethal survival games. The prize for the winner is 46.5 billion won ($40 million).
In the beginning, the 456 participants are unaware there is a twist — that there will only be one winner; the other contestants will die along the way.
All the players have an opportunity to leave but the 45.6 billion won prize and the horrors of their own lives lure many back.
I learned that in South Korea, the Squid Game is a violent game played by Korean schoolboys.
The groups struggle for possession of a squid-shaped area drawn on the ground. Both attackers and defenders must resist being pushed out of the play area; if they are pushed out, they “die”.
I have a confession to make here: ‘Squid Game’ is the first South Korean drama I watch that is not a love story. So far, I have only watched romantic Korean dramas mainly to relax.
I decided to watch ‘Squid Game’ because it had been widely publicised on social media. I do not know any of the main actors and only know the two actors who make special appearances in the drama, namely, Gong Yoo, who plays the role of a salesman who recruits participants for the Game (Episodes 1 and 9) and Lee Byung-hun who plays the role of The Front Man/Hwang In-ho (Episodes 8–9).
I was surprised that the main actor Lee Jung-jae who plays the role of Seong Gi-hun (456), a chauffeur and a gambling addict, is a famous South Korean actor and model. He has starred in a variety of film genres, including romantic films, comedies and action films. But I have never watched any of his films.
Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said he chose to cast Lee as Gi-hun, a character inspired by the organisers of the SsangYong Motor labour strike of 2009 against mass layoffs in order to “destroy his charismatic image portrayed in his previous roles”.
In the drama, Lee does not appear charismatic at all — that merely shows how good an actor he is.
Another big surprise is Jung Ho-yeon who stars as Kang Sae-byeok (067), a North Korean defector who enters ‘Squid Game’ to pay for a broker to find and retrieve her surviving family members who are still across the border.
Jung is, in fact, a famous South Korean fashion model and actress. Vogue has dubbed her as “Korea’s next top model”, and she appeared on the namesake show’s 4th season.
Hwang Dong-hyuk, who wrote and directed all nine episodes of ‘Squid Game’ himself, conceived the idea based on his own economic struggles early in life as well as the class disparity within South Korea.
Although he initially scripted the drama in 2008, Hwang was unable to find a production to support the script until Netflix around 2019 found interest as part of its drive to expand its foreign programming offerings.
The show has received many positive reviews for its performances, originality, direction, visual style, musical score, art direction, atmosphere and themes.
On the social media, netizens can’t stop talking about ‘Squid Game’ and many blogs have come up with life or money lessons from the drama.
According to dramakicks.com, the life lessons are:
* The choices we make today affect our future.
* Appearances can be deceiving.
* Gambling never gives you an assurance for a better life.
* The best time to get insurance is when you don’t need it yet.
* Betrayal comes from the people you trust the most.
* Kindness sometimes comes from the people that you least expect.
* The kindness you show to others will always find a way of coming back to you.
* Money may be important, but it doesn’t always guarantee happiness.
My friends, if you have not watched ‘Squid Game’, perhaps now is the time to do so. What are you waiting for?
