What does the South Korean dystopian series Squid Game say about our own political situation in America? This Netflix original series just released its second season in late December, with 166 million views within Netflix as of January 21st. There will be light spoilers ahead but I’ve kept things vague enough to still enjoy the story. In this show, a man named Seong Gi-hun is pit against hundreds of other people in poverty and extreme debt for the entertainment (the overall situation being called the Squid Game) of international elites, known as “the VIPs.” These VIPs stir the pot and don’t only set these “players” against each other with various competitions and games, but start drama within the group. They do this not only for their entertainment but also for their own protection: if the players fight one another, they will not revolt against these mysterious elites. The exploitation of one vulnerable group by and for another is the core pattern of this story is a desperate depiction in this show is extremely relevant to the political climate of today.
The VIPs in Squid Game turn players against one another so they can stay on top. A disruption of the players’ unity is what holds them back. When the players are deliberately turned against one another, whether through a game or through two-party voting, they discriminate against and straight-up attack the others based on their ethnicity, age, gender, sex, and even pasts/vices, even though the real threats are those armed on the other side of the cameras.
However, in the new second season, Gi-hun returns to the games in order to save a new batch of players from turning on one another, breaking the cycle. He is able to do this because he retains his humanity and basic kindness in such dire times, because he has learned from the past. He basically uses the magic of friendship to commit to pacifism between players. He takes this unity within players to assemble a group to revolt against the people behind the scenes. A handful of players take up arms and get really far in trying to reach the VIPs, so all players can be free. It is the players’ unity that gives them purpose, support, and success.
Unfortunately, season 2 left the audience with a cliffhanger. Without spoiling anything more, we essentially don’t know how the uprising will result. It really could go either way. However, I hope that the grave risks pay off and that Gi-hun’s plan to revolt against the exploitative, cowardly elites in the Squid Game works out. This story significantly parallels the political climate of not only South Korea, but America right now. The real issue to address in this country is the wealth disparity, namely that between the typical citizen and the top-owning 1%.
