Photo credits: Netflix, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
“Squid Game” entered the world of Netflix on September 17, 2021. It rapidly became the most popular show on Netflix, with about 111 million views, and has taken the world by storm. Its popularity spread through social media, including TikTok and Instagram, showing just how popular this show became in such a short amount of time.
Many new trends and challenges have emerged from the show. One being the Dalgona Cookie Challenge, featured in the third episode, where people make the cookie, push a certain shape into it and attempt to cut that shape out of the cookie. The goal is to not break the shape in any way. If you do, you get eliminated, in the show of course. These trends only caused the show to become more popular, allowing it to become what it is today.
The show stars Korean actors HoYeon Jung, Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon, Park Hae Soo, Lee Yo-mi and many other talented individuals. Although the talent is clear throughout the cast, their versatility in emotion was truly amazing to watch. With such a dark premise, it was interesting to watch the characters’ personalities change. Their ability to almost switch the personalities of characters was so enticing and fascinating. One instance was with Sang-woo, who the main character, Gi-hun, had thought to be a person with lots of integrity and intelligence. This character shows who he really is in the game, showing his true colors and what he will do for money. The acting in this show was just astonishing and ground-breaking and is definitely a reason in and of itself to watch this show.
Along with the incredible cast, the writing itself had a certain essence of brilliance. The premise, showing a group of citizens in debt competing in deathly challenges to win lots of money, was incredibly interesting. In many ways, it showed how capitalism and competition is so cutthroat and evil that it can tear families and friends apart. All of the characters trying to find ways to win and possibly sabotage other players really highlighted how much we would do for money. The show was so amazingly complex, yet simple at the same time, forcing its audience to really think about their own relationship with money and competition with others.
To summarize, this show is definitely worth a watch. It explores the evils of capitalism and how it can tear people apart, the truth behind someone’s life behind the scenes, and how people will do anything for money. This show is brilliant and I highly recommend giving it a chance because it truly is one of the most enjoyable shows to watch.
