Squid Game was a massive hit in the pandemic era and given Netflix has recently experienced subscriber losses and a lot of flack for cracking down on password sharing and their defense of Dave Chappelle, they’re taking advantage of whatever hit they have at their disposal.
Two days ago, Netflix officially announced a second season of Squid Game. While that was expected, not too many people expected a reality competition show based on the South Korean drama.
On Tuesday, Netflix announced Squid Game: The Challenge. Just like the show, 456 players will compete in similar games for a purse of $4.56 million. No one will be killed when they’re eliminated but the rest of the competition seems to remain.
Do you want to play a game? Enter to join Squid Game: The Challenge at https://t.co/MaXfZnqmvb pic.twitter.com/6gYLXlplDC
— Netflix (@netflix) June 14, 2022
This is all well and good on the surface but if you know anything about the actual meaning of the show, it becomes very apparent why this is a problem. Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said it himself that the show is based on the issues of modern capitalism and the further separation of the economic class structure. It’s a show where people in dire financial situations are all but forced to play a game, not knowing until it’s too late that they’re killed if they lose. And they’re exploited for the rich and powerful who treat these human beings as things simply because they have money and the competitors don’t.
While Hwang created Squid Game with the best of intentions, it seems that the company who is airing his creation missed the entire concept of the show. Needless to say, many people on social media noticed made that point known.
WTF is this? Squid Game was a savage critique of capitalism and the exploitation of so many who struggle to survive… Now Netflix wants to shamelessly cash in (again) and make a real game with people desperate for money and fame. It shows the complete opposite: capitalism wins. https://t.co/ZHV9STbvNm pic.twitter.com/UhgIEO51HJ
— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) June 15, 2022
https://twitter.com/SPlNANCH/status/1536869276614856704?s=20&t=uqSeYkzAM8qo576E060HGw
squid game: a cautionary tale about having underprivileged individuals compete for money that would quite literally change the trajectory of their lives and how inhumane that is and commentary on how lower class is entertainment for the upper class elites
Netflix: lol so what if https://t.co/FFZYSBz9Sg
— the exhausted deathman (he/they) (@devyndictive) June 15, 2022
Netflix turning squid game into a capitalist cash grab it’s a bit on the nose isn’t it? https://t.co/Pnehkd9Bkp
— ExTeenageRobot Redux (@girllwithluv) June 14, 2022
There was a show about why this was a bad idea, I believe it was called squid game https://t.co/kOE62R6hBk
— Chariot (@ChariotDaGawd) June 14, 2022
If they're turning Squid Game into a reality show it's only fair they turn Saw into a reality show next
— Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge) June 14, 2022
Squid Game: A show about late stage capitalism monetizing the moral rot it has created in a society.
Netflix: but imagine if we monetized the monetized rot https://t.co/lsfXOoAO7u
— Michael A. Young (@RealMYoung23) June 14, 2022
I don't think I've ever seen the moral stance of a show so completely misunderstood by the general public like Squid Game has been https://t.co/VX7uEeSAGD
— GENE IS LOOKING FOR WORK!!! (@genegoldstein) June 14, 2022
hwang dong-hyuk: in my show i invented the Squid Game as a cautionary tale
netflix: at long last, we have created the Squid Game from classic anti-capitalist satire Squid Game pic.twitter.com/sxNgK37K54
— gryphoneer (@OneRadChee) June 14, 2022
Somehow Netflix missed the entire point of their own show. Netflix execs quite literally are the Squid Game VIPs https://t.co/Qff8n1IW3G pic.twitter.com/tPw9m9cJZw
— Jack McBryan (@McBDirect) June 14, 2022
