When Gi Hun and Sang Woo argue after the glass bridge, Gi Hun makes it apparent to him that he wouldn't have crossed successfully without the help of the people who died in the game- essentially saying "the winners exist because of the losers". That sentence alone I think is a pretty poignant remark on capitalism.
Even more so, Sang Woo tries to claim through the games and his life that he won by playing fairly. This is while every dollar he's ever had was either given to him by someone else or ill-gotten, just like his place in the games. Besides the very first, not a single game he played did he win purely from his own merits. Even so, he still ended up in debt, and Gi Hun points that out. That if merit, especially the merit he claimed to have, was such a deciding factor, why were they both in the exact same game? Reminds me of the bootstraps arguments from poor conservatives who will turn around and claim they're poor because of food stamps and people stealing their jobs, and not the system cheating them out of their wages and pitting them against their fellow man.
@@reizayin How many strikers had their lives ruined to improve the working conditions of future employees? Or, rather, how many people were fired for striking or unionizing to be replaced with someone willing to put up with poor conditions? How many jobs hire an infinite number of employees? How many people are exploited under capitalism in the form of for-profit prisons, the military industries complex, gentrification, etc.? And that's ignoring that most of the world's wealth is funneled up to a select few individuals who have more combined wealth than the entire rest of America's population, for example. And that wealth is necessary for, say, paying medical bills or having a home. And I'm sure you're going to commit to claiming the above is describing a zero-sum game, but regardless of the technicalities you hone in on, the facts are that there are people who succeed at the expense of others under capitalism.
I'm sorry but that's what makes him the most one dimensional character there. No matter how much someone can be nice, niceness or trust do not erase your judgement, caution or social cues. His death just felt like an easy way to make Sang-woo the bad guy
@@sofianesweetener3961 But he is the bad guy. He didn't have to take Ali out like that. Even Deok-Su (the thug) thought of a different marble game to play when he was about to lose.
He was the realest but became a casualty in the wake of someone more willing to coldly sacrifice others to succeed. It hurt but yeah, it was real as hell.
@@sofianesweetener3961 yes, I also felt he was kind of one dimmensional, but I believe his naiveness and niceness makes sense with him. He knew nobody, had barely anything, yet Sangwoo helped him everytime, Ali truly trusted him because of the true kindness Sangwoo showed him
Another thing - the Front Man constantly talks about all players being equal, however by the very nature of the games, some people are disadvantaged. For example, if you're not physically as strong or as healthy, you're disadvantaged in the tug of war. If you didn't grow up in South Korea, you wouldn't be familiar with the childhood games (and so, it disadvantages foreigners). For all the insistent, performative "equality", the games are fundamentally unequal, much like the structure of capitalism.
also saebyeok was the only one injured in the last game like?? that wasn’t fair. she also survived on the glass game why was she disadvantaged and no one helped her?
I mean, the games were literally drawn on the walls in the rooms they stayed at and even when the room got smaller no one knew about it. They had a chance to know the games in advanced but none of them are observant enough to notice and again, they are kids games. Easy to learn
IDK if someone had already pointed it out. But the hierarchy is also shown with the angles on the masks. On the side of the handlers. The one with no angles (Circles) is made to clean up the mess after the killings. The ones with 3 (Triangles) are the executioners. While the square ones (four angles)are seen as the managers. The main host in the dark mask has more angles on his mask as it resembles more of a face. Lastly are the spectators/rich people. They all have lavishly decorated masks covered with diamonds (or other crystals or rocks, honestly idk, but the sparkle comes from the cuts that they have cus they reflect light more). This type of counting with angles can be seen with the Hindu-Arabic number system we use today which initially had more pronounced angles when written, the same amount as the value. I'm sure a lot of other people had already noticed this but I just like to share it here. Btw I love this video. Better than most video essays that I've seen about the squid game.
At first I was convinced that the red/blue theory was true, but in an interview, Hwang Dong Hyuk confirmed that the colors come from an urban legend about a restroom ghost, who offers red toilet paper or blue. It’s a trick question: both choices lead to a painful death. great video analysis!
huh that's really interesting, although in my opinion it still doesn't disprove the theory. we don't know what happens to the guards once they are done with them, or what the guards are working towards. and if not the guards, then why present the choice, and make a point to show that the characters in the game picked blue.
if i remember this is a japanese urban legend, not sure if korea has something similar to this. i think the best option in living or surviving this ghost is to just walk away and not picking anything. like how some people in the (squid) game left and never came back
@Seline Abanto Yeah, I heard that was mainly to underscore the sinister nature of the recruiter but also that capitalism gives us choices that aren’t meaningful. Regardless of colour selected, they’re going to be in a lot of pain and most likely die.
It bothers me when people say they don't like the show just because it's foreign and they feel they can't relate to it. I think pretty much everyone can relate to this concept tbh no matter where you live. Unless you're in the 1%
Do you know if you live in the USA or any developed countries, you are the 1% in the world? How about sharing some of your fortunes with the poor in Africa to show you are not a bigot?
It’s interesting how everyone’s reaction to this show is how much they hate Sang-woo, sure he was horrible but he was just another player and the person we should actually hate is the old man who made this twisted game for entertainment. Goes to show how the masses never actually direct their anger to the people at the top but to those who are at the bottom and play within the system.
Whilst I agree, Sang-woo should still be held accountable for his actions. It's not an excuse to just say it's the capitalist game so people have to play to survive. It's the reason behind why but doesn't excuse his behaviour.
To me Sang-Woo is an interesting character. He is literally the personification of this whole "If you only work hard enough you will have a happy life and a lot of money" idea and this "Despite our differences we all have the same chances" idea, this higher faster further -capitalism is trying to enforce to your brain. It baffles me that people don't recognize that. Sang-Woo was not evil or mean at all, as many try to portray it, he is selfless, supportive and compassionate at the beginning, but throughout the game he realizes this way I won't win this game. Sang-woo had difficult circumstances: He got just as Gi-Hun born into a poor family in a probably poor town (Ssangmun-dong). And he did everything that's possible regardless of his circumstances to succeed, because we all have the same chances and everything's fair, no one ever will experience discrimination (as they always get told): So Sang-Woo got the education despite his difficulties, studied on a fancy university in Seoul and got a good job. Gi-hun constantly points that out and literally praises Sang-Woo for that, like a proud parent bragging about his son's achievements, while Sang-Woo like an annoyed Son, always acts pissed and ashamed about that. To me they both don't really have an equal eye to eye friendship, more of an proud parent and annoyed Son relationship. Gi-hun seems to admire Sang-woo sort of as the hero of his poor town, untill he gets disappointed about how Sang-woo suddenly becomes ruthless, while he's not recognizing that this game/system they are stuck in is created to reward a ruthless, cruel and selfish ellbow mentality. But Gi-hun has not the cognitive capacity to understand that. (Gi-huns and Sang-woos relationship kinda reminds me about parents who throw their kids into this capitalistic school system where only performance matters, without even thinking about it. And then the parent acts totally surprised or disappointed when their bad kid acts out/misbehaves or is overstrained with this cruel system. There's a scene where a police officer asks Sang-woos mom where he is and then tells her about all the financial crimes Sang-woo actually committed, and she says "This must be a misunderstanding, my son would never do anything like that", that's basically how Gi-hun felt about Sang-woo, but as the game continues his positive image of Sang-woo cracks ). The reason why Sang-woo is always pissed when Gi-hun praises him is because Sang-Woo probably thinks "Yeah, well I had bad circumstances, I got the education, I got the great job, I fulfilled this whole If you only work hard enough you will make it idea. But you know what, regardless of much i studied, my life still sucks, something went wrong, I'm in depth, I'm a disappointment to my mother, I'm desperate and I'm here, risking my life to get the money, so shut up". Gi-hun obviously seems to believe in this idea as well, as he always points that out about Sang-Woo. Maybe Gi-hun admired him because Sang-woo at least seemed to achieve (despite unfair circumstances) what Gi-hun never could achieve. There's at the end also an interesting scene where Gi-Hun asks Sang-Woo why he pushed the guy into his death at this bridge game, even tho the glass-expert guy helped him to survive and Sang-Woo says "You know what, I didn't survive because of him, I survived because I worked hard to survive. And you know why you never succeed in life, because you're asking such dumb question." Which just showcases how he desperately holds onto this ridiculous believe and just doesn't want to question this whole harmful system he's stuck in. Through out the end you can also see how Sang-Woo basically was done with his whole life, as he always says "These people would have died anyway, so it doesn't matter" which is not just an excuse to justify his own behavior and to justify basically him murdering people, but it's also showing how he views his own life. Sang-woo more and more gave up his own life, because he felt guilty for the cruel things he did and was traumatized by all the death, while he also felt conflicted about it, because he still had the urge to survive and to have a happy life. I love that show challenges the morals of the audience, by basically showing how all of these characters are in a grey area, none of these characters is purely evil or purely good: They all have feelings, needs, wishes and people they care about, regardless if we're talking about Ali, Sang-woo, Gi-hun, Deok-su, Oh Ill-nam or Sae-byeok. I mean Deok-su (Nr. 101) gets obviously portrayed as a villian, he's mean, he's ruthless, he's brutal, he's greedy, he's disrespectful, he's selfish, he's sexist, he lies, he is threatening other people, he manipulates and uses people for his own benefits just to let them fall later on, he murders other players just to survive and to get this ridiculous huge amount of money. But is Deok-su or Sang-woo (who also became more ruthless) really worse than the other characters (Gi-hun, Ali and Sae-byeok) who did at the end of the day, exactly the same things. Just because the other characters were more sympathetic and compassionate while they still killed other players to safe their own ass. Is it really okay to put the other "sympathetic" characters on a morally pedestal despite their actions. At the very beginning puts Gi-hun Sae-byeok and Deok-su on the same level of "evilness", because she's a Pickpocket and he's Rogue, but it's not that simple, there is no absolutism, none of them is evil or good, they are all in a grey area, Gi-huns image of Sae-byeok only changes because he creates a connection with her, while he gets more disconnected from Sang-woo. They we're all fighting to survive, while believing they all had the same chances, even tho that's not the reality, they're all stuck in an unfair system and they were selfishly murdering order players to survive. So there is no good or bad person, the rich old guy is a sweet, kind, helpful and innocent seeming person suffering from cancer, but at the end he is still responsible for the game were many people got killed, just to have a fun time. While all the poor players themselves are also responsible for other people's deaths. The difference is only the old guy just had the privilege to be ignorant towards poor peoples problems, because he has more money, I mean he compared them to horses in a horse-race. The rich people can watch how the poor people fight each other to survive, but the poor people like Gi-hun actually do the same by betting on horse-races. And while the poor people don't have the money to solve their problems, has the rich old man all the money but can't solve his problem through money (the cancer he had). Ironically, the poor players always get told that they experienced discrimination in real life, based on their horrible financial situation and in the game they won't experience that, which is even in the game not true: The game gets organized by privileged rich people who watch everything from a safe position (so rich people take profit/benefits from poor people suffering), the players are all just numbers they don't matter as individuals to the game, the red workers have more power because they have weapons, and even the red workers live in a strict hierarchy, so actually nothing is fair for anyone. While this time in the game, it's the rich old man who experiences discrimination through the poor players (expect of Gi-hun). The other players constantly are mean towards the old guy and say stuff like "He's an old man, he's weak, he's worthless, he's untrustworthy, there's no need take him seriously, he's going to die anyway, so I don't care, i have to safe my own life" and nobody wants to pick the old man as partner for games, similar it happens to women in this game. And all characters from time to time question the morals of this game, if it's really okay that they all at the end of the day kill other players just to survive/safe their own ass and get the money, because they get rewarded for being ruthless and selfish (through the money). But none of these characters steps out of it, they request and criticize the unfair system, but they don't leave it. And that's just a theory of mine, but the players get told if the majority wants to leave the game, they can, but I guess that's not entirely true, the players who didn't came back to the game are witnesses, they could go to the police and report everything, and the frontman said to the red workers that they should watch players who didn't came back, i assume it's because in case they report anything they get murdered, so actually no player had any freedom to leave the game whenever they want.
mhmm it’s mostly because Ali is such an easy character to love and get attached to due to his innocence and kindness. Therefore it’s obvious people will hate Sang-woo for taking advantage of his kindness. But yeah at the end of the day the enemies of this game are the rich people
right, i do dislike sangwoo for what he did to the people around him (especially ali, i do think he had more to live for than sangwoo) but he's equally still a victim of the system trying to fight for a chance at a decent life
This is probably not a valid theory, but the shapes on the invitation cards to Squid Games (the square, rectangle and triangle) are also found in my country's least valuable currencies (#10, #20 and #50) I doubt it had any influence on the shape but it was definitely a cool thing to point out. It's good to see foreign media getting the representation and praise it deserves... Squid Game is probably one of my favorites series of all time.
Not just capitalism/classism: Age, sex, and race are major factors to who gets to profit from capitalism. Sexism: Everyone believes having a woman on their team is a disadvantage even before knowing the game. Ageism: Old people are considered disposable by everyone except Gi-hun. Nationalism: For Sae-byeok and Abdul Ali, it isn't just not having enough money but also the threat of deportation.
Completely agree, this really underscores the fact that their boasting about equality is completely hollow. The natural circumstances of the contemporary neo liberal capitalism, despite its claims for equal opportunity, give rise to fascism, racism, sexism, and ageism as you mentioned. It is not a coincidence that we see this global reactionary movement during these times, all of these things do is just reinforce the bourgeoisie. Just like in squid game, these ideas would actually bring down the players for the benefit of the VIPs, working together to overcome this system is in their best interest, not to play by its rules.
Saebyeok is not under threat of deportation though, all North Korean defectors are South Korean citizens the second they enter the country. She would must be jailed for her crimes not sent back to NK
"Everyone believes having a woman on their team is a disadvantage" Yeah because in the physical challenges they want stronger people, its not that deep lmao
@@lordpolish2727 People who can't understand metaphors spend a lot of time saying stupid phrases like "It's not that deep bro". When you think about the story literally instead of the way it was written, then yeah, "it's not deep lmao". But when you actually consider the game as representing an economic system, then the situations where women and the elderly were getting abandoned and left behind reflect the very real experiences of people struggling to get money. A lot of companies have a cognitive bias against hiring women because they fear maternity leave, believe women are incompetent or lesser than men, or because it is a physical job such as construction and they'd prefer male workers. That's what the show is trying to demonstrate.
@@fabplays6559 it was a shit metaphor tho because generally men are stronger then women proof of sexism would make more sense if they didnt pick women in a game that didnt take physical strength
Hated the ending for the fact he choose them over his little girl. And the fact that this whole game was a choice. TWICE!! I loved every minute of Squid Games until the last 40 minutes.
For anyone curious, the Director blatantly confirmed Squid Game is a critique of capitalism. “I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life. But I wanted it to use the kind of characters we’ve all met in real life,” Hwang said. “As a survival game it is entertainment and human drama. The games portrayed are extremely simple and easy to understand. That allows viewers to focus on the characters, rather than being distracted by trying to interpret the rules.”
@@acoolphin8846 first, the show wants to say that the system is flawed and it doesn't give the poor a hand, but then it's shows us these characters making bad decisions for themselves which is literally helping capitalism as being successful doesn't involve a 3rd party, it requires good decisions from your end in capitalism. Some examples of bad decisions are the main character gambling his money away. 2) it tries to show that these American corporates are controlling the people and it shows the literally most obvious stereotypes for the rich dudes. Even the other company owners have no substance and are just bad because apparently every corporate person is bad 3) in a attempt to show capitalism as bad, the show literally calls south korea a worse place than north korea (game number 4, conversation between sae byeok and the other girl) 4) also it assumes that economics or capitalism is a zero sum game which is not true, this assumption is literally one of the rules, that you can stop the games and the killing if you just have a majority vote You can't call something bad and provide the most basic, stereotypical talking points as a justification for it
@@entityx6035 1: Main character lost his job in a mass firing by the company he worked for, he then tried 2 start ups, both failing, after being fucked up thrice by the unfair system that is capitalism is that out of desperation he started gambling for the smallest chance to pay off his debts. 2: It is that way, good people who treat ther employees fairly lose the competition to bad people who exploit they employees as much as possible. 3: That is a lie, when asked about wether SK is better she doesn't answer. Not unfounded either, she escaped an authoritarian regime to enjoy the freedoms of poverty, being forced to pickpocket and being taken advantage of. 4: Capitalism IS a zero sum game, In market niches companies compete, some lose, go bankrupt and are forced to sell their assets to salvage wathever they can, others win and get the formers competitor market share. The majority vote isn't related to anything else you said so I'm not sure what you meant.
I've seen so many people on twitter calling some of the players the true villains, and I think that this show really reveals how you feel about capitalism.
Capitalism is bad but communism is worst trust me, my country have right now a communist president and he is an asshole that used the slogan: Take the money from the big corporation. Now that he is elected, all these money that he allegedly wanted to give to the poor is non existing. He used that idea only for profit.
@@nicoleg8634 I think people fail to realize that BOTH are bad if used incorrectly. Communism and Capitalism ideally are very great concepts, but both easily fall when you have people who twist the rules, abuse systems and control lives. Capitalism and Communism require an ideal society and unfortunately we do not have that and will never have that. You will always have players who cheat and help others cheat to keep the system going. The best we can get is a capitalist society that has communist/humanitarian systems to keep the top percent in check.
Capitalism, while it’s not perfect has literally stood the test of time as a superior economic system. Take North Korea and South Korea for example. 80 years ago, they had the same culture, language, traditions, etc. until communism. It’s literally a controlled experiment and obviously the capitalist South Korea has come out on top. It’s a common fallacy that in capitalism, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” That being said, the rich get richer a lot faster than the poor are getting richer. In my opinion, that’s what squid game is trying to convey. The gap between the rich and the poor is the biggest weakness of capitalism. The rich then keep taking advantage of the poor and blah blah blah. I don’t think squid game is trying to tear down capitalism, but rather bring awareness to the problem of the poor being preyed on by the rich.
@@kenamada5451 I wholeheartedly disagree. The point of capitalism, if you boil it down completely, is a sort of survival of the fittest hierarchy where only the strongest survive. A capitalist utopia would give everyone an equal chance to rise in the ranks, but those who don't would still mostly end up dead, because that's the entire point of it. A communist utopia would have everyone able to live in total harmony, with people being allowed to willfully leave the system if they so wish, and everyone getting exactly what they need to be happy. Equating both in philosophy is kinda dumb, ngl.
it's weird how the guards literally did necrophiliac abuse to a dead female player yet this is brushed over so quickly. the fact that some of the guards are doing that with the female player's bodies is never brought up again and even when the cheating guards were punished, the higher ups didn't even mention the r**e. also how the VIP was coercing a sexual flavour from a "guard" and no one cared. this show really shows how capitalism sees all workers as disposable, especially women and migrants (Ali)
@@cherrytries2922 they might've excluded it in dubbed version but it's the part where the detective guy corners the guard and asks him about his brother. (original audio with subtitles). he assumes the body the guards were talking about was his brother's because it didn't have a kidney but the guard said it couldn't be his brother because it was a woman and they all knew that because they all took turns with it and they wouldn't have done so if it was a man. the detective shoots him dead after the convo
@@Anusha-fv8tz also, they think they were raping a dead body, but she was actually alive too. She's the one they refer to as zombie girl. They took turns raping her, proceeded to operate on her, and THEN they found out she was still alive.
Great for her :/ I dunno why some ppl are so dismissive of friends thoughts? You said something noteworthy. Maybe she was in a bad mood or maybe not that great of a friend.
capitalism is great if you're good at it. So maybe not for you, but it's a good system for her. Basically, it's like this: Capitalism is a competitive game, you vs another player if you're good, you have big reward, if you're not, you lose. Communism is a coop game. You're not versus each other, but cooperative with each other to win the game. Most of you would agree that "wow, communism is good, why can't the world be like that?" Well, because the world is too big. You cannot make 7 billion to cooperate with each other when you sometimes don't even agree with your brother or sister. This is why communist dislike nationalists, religions and cultural diversity because it create divisions and conflicts.
Oh and revisionist as well. Because stuffs like that could easily turn communist-led group into a self-interest tribalism group like North Korean Juche system.
The contract didn’t say anything about dying. They were gassed asleep. Identity stripped and replaced with numbers. Clothe and body fiddled with. The game host refusal to give information about the place or fairly allowing them to single handily go back on their own. The host even says to keep an eye out for people who didn’t return, this means even if they left, they still aren’t completely free. The game contradicts a lot of their own principles.
@@Gnomelander1400 yeah i just feel like it keeps being said "they had a choice" like yeah but not really especially those who died in the first game and all of them had no choice to be traumatized in that first game even if they lived
@@BrianaLynn7 thats literally the point of the series.... we are given the illusion of "choice" when we are born aka when they were gased and woke up ... is shows that none of us really have a choice to be brought into this world. in the series case, they really did not have a choice to play the game once they agreed to initial game of daebak
I loved your detailed analysis, and while I was watching the show Ali dabbling in "sir"s and struggling with local children's games really struck me as it highlights the injustice migrants face, something we don't see often in Korean (and general mainstream) media.
A really good point sir (miss?)! But I respectfully disagree with the part of injustice. Sure, when someone move to another place with another culture and way of thinking, they face a rough time to adapt, but itsn't because of injustice and prejudice (most of the time), it just the culture shock. I'm a good example: when I change of state, I had some trouble to adjust but I end up adapting pretty well, and NOBODY was a jerk to me about my origin; and in my school there were an American, a North Korean and a British and things turn out really well for them as well.
The fact that I heard Elon said he would watch an irl squid game honestly reinforces what squid game is critising, the rich does not umderstand the poor and only sees them as puppets to be played and toyed with, only for the bored billionared to stare down at us and watch as we all fight to live
All the billionaires are so out of touch with reality it's sad. They've been geniuses as kids, have gotten highly rewarded for that ( capitalism) and built huge financial empires and live like it all their life. Rich parents, the best education, everything you need served in a golden plate and spoon. Any mistake or laws they break are ignored or outruled. We inch closer and closer to the hunger games.
@@_ashmason007 A bit dramatic, life isn't a movie with overblown characters and ridiculous motives for world domination. So long as we live, the standard of living will always be to improve our living conditions. There will be no billionaire driven apocalypse because there is no good motive.
Elon is known for saying edgy shit, I think everybody is known for saying edgy shit. Elon probably doesn't want 456 destitute gambling addicts to gamble their lives away in a rigged game.
@@yesyes-om1po i never talked about any apocalypse lmao? nor about world domination. I said that all law, plus rules will always be different for the rich or those very high in social class. You have to be blind to not notice that. Yes, progress will occur, because they want to improve their living conditions even more, and indirectly we too benefit from that. I advice you read up about sociology or class a bit more. And the hunger games i talked about, is literally happening. There is am open war in Ukraine, on who? The common people. Their houses, amenities, hospitals all blown up. The rich easily flee. Mass Shootings in America. Where? Public schools, again, the common people. it's already there, you gotta be literally ignorant to not be able to see it So many legal suits against Amazon and Tesla for treating their base level workers like shit. Some Amazon workers weren't allowed pee breaks or time to have food in their shifts and massly umderpaid. And Bezos buyed a huge custom yacht for himself with a personalized helicopter landing for his hot new chick. Lmao. If reality seems dramatic to you maybe catch up with the news
I feel like this show was so blatantly anti capitalist and the game is clearly a metaphor for worker exploitation. But somehow it's gone over so many people's heads. People are getting "fun dystopian scary show" out of it.
It can be both. Some don’t want to look into the deeper meaning, and that’s totally fine! The story without the subtext was enough to nearly make me cry multiple times, the characters are well written, and the concept is amazing!
the craziest part to me is how everyone is SHOCKED that a non-english series became the most successful. do people not understand that there are talented people all over the world, not only in the USA? does Hollywood have a monopoly on art or what?
Most TV/Shows and movies have a flowchart of events and a checklist in order to do well. Innovation and breaking the mold is not always successful which is why many modern films/shows feel just about the same. I don't think squid game is all that unique and I feel that it's story has been told by Hollywood already. No doubt though, the show is good, it just isn't something that is transcendent. I honestly think a leading factor for why it was so popular was because of it's country of origin. I suppose people were getting tired of the same actors and settings in Western media.
I mean it’s not common to see a show not from America do so well that doesn’t mean there’s bad quality in media production in other countries? a korea show getting this amount of traction is very good timing because Korean culture is very popular it’s all about timing…
These videos honestly reviewing the themes of the show are so refreshing! So much of social media is flooded with “how to survive squid game” or “best games to play in squid game” I really think a lot of people missed the point. Irl I haven’t heard anyone bring up the themes of capitalism or poverty. They only talk about the games themselves.
I know right! Same thing here. It's honestly very frustrated. Reminds me very much of the music video and message in "This is America" by Childish Gambino.
While this is true and kind of disappointing, it is up to us to use the popularity of shows like this, with subtle critique of capitalism (or less subtle to people sensitive in the matter), to start a conversation about the parallels to our world. Starting with our friends and family.
@@lilac.mascara wait till they find out men like the VIPs exist in reallife who commit human trafficking and forced prostitution on poor folks in Thailand
So many people took "money doesn't buy happiness" as a takeaway from squid game and it's honestly disappointing bcs it undermines squid game's actual message
@@leticianeal9147 I mean, money would get rid of the problems of most of the contestants. That's why they agreed to that horrible game in the first place. The problem was that when Gi-hun actually won, the survivor's guilt he had developed prevented him from actually using any of the money. That's the sick joke at the center of it all.
I find it so interesting to me how Korean media lately is able to make great art about class. We need to work on our class consciousness here in america.
We’ve had lots of media and movements about class. I get y’all like Korean stuff but geez. Remember occupy Wall Street or the hippies or all of those unions we created. There’s also a reason Koreans want to move here even though their country is very nice. Their opportunities are there are less because of crazy high competition and less chances to redeem oneself. I heard a Chinese guy say that America is the land of eighth chances.
You should watch Rowan Ellis' video about The Purge franchise. She makes a point that the franchise has class commentary as well and is not just gratuitous thriller.
@@raymonds7492 bro what? Are you that insecure about your country that anytime someone commends another country, you have to express the superiority of your nation? And as if there aren’t Americans coming to Korea in droves.
@@user-rd8xf6wr7j frrr it’s so gross 😭😭 the entire show had me putting myself into these characters shoes to see what I would do in these situations, and that scene made me the _most_ uncomfortable out of everything else that happened so far because, well, what would I do in that scenario?? being dragged into a room with some random old rich dude I don’t know trying to get me to sleep with him is just not it. like, what do these people think when they see that scene?? “omggg sexual assault🥺🥺 so hawwt 😫😫💕” ??????
This seems to be a running theme throughout Korean films like Parasite, Snowpiercer, Burning. The idea that wealth affords you the ability to do as you please, to whomever you please. And the poor are bottomfeeders who will fight over any scraps you throw at them.
@@sud1881 His other film Snowpiercer is very similar because in it wealth creates a stratified society. Which creates desperation and powerlessness. In that society the poor are in servitude with no hope of ever leaving their positions in life. In Parasite the wealthy family cannot function daily tasks without the aid of cheap labor. The everyday mission of the maids, driver is to ensure the family is placed high into the heavens. For example when it rains there are different implications. The rich family sees it as ambiance not a worry since they live an insular life. The other family, the rains floods their bottomfeeder existence hence one of them sitting on an overflowing toilet of human waste just to get phone signal. Yes the poor family is just as schematic and selfish as the rich family but the conditions of poverty create a system of exploitation. The final act is basically the bubbling resentment of this stratified society.
@@danielcastillo4537 hang on what I don’t remember parasyte showing how everyone is struggling I remember parasyte just focusing on Migi and Sinichi fighting with what is basically swords and daggers.
Im guessing this isnt the only analysis video out there but yours was the first to pop up as I ventured through RUclips and I wanna express how refreshing it is to see people diving into the meaning and context rather than how to win the game, or death counts.
@@Name-dl3uq it has multiple symbolisms I think. In addition to what you said, he wished to play before he died so he would obviusly get to sign up first as well as he is the leader so he is number 1 in the whole organization.
I mean it's his game and when deciding he gives them the option to leave the game as they wanted, because he wasn't really playing for the money, but for the sake of the games.
I personally suspect that every single game that gets played has this phase. They always ball and demand to be let out, the few who can do not come back, but he knows most of them have no choices at all, and even the tiniest chance at escaping their, and their families', misery is more chance than they have in real life.
The symbols on the guards masks are supposedly letters of the Korean alphabet written in circle is “O”, the triangle is part of “J”, and the square is the “M”. Together it's OJM, which is the initials of the squid game in Korean - Ojingeo Geim. Also with the actual layout of the squid game you see the circles are the smallest which could denote their lower rank
It's amazing to see how far you've come, and so quickly. Your video essays gained such a big community so rapidly and I'm here for it. You never seem to miss with topics!
Idk if anyone has mentioned it, but the Frontman boasting equality in the games is bs. In the honeycomb game, some people have an advantage depending on the shape they picked. I feel like it’s a parallel to real life where some people have more opportunities to climb up the career ladder. Like say race for example. Sure it can still be difficult, but people who picked triangle will have a much easier time carving it out than those who picked umbrella
But you must remember they choose what shape to get. They may not have realized what that meant for the next game but in a sense they were free to choose what shape would be in the cookie
Also the fact that many of the games are based off speed or strength, making it unfair to women as shown. They also don't have any people with disabilities in the game except the old man, but if you had any dietary needs, like diabetes for example, you would die. They don't provide any medication or accommodations as far as I could tell. Just bc a situation is "equal" doesn't mean it's fair
The red pill - blue pill -theory also works on a psychological color theory level, as red is a more aggressive and blue a calmer color, so people who chose red are likely to be fitter for becoming guards, whereas blue choosers are better suited for being the pawns in the game as they're generally more submissive than their red-choosing peers. The visual symbolism in this series really is something one could spend hours dissecting :D
there's also an urban legend around east asia, in the 2nd to last stall of a bathroom a ghost shows up. it asks you if you want red toilet paper [which causes you to bleed yout and die] or blue toilet paper [which causes you to lose air / choke, turning your face..well, blue] and the only way to not die is to walk away, decline the offer, ask for white toilet paper, etc. etc. it depends on the version of the story, but it's similar to how the 7% didn't return to the squid game, essentially choosing the 'white paper' option
This theory has already been debunked by the creator. Also, speaking in terms of actual psychology, the color someone picks says very little about their personality. That’s just a common misconception from pop psychology where “If YoU LiKe ReD tHeN yOu’Re fIeRy”
I also noticed that in the last dinner with the last three participants they served them super red wine and rare steak. I thought this symbolized all the lives and blood it took for them to get at that place and how much more it would cost.
Something I think a lot of people missed: In the first episode when gi-hun was playing with the guy in a suit, when he finally won the first thing that came to his mind was to slap the guy back, I just thought it was heartwarming that despite him being poor money was still not the first thing on his mind
It's no longer a surprise that the west is consuming Asian media. I'm in my 5th Chinese historical drama and not stopping. Happy to incorporate the stories and rich worlds into my life. Here we are putting our toes in actual globalism and not just Western hegemony.
Hey ff! I recall you mentioned the symbols on the guards' masks, and I personally believe it had to do with the characters on the Squid Game title card. I don’t know any Korean, so I was curious about that too. The connection you made with it to game controllers was interesting.
i think the stairs also represent ableism. those with wheelchairs are not even able to participate at all, and those with disabilities or chronic pain that can make it difficult to walk on flights of stairs are less likely to have been chosen. also most of the games require you to be mobile so even if you do get picked to be apart of the games you'll probably die during the first round.
Isn't that just real life though? In most places? Like people are trying to be so woke and say sth new by using the term ableism but you guys are just out of touch. Most of the world hasn't even tackled their lack of sanitation, let alone racism, let alone sexism, the latter two including South Korea. Yes, stairs are indeed inherently ableist, you woke Americans. Thank you for your Western White Insight.
@@HB-pz1cg number one: my point was supposed to reflect real life. number two: I am not american or white. number three: I am fully aware that the world still has so much to do but i think we should at least coming to terms with how fucked up everything is and that we should at least talk about it. number four: i am disabled so i actually understand the struggles that disabled people have when it comes to ableism. If you're trying to make an argument don't assume things about people.
@@coralena962 You can read into it if you want but I doubt they even had disabled people in mind when they designed the set. Ableism and ageism are not used terms in most places (yet). If they did have disabled people in mind they'd have illustrated that through a disabled character. Which they definitely could have, it's a missed chance.
Great analysis! I'd recommend anyone that enjoyed Squid Game to also check out the anime/manga Kaiji. It has a very similar premise and shares a lot of its' themes and messages regarding capitalism with Squid Game.
Great video! I'm kind of a amazed how many readings of this show don't even use the word "capitalism" when, agree with the shows position or not, it's pretty impossible to understand it without acknowledging that. Thing I noticed: I, personally, think the red and blue motif thing is entirely stylistic. If you go to around 2:39 and watch at 0.25 speed (I've been meaning to go to the show and check, but your video saved me the time) the two frames on the far left in the middle both show players throwing red cards at blue pieces. I guess you could say these are video of guards, but also, that would make no sense bc they aren't supposed to show their faces and the whole point of this display is to unnerve players by showing them themselves and they would have plenty of footage to fill the screen with without having to show the guards. I'd be interested to see an explanation for the guards, though I was still satisfied with them being representative of all the people who enforce the systems within capitalism, like the loan sharks who come for Gi-hun, the police looking for Sang-woo, or the casino owners who come for Jang Deok-su. I love the long build-up as they go to remove their masks and you wait to see who's on the other side...and it's just a dude. Because of course it is. It's all just perpetuated by people who keep the violent game going because of the small benefits it brings to them.
I kept trying to figure out why I became so obsessed with Squid Game. After all it's just another death game story. But it isn't. It is soooo much more. I really like the observations made regarding class and the haves vs the have nots. But I think I found another one...one that made my skin crawl when the lightbulb went off over my head. I am an American that has become very fond of K-drama. Watching them I have gotten some understanding of Korean culture and history. I am struck by the fact that many Korean celebrities are quite good looking some might even say pretty. I have seen on social media that this has become somewhat ugly, saying that these "pretty boys" MUST be gay. Why? Just because of there youthful appearance and stage makeup give them a feminine look? That is reflected when VIP 4 in the panther mask tells Joon-ho that he has"pretty eyes" and proceeds to force him into a back room and then forces him to commit a sexual act. Not only does this scene scream racial bias but shows the depth of depravity of this 1%er. He is most likely also a pedophile. Without saying it the implication is there. Although such a small scene stuck in the middle, I feel like it defines alot about what is really going on here. My hat is off to the two actors in this scene...Wi Ha-joon and Geoffrey Giuliano.
I truly find the parallels between gamblers (the main character gambling on horse races vs the rich guys watching the squid games) interesting. The idea of a gambler becoming the victim of his own vice and how the whole even went full circle. This is also a reason why I wouldn't precisely call it an all out criticism of capitalism (though there is something that can be said about it in relation to greed and the corporate world) but more about human nature in general.
I did not feel the ending was hopeful. Gi hoon did not become a good father, didn't try to track down Ali's family to help them, he ignored the money instead of using it for good, he is still on surveillance by the rich for the rest of his life, the game continues without the old man. The message in my interpretation is helplessness
I dont think he knew Ali had a family, Ali only talked to Sang-woo about his family. Also the end of the show is hope, he does use the money for good he got her brother out gave him a better home and used money to help him. Also about being a bad father he is giving up his relationship with his daughter to try and save the people about to enter the game (capatalism) so I would personally say it was a hopeful message plus the guy getting help for the homeless man was to show that there was still good in humanity.
@@eduardopantoja9115 uhhhh why not? because he lived through war-like conditions? because he survived trauma? Because he witnessed suffering and death? Hate to burst ur bubble dude but welcome to earth. That's the human condition a lot of the time.
@@mbking2044 i think it is. his daughter is good enough with her stepfather/mother. and also, considering the fact that he is essentially being watched i think that it's safer to not see his daughter
The theory for the colors they choose doesn’t really make sense because there’s a scene where we see footage of some of the other contestants playing that game and some of them are throwing the red one
I rewatched the show recently. Something I noticed is that after Lights Out, the games start to focus on killing people. The other team needs to die in order for you to win Tug of War, your partner needs to die for you to win Marbles, most of the other players need to die in order for you to make it across the glass bridge, and the last person remaining needs to die in order for you to win the Squid Game.
a friend from korea sent me a photo of three windows on a kindergarten building, each shaped like a square, circle and triangle. since the characters are playing children's games, i assume that's where the inspiration for the shapes came from.
I think that everyone should watch Kaiji Ultimate Survivor. It may seem less interesting or attractive to new audiences, but I feel it's a better critique on capitalism than Squid Game. If you like that kind of thing you will probably like it!
Jeff Bezzos caught me off-guard lol. Great video! I liked how you commented on how the rulers of the game keep saying that everyone has equal chances to win, but it's all really an illusion. I think another example that shows this very well is Ali's character: since he isn't Korean, he doesn't know how to play the games and can't win them alone, in this game where everyone is supposed to be equal and have the same chances to win, being an inmigrant obviously presents a huge disadvantage, just how in real life everyone is supposed to have the same opportunities to get a job etc etc but it's not true
It has been really disheartening seeing the general discourse about this show be how horrible all the people playing the games are. Thank you for your video! I hope more people wake up to this stuff in my lifetime.
@@nicoleg8634 then that isn't communism? communism has never been truly tried, but that's also assuming that communism is the only other option, which just isn't true either.
@nicole g i never compared communism to capitalism or even mentioned it. that isnt what communism is either. communism promotes equitable distribution of goods and erasure of socioeconmic status.. which is arguably A GOOD THING. secondly, no politician keeps their promises and im sure ur president is not sloganning communist ideolgies if that is whats happening
Loved this, the whole show was critiquing capitalism until the end though, that final game with the old man placing the bet on the man left there in the street really bothered me, because neither questioned why he was there, left to freeze to death, only if one other person would help them, no question of the system as a whole. It kind of undermined everything it was building up to
@@mischr13 the funny thing is that he kind of didn't lose cause he died before the police arrived. He died believing that humanity was lost, while Gi-Hun managed to get back that small sliver of hope which made him turn his life around once more.
I don't think it undermined the message. Gi Hun bought into Il Nam's game, Gi Hun had become part of the 1% looking down on his former self yet waited around for someone to help. After winning, Gi Hun promptly began to make his own choices. He dyed his hair out of defiance and used the money to help out Sang Woo's mom and Sae Byeok's brother, after a full year of not contacting them due to his survivor's guilt. Then when the cycle begins, Gi Hun stops someone from joining then tables his personal responsibilities to look for answers about the game and see if he can stop it.
@@freesuckerMCR the way I viewed that was those at the top will only see what they want to see and so will never actively try to change the system. They become blind to human nature and will die with their beliefs without ever learning that they are wrong. If they are wrong even.... The ideal is that they are wrong but the system does kind of justify their beliefs also so its a complicated one 🤔
or....how about we use the hoarded HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS that a few hundred people own, and I shouldn't use my dearly earned pennies that I need to survive my own damn self? I don't think "being more considerate" of how I, or anyone I know, spends money has even the tiniest potential to do the same kind of good a tiny, tiny fraction of Bezos or Elon's rape and blood money could do.
good video as always! i love your really thorough analysis of the different themes in the show. one thing, though, im pretty sure the shapes on the masks of the guards were supposed to represent the shapes making up the squid in the titular squid game (square body, triangle head, little circle at the top of the head) instead of playstation buttons, especially because theres no X
i don't blame you for this (you gotta make money somehow), but i just loved how there's an advertisement in a video abt squid game's critique of capitalism and the way you segued it in there. really hammers in the point we can't escape it
This video is SUPER solid, good job!! I love the points you brought up, especially the ascending/descending cinemtography. I always love when the cinematography can help tell a story.
The only issue I have with anything to do with squid game is that 456 (I'm bad with names at the best of times) doesn't go out and help the man bc it seems very weird that he didn't. And that he didn't do anything for a year with any of his money bc surely he would at least have done something for his daughter or paid off his debts? I still loved it tho, I just feel that the ending could have been just a little more put together is all☺🍊
I think the trauma made him unable to spend all that money. Like after all that happened he needed to return to what he used to know before ever being able to move forward.
I don't think the symbols on the guards masks doesn't have any connections to control buttons, circle, triangle and square are the three shapes to create the layout for squid game
Interesting thing you may have missed. The guards ranks are determined by the number of points present. The O ones have no authority, the Triangle ones have 3 points and have some authority and the Managers have 4 points and have the most authority. Moving up the ranks, the Front-Man's mask is full of vertices. (Perhaps another video game reference, 2D vs 3D with 3D being more expensive to make than 2D?) Then above the front-man are the VIPs who are covered in vertices with the Owl, or 'player 1' having the most, fitting for the original creator of Squid Game.
Initially, Il-Nam’s monologue just pissed me the hell off. But you make a really good point about how I’m SUPPOSED to be angry at it because he’s WRONG. The poor and the rich are not the same. Maybe the working and lower class are bored, but not in the way that Il-nam is bored. Not in the way that actively worsening and ending the lives of others is used to alleviate that boredom.
Fortunately there will be a season two eventually. This show is such a masterpiece. The fact that they all chose to go back to the game knowing how terrible and soul crushing it is because they need the money is such an important message about capitalism.
thank u for this! this is the first vid ive seen thats commented on the actual meaning of the show. the point abt the visual symbolism of the staircases was so true & made me realise it absolutely ties into this idea of the myth of upward mobility and capitalist meritocracy that the show comments on. the stairs (much like the print it references) don’t operate in a way that allows for simple movement upward, instead the path they follow seems to go up, down etc. its warped and convoluted. it goes to show the reality of how difficult it is for poorer individuals to work their way up the social hierarchy, and how much of a fantasy upward mobility is under capitalism. my mind is blown rn that is such a brilliant detail!
Meanwhile the front man moves in an elevator an option he achieved solely by already participating in the game and winning which requires you to value money over human life
wow you spoke this so eloquently! what u said reminds me of many thing, but something comes to mind in particular that we learned about in world history. China's dynasties had the civil service exam to give the people meritocracy-a chance to climb the stepladder. when in reality the lower classes couldn't afford time or the resources needed to pass it. Chances to pass it were slim, especially if you were poor. You couldn't take it at all if you were a woman. to pass, you needed to be thoroughly educated in confucianism. Confucian values emphasized filial piety and ultimate respect towards the emperor, which shows how even with a somewhat meritocracy, even educated, you still always had your distinct place. similar to nowadays.
@@Just_A_Random_Desk The gambling addiction was at the beginning of the story and never brought up again, Yes he did want to kill him but he he eventually wanted to make amends, and not wanting to see his daughter doesn't make him a bad person since he had a reason.
@@mbking2044 dude could've gone to see his daughter then went back to south korea because his life doesn't seem to be guaranteed, especially with what he's planning to do next.
No. 1. About the oil man. If you translate 오일남 "Oilnam," (oil comes out) It means an oil tycoon. In other words, it is the name that describes the rich man of oil.
@@sertgy. You don’t even know what my political ideology is, to be fair. I think if I articulated most of what I believe you’d agree with me, and then if I gave it a name you’d say you disagreed.
I thought I could sense a Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor influence in Squid Game, that anime is really good and tightly focuses on 1 character in a very similar situation to the Squid Games
I think people can sometimes confuse "capitalism" with "human desire for resources". capitalism did not invent scarcity, wealth inequality, or greed. the problem that humans have infinite demands but there exists finite resources in the world isn't new. one can look at literally any story that involves competing for money as a critique of "capitalism", though that is like saying any story than involves hunger is a critique of french cooking.
long, long before liberty was a concept as we know it today, wealth inequality and poverty existed. if we look at burial sites for example from long ago, we see that 20% of humans have 80% of the wealth. this has always been true. The claims of 'capitalism' strips people of their individuality and makes them cogs in a machine. again, a lack of individuality is not a symptom of our freedom, it's something that's existed forever for humans. would anyone think that individual humans were permitted more to express their individuality 1000 years ago? obviously not. Many socialists have a very, very short time frame of history that they understand. they know they've been born into a world with problems, as anyone can recognize, and they believe "capitalism" is the dominant economic system that the world exists in now. as they have not learned much about humanity's history, they confuse the problems with something that's only existed since humans have been granted liberty and freedom on any sort of scale. they romanticize utopian ideologies without even understanding what the pursuit of those utopian ideologies caused. "some humans starve" - capitalism's fault "sickness exists" - capitalism's fault "i feel envy towards others" - capitalism's fault
I've noticed some people, no matter the actual form of government, will say the show is 'critiquing' capitalism basically as soon as there is a poor man and a rich man. It doesn't really make any sense to me.
@@pogisdog _It's funny because one of my classmates once said that the eastern front was basically a poor vs rich scenario, with the "German aristocrats" attacking the soviet worker class. Like, I wanted to slap her so badly and I'm pretty sure every soldier on the eastern front would've wanted to as well._ *Ah yes, the german reich, with barely any equipment to outfit 500000 men properly at the end of the war with 6+ million people being given a singular rifle and an armband. They are clearly monarchists trying to erradicate the soviet worker class, lmao*
YeS ! ! ! We need Battle-Royale-type movies & series like this to gradually educate the masses about the evils of Capitalism ! ! ! This video needs to be shared ! ! !
When Gi Hun and Sang Woo argue after the glass bridge, Gi Hun makes it apparent to him that he wouldn't have crossed successfully without the help of the people who died in the game- essentially saying "the winners exist because of the losers". That sentence alone I think is a pretty poignant remark on capitalism.
Even more so, Sang Woo tries to claim through the games and his life that he won by playing fairly. This is while every dollar he's ever had was either given to him by someone else or ill-gotten, just like his place in the games. Besides the very first, not a single game he played did he win purely from his own merits.
Even so, he still ended up in debt, and Gi Hun points that out. That if merit, especially the merit he claimed to have, was such a deciding factor, why were they both in the exact same game? Reminds me of the bootstraps arguments from poor conservatives who will turn around and claim they're poor because of food stamps and people stealing their jobs, and not the system cheating them out of their wages and pitting them against their fellow man.
true
@Roniixx no there arent... We live in a society
Capitalism is not a zero-sum game, so that statement is just stupid, when applied to capitalism
@@reizayin How many strikers had their lives ruined to improve the working conditions of future employees? Or, rather, how many people were fired for striking or unionizing to be replaced with someone willing to put up with poor conditions? How many jobs hire an infinite number of employees? How many people are exploited under capitalism in the form of for-profit prisons, the military industries complex, gentrification, etc.?
And that's ignoring that most of the world's wealth is funneled up to a select few individuals who have more combined wealth than the entire rest of America's population, for example. And that wealth is necessary for, say, paying medical bills or having a home.
And I'm sure you're going to commit to claiming the above is describing a zero-sum game, but regardless of the technicalities you hone in on, the facts are that there are people who succeed at the expense of others under capitalism.
Ali deserved better. his niceness was used against him and that’s how it be like in real life
yup yup word
I'm sorry but that's what makes him the most one dimensional character there. No matter how much someone can be nice, niceness or trust do not erase your judgement, caution or social cues. His death just felt like an easy way to make Sang-woo the bad guy
@@sofianesweetener3961 But he is the bad guy. He didn't have to take Ali out like that. Even Deok-Su (the thug) thought of a different marble game to play when he was about to lose.
He was the realest but became a casualty in the wake of someone more willing to coldly sacrifice others to succeed. It hurt but yeah, it was real as hell.
@@sofianesweetener3961 yes, I also felt he was kind of one dimmensional, but I believe his naiveness and niceness makes sense with him. He knew nobody, had barely anything, yet Sangwoo helped him everytime, Ali truly trusted him because of the true kindness Sangwoo showed him
Another thing - the Front Man constantly talks about all players being equal, however by the very nature of the games, some people are disadvantaged. For example, if you're not physically as strong or as healthy, you're disadvantaged in the tug of war. If you didn't grow up in South Korea, you wouldn't be familiar with the childhood games (and so, it disadvantages foreigners). For all the insistent, performative "equality", the games are fundamentally unequal, much like the structure of capitalism.
I mean as sangwoo said to Ali they are very quick and easy to learn they are childrens games after all
also saebyeok was the only one injured in the last game like?? that wasn’t fair.
she also survived on the glass game why was she disadvantaged and no one helped her?
I thought the same thing. We all have to pretend that the system is equal or else we'd have to acknowledge the system is failed.
I mean, the games were literally drawn on the walls in the rooms they stayed at and even when the room got smaller no one knew about it. They had a chance to know the games in advanced but none of them are observant enough to notice and again, they are kids games. Easy to learn
but the whole concept of the tug of war was to have a strategy and strength didnt matter in the end?????
IDK if someone had already pointed it out. But the hierarchy is also shown with the angles on the masks. On the side of the handlers. The one with no angles (Circles) is made to clean up the mess after the killings. The ones with 3 (Triangles) are the executioners. While the square ones (four angles)are seen as the managers. The main host in the dark mask has more angles on his mask as it resembles more of a face. Lastly are the spectators/rich people. They all have lavishly decorated masks covered with diamonds (or other crystals or rocks, honestly idk, but the sparkle comes from the cuts that they have cus they reflect light more). This type of counting with angles can be seen with the Hindu-Arabic number system we use today which initially had more pronounced angles when written, the same amount as the value.
I'm sure a lot of other people had already noticed this but I just like to share it here. Btw I love this video. Better than most video essays that I've seen about the squid game.
Also the old man, the true runner and creator of the game has the most angles on his mask
@@lilac.mascara he doesnf have a mask?
@@vincharlesyuri he's shown taking off an owl mask when he decides to join the game as a player.
Interesting! I didn't know that!
I love the comments on this channel. Thanks for this!
At first I was convinced that the red/blue theory was true, but in an interview, Hwang Dong Hyuk confirmed that the colors come from an urban legend about a restroom ghost, who offers red toilet paper or blue. It’s a trick question: both choices lead to a painful death. great video analysis!
huh that's really interesting, although in my opinion it still doesn't disprove the theory. we don't know what happens to the guards once they are done with them, or what the guards are working towards. and if not the guards, then why present the choice, and make a point to show that the characters in the game picked blue.
@@lolarose8973 Why would it not disprove the theory if the creator said that wasn't the purpose??
ohhh I think I remember hearing about this urban legend once but it was so long ago I didn't piece it together. very fitting.
if i remember this is a japanese urban legend, not sure if korea has something similar to this. i think the best option in living or surviving this ghost is to just walk away and not picking anything. like how some people in the (squid) game left and never came back
@Seline Abanto Yeah, I heard that was mainly to underscore the sinister nature of the recruiter but also that capitalism gives us choices that aren’t meaningful. Regardless of colour selected, they’re going to be in a lot of pain and most likely die.
It bothers me when people say they don't like the show just because it's foreign and they feel they can't relate to it. I think pretty much everyone can relate to this concept tbh no matter where you live. Unless you're in the 1%
hey, the 1% can definitely relate! to the VIPs.
It's the racism
my mother refused the show until i actually told her about it. i explained the whole plot and storyline and she ended up wanting to watch it…
@@OcyTaviAh Say less 🙄
Do you know if you live in the USA or any developed countries, you are the 1% in the world? How about sharing some of your fortunes with the poor in Africa to show you are not a bigot?
It’s interesting how everyone’s reaction to this show is how much they hate Sang-woo, sure he was horrible but he was just another player and the person we should actually hate is the old man who made this twisted game for entertainment.
Goes to show how the masses never actually direct their anger to the people at the top but to those who are at the bottom and play within the system.
oh my god this just my brain explode, you're so right
Whilst I agree, Sang-woo should still be held accountable for his actions. It's not an excuse to just say it's the capitalist game so people have to play to survive. It's the reason behind why but doesn't excuse his behaviour.
To me Sang-Woo is an interesting character. He is literally the personification of this whole "If you only work hard enough you will have a happy life and a lot of money" idea and this "Despite our differences we all have the same chances" idea, this higher faster further -capitalism is trying to enforce to your brain. It baffles me that people don't recognize that. Sang-Woo was not evil or mean at all, as many try to portray it, he is selfless, supportive and compassionate at the beginning, but throughout the game he realizes this way I won't win this game. Sang-woo had difficult circumstances: He got just as Gi-Hun born into a poor family in a probably poor town (Ssangmun-dong). And he did everything that's possible regardless of his circumstances to succeed, because we all have the same chances and everything's fair, no one ever will experience discrimination (as they always get told): So Sang-Woo got the education despite his difficulties, studied on a fancy university in Seoul and got a good job. Gi-hun constantly points that out and literally praises Sang-Woo for that, like a proud parent bragging about his son's achievements, while Sang-Woo like an annoyed Son, always acts pissed and ashamed about that. To me they both don't really have an equal eye to eye friendship, more of an proud parent and annoyed Son relationship. Gi-hun seems to admire Sang-woo sort of as the hero of his poor town, untill he gets disappointed about how Sang-woo suddenly becomes ruthless, while he's not recognizing that this game/system they are stuck in is created to reward a ruthless, cruel and selfish ellbow mentality. But Gi-hun has not the cognitive capacity to understand that. (Gi-huns and Sang-woos relationship kinda reminds me about parents who throw their kids into this capitalistic school system where only performance matters, without even thinking about it. And then the parent acts totally surprised or disappointed when their bad kid acts out/misbehaves or is overstrained with this cruel system. There's a scene where a police officer asks Sang-woos mom where he is and then tells her about all the financial crimes Sang-woo actually committed, and she says "This must be a misunderstanding, my son would never do anything like that", that's basically how Gi-hun felt about Sang-woo, but as the game continues his positive image of Sang-woo cracks ).
The reason why Sang-woo is always pissed when Gi-hun praises him is because Sang-Woo probably thinks "Yeah, well I had bad circumstances, I got the education, I got the great job, I fulfilled this whole If you only work hard enough you will make it idea. But you know what, regardless of much i studied, my life still sucks, something went wrong, I'm in depth, I'm a disappointment to my mother, I'm desperate and I'm here, risking my life to get the money, so shut up". Gi-hun obviously seems to believe in this idea as well, as he always points that out about Sang-Woo. Maybe Gi-hun admired him because Sang-woo at least seemed to achieve (despite unfair circumstances) what Gi-hun never could achieve. There's at the end also an interesting scene where Gi-Hun asks Sang-Woo why he pushed the guy into his death at this bridge game, even tho the glass-expert guy helped him to survive and Sang-Woo says "You know what, I didn't survive because of him, I survived because I worked hard to survive. And you know why you never succeed in life, because you're asking such dumb question." Which just showcases how he desperately holds onto this ridiculous believe and just doesn't want to question this whole harmful system he's stuck in. Through out the end you can also see how Sang-Woo basically was done with his whole life, as he always says "These people would have died anyway, so it doesn't matter" which is not just an excuse to justify his own behavior and to justify basically him murdering people, but it's also showing how he views his own life. Sang-woo more and more gave up his own life, because he felt guilty for the cruel things he did and was traumatized by all the death, while he also felt conflicted about it, because he still had the urge to survive and to have a happy life.
I love that show challenges the morals of the audience, by basically showing how all of these characters are in a grey area, none of these characters is purely evil or purely good: They all have feelings, needs, wishes and people they care about, regardless if we're talking about Ali, Sang-woo, Gi-hun, Deok-su, Oh Ill-nam or Sae-byeok. I mean Deok-su (Nr. 101) gets obviously portrayed as a villian, he's mean, he's ruthless, he's brutal, he's greedy, he's disrespectful, he's selfish, he's sexist, he lies, he is threatening other people, he manipulates and uses people for his own benefits just to let them fall later on, he murders other players just to survive and to get this ridiculous huge amount of money. But is Deok-su or Sang-woo (who also became more ruthless) really worse than the other characters (Gi-hun, Ali and Sae-byeok) who did at the end of the day, exactly the same things. Just because the other characters were more sympathetic and compassionate while they still killed other players to safe their own ass. Is it really okay to put the other "sympathetic" characters on a morally pedestal despite their actions. At the very beginning puts Gi-hun Sae-byeok and Deok-su on the same level of "evilness", because she's a Pickpocket and he's Rogue, but it's not that simple, there is no absolutism, none of them is evil or good, they are all in a grey area, Gi-huns image of Sae-byeok only changes because he creates a connection with her, while he gets more disconnected from Sang-woo. They we're all fighting to survive, while believing they all had the same chances, even tho that's not the reality, they're all stuck in an unfair system and they were selfishly murdering order players to survive. So there is no good or bad person, the rich old guy is a sweet, kind, helpful and innocent seeming person suffering from cancer, but at the end he is still responsible for the game were many people got killed, just to have a fun time. While all the poor players themselves are also responsible for other people's deaths. The difference is only the old guy just had the privilege to be ignorant towards poor peoples problems, because he has more money, I mean he compared them to horses in a horse-race. The rich people can watch how the poor people fight each other to survive, but the poor people like Gi-hun actually do the same by betting on horse-races. And while the poor people don't have the money to solve their problems, has the rich old man all the money but can't solve his problem through money (the cancer he had). Ironically, the poor players always get told that they experienced discrimination in real life, based on their horrible financial situation and in the game they won't experience that, which is even in the game not true: The game gets organized by privileged rich people who watch everything from a safe position (so rich people take profit/benefits from poor people suffering), the players are all just numbers they don't matter as individuals to the game, the red workers have more power because they have weapons, and even the red workers live in a strict hierarchy, so actually nothing is fair for anyone. While this time in the game, it's the rich old man who experiences discrimination through the poor players (expect of Gi-hun). The other players constantly are mean towards the old guy and say stuff like "He's an old man, he's weak, he's worthless, he's untrustworthy, there's no need take him seriously, he's going to die anyway, so I don't care, i have to safe my own life" and nobody wants to pick the old man as partner for games, similar it happens to women in this game. And all characters from time to time question the morals of this game, if it's really okay that they all at the end of the day kill other players just to survive/safe their own ass and get the money, because they get rewarded for being ruthless and selfish (through the money). But none of these characters steps out of it, they request and criticize the unfair system, but they don't leave it. And that's just a theory of mine, but the players get told if the majority wants to leave the game, they can, but I guess that's not entirely true, the players who didn't came back to the game are witnesses, they could go to the police and report everything, and the frontman said to the red workers that they should watch players who didn't came back, i assume it's because in case they report anything they get murdered, so actually no player had any freedom to leave the game whenever they want.
mhmm it’s mostly because Ali is such an easy character to love and get attached to due to his innocence and kindness. Therefore it’s obvious people will hate Sang-woo for taking advantage of his kindness. But yeah at the end of the day the enemies of this game are the rich people
right, i do dislike sangwoo for what he did to the people around him (especially ali, i do think he had more to live for than sangwoo) but he's equally still a victim of the system trying to fight for a chance at a decent life
This is probably not a valid theory, but the shapes on the invitation cards to Squid Games (the square, rectangle and triangle) are also found in my country's least valuable currencies (#10, #20 and #50) I doubt it had any influence on the shape but it was definitely a cool thing to point out.
It's good to see foreign media getting the representation and praise it deserves... Squid Game is probably one of my favorites series of all time.
Are you a fellow nigerian?!
At the very least, a very cool coincidence!
On the naira ba?🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@itsharibonph this ain’t that kinda channel bro. Keep it positive
@@itsharibonph Chill, you don’t have to be an edge lord 24/7
Not just capitalism/classism: Age, sex, and race are major factors to who gets to profit from capitalism.
Sexism: Everyone believes having a woman on their team is a disadvantage even before knowing the game.
Ageism: Old people are considered disposable by everyone except Gi-hun.
Nationalism: For Sae-byeok and Abdul Ali, it isn't just not having enough money but also the threat of deportation.
Completely agree, this really underscores the fact that their boasting about equality is completely hollow. The natural circumstances of the contemporary neo liberal capitalism, despite its claims for equal opportunity, give rise to fascism, racism, sexism, and ageism as you mentioned. It is not a coincidence that we see this global reactionary movement during these times, all of these things do is just reinforce the bourgeoisie. Just like in squid game, these ideas would actually bring down the players for the benefit of the VIPs, working together to overcome this system is in their best interest, not to play by its rules.
Saebyeok is not under threat of deportation though, all North Korean defectors are South Korean citizens the second they enter the country. She would must be jailed for her crimes not sent back to NK
"Everyone believes having a woman on their team is a disadvantage"
Yeah because in the physical challenges they want stronger people, its not that deep lmao
@@lordpolish2727 People who can't understand metaphors spend a lot of time saying stupid phrases like "It's not that deep bro". When you think about the story literally instead of the way it was written, then yeah, "it's not deep lmao".
But when you actually consider the game as representing an economic system, then the situations where women and the elderly were getting abandoned and left behind reflect the very real experiences of people struggling to get money.
A lot of companies have a cognitive bias against hiring women because they fear maternity leave, believe women are incompetent or lesser than men, or because it is a physical job such as construction and they'd prefer male workers.
That's what the show is trying to demonstrate.
@@fabplays6559 it was a shit metaphor tho because generally men are stronger then women proof of sexism would make more sense if they didnt pick women in a game that didnt take physical strength
I loved the ending, specially the message about caring and helping people. This essay was so good, complex and complete! Love ur content.
We have the same pfp
@@chongthamtulsipriya966 same
Hated the ending for the fact he choose them over his little girl. And the fact that this whole game was a choice. TWICE!! I loved every minute of Squid Games until the last 40 minutes.
@@Redman113 🗿bruh his kid was safe and had another family though
@@tafferine388 bro that don't make him an attentive father
For anyone curious, the Director blatantly confirmed Squid Game is a critique of capitalism.
“I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life. But I wanted it to use the kind of characters we’ve all met in real life,” Hwang said. “As a survival game it is entertainment and human drama. The games portrayed are extremely simple and easy to understand. That allows viewers to focus on the characters, rather than being distracted by trying to interpret the rules.”
Great, what an insightful creator
its not a good critique of capitalism tho
@@entityx6035 How so?
@@acoolphin8846 first, the show wants to say that the system is flawed and it doesn't give the poor a hand, but then it's shows us these characters making bad decisions for themselves which is literally helping capitalism as being successful doesn't involve a 3rd party, it requires good decisions from your end in capitalism. Some examples of bad decisions are the main character gambling his money away.
2) it tries to show that these American corporates are controlling the people and it shows the literally most obvious stereotypes for the rich dudes. Even the other company owners have no substance and are just bad because apparently every corporate person is bad
3) in a attempt to show capitalism as bad, the show literally calls south korea a worse place than north korea (game number 4, conversation between sae byeok and the other girl)
4) also it assumes that economics or capitalism is a zero sum game which is not true, this assumption is literally one of the rules, that you can stop the games and the killing if you just have a majority vote
You can't call something bad and provide the most basic, stereotypical talking points as a justification for it
@@entityx6035 1: Main character lost his job in a mass firing by the company he worked for, he then tried 2 start ups, both failing, after being fucked up thrice by the unfair system that is capitalism is that out of desperation he started gambling for the smallest chance to pay off his debts.
2: It is that way, good people who treat ther employees fairly lose the competition to bad people who exploit they employees as much as possible.
3: That is a lie, when asked about wether SK is better she doesn't answer. Not unfounded either, she escaped an authoritarian regime to enjoy the freedoms of poverty, being forced to pickpocket and being taken advantage of.
4: Capitalism IS a zero sum game, In market niches companies compete, some lose, go bankrupt and are forced to sell their assets to salvage wathever they can, others win and get the formers competitor market share.
The majority vote isn't related to anything else you said so I'm not sure what you meant.
I've seen so many people on twitter calling some of the players the true villains, and I think that this show really reveals how you feel about capitalism.
yea theyre antagonizing the wrong people
Capitalism is bad but communism is worst trust me, my country have right now a communist president and he is an asshole that used the slogan: Take the money from the big corporation. Now that he is elected, all these money that he allegedly wanted to give to the poor is non existing. He used that idea only for profit.
@@nicoleg8634 I think people fail to realize that BOTH are bad if used incorrectly. Communism and Capitalism ideally are very great concepts, but both easily fall when you have people who twist the rules, abuse systems and control lives.
Capitalism and Communism require an ideal society and unfortunately we do not have that and will never have that. You will always have players who cheat and help others cheat to keep the system going.
The best we can get is a capitalist society that has communist/humanitarian systems to keep the top percent in check.
Capitalism, while it’s not perfect has literally stood the test of time as a superior economic system. Take North Korea and South Korea for example. 80 years ago, they had the same culture, language, traditions, etc. until communism. It’s literally a controlled experiment and obviously the capitalist South Korea has come out on top. It’s a common fallacy that in capitalism, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”
That being said, the rich get richer a lot faster than the poor are getting richer. In my opinion, that’s what squid game is trying to convey. The gap between the rich and the poor is the biggest weakness of capitalism. The rich then keep taking advantage of the poor and blah blah blah. I don’t think squid game is trying to tear down capitalism, but rather bring awareness to the problem of the poor being preyed on by the rich.
@@kenamada5451 I wholeheartedly disagree. The point of capitalism, if you boil it down completely, is a sort of survival of the fittest hierarchy where only the strongest survive. A capitalist utopia would give everyone an equal chance to rise in the ranks, but those who don't would still mostly end up dead, because that's the entire point of it.
A communist utopia would have everyone able to live in total harmony, with people being allowed to willfully leave the system if they so wish, and everyone getting exactly what they need to be happy.
Equating both in philosophy is kinda dumb, ngl.
it's weird how the guards literally did necrophiliac abuse to a dead female player yet this is brushed over so quickly. the fact that some of the guards are doing that with the female player's bodies is never brought up again and even when the cheating guards were punished, the higher ups didn't even mention the r**e. also how the VIP was coercing a sexual flavour from a "guard" and no one cared. this show really shows how capitalism sees all workers as disposable, especially women and migrants (Ali)
Really? They brushed it off so well I don’t even remember where this is in the series, when did that happen??
@@cherrytries2922 they might've excluded it in dubbed version but it's the part where the detective guy corners the guard and asks him about his brother. (original audio with subtitles). he assumes the body the guards were talking about was his brother's because it didn't have a kidney but the guard said it couldn't be his brother because it was a woman and they all knew that because they all took turns with it and they wouldn't have done so if it was a man. the detective shoots him dead after the convo
Good points!
@@Anusha-fv8tz I watched the dubbed version and they don't skip it.
@@Anusha-fv8tz also, they think they were raping a dead body, but she was actually alive too. She's the one they refer to as zombie girl. They took turns raping her, proceeded to operate on her, and THEN they found out she was still alive.
DUDE I WAS LITERALLY EXPLAINING THIS EXACT SHIT TO A FRIEND THE OTHER DAY AND SHE WAS LIKE “dude it’s just a show lol capitalism is great irl”
Great for her :/ I dunno why some ppl are so dismissive of friends thoughts? You said something noteworthy. Maybe she was in a bad mood or maybe not that great of a friend.
Clearly she's not aware that while people aren't put in death games IRL... debt is very much a real thing.
Capitalism is a fine idelogy, but needs improvement.
capitalism is great if you're good at it. So maybe not for you, but it's a good system for her.
Basically, it's like this:
Capitalism is a competitive game, you vs another player if you're good, you have big reward, if you're not, you lose.
Communism is a coop game. You're not versus each other, but cooperative with each other to win the game.
Most of you would agree that "wow, communism is good, why can't the world be like that?"
Well, because the world is too big. You cannot make 7 billion to cooperate with each other when you sometimes don't even agree with your brother or sister.
This is why communist dislike nationalists, religions and cultural diversity because it create divisions and conflicts.
Oh and revisionist as well. Because stuffs like that could easily turn communist-led group into a self-interest tribalism group like North Korean Juche system.
everyone who died in the first game had really no informed consent. it needs to stop being said that they had a choice
The contract didn’t say anything about dying. They were gassed asleep. Identity stripped and replaced with numbers. Clothe and body fiddled with. The game host refusal to give information about the place or fairly allowing them to single handily go back on their own. The host even says to keep an eye out for people who didn’t return, this means even if they left, they still aren’t completely free. The game contradicts a lot of their own principles.
@@Gnomelander1400 yeah i just feel like it keeps being said "they had a choice" like yeah but not really especially those who died in the first game and all of them had no choice to be traumatized in that first game even if they lived
@@BrianaLynn7 thats literally the point of the series.... we are given the illusion of "choice" when we are born aka when they were gased and woke up ... is shows that none of us really have a choice to be brought into this world. in the series case, they really did not have a choice to play the game once they agreed to initial game of daebak
I loved your detailed analysis, and while I was watching the show Ali dabbling in "sir"s and struggling with local children's games really struck me as it highlights the injustice migrants face, something we don't see often in Korean (and general mainstream) media.
A really good point sir (miss?)! But I respectfully disagree with the part of injustice. Sure, when someone move to another place with another culture and way of thinking, they face a rough time to adapt, but itsn't because of injustice and prejudice (most of the time), it just the culture shock. I'm a good example: when I change of state, I had some trouble to adjust but I end up adapting pretty well, and NOBODY was a jerk to me about my origin; and in my school there were an American, a North Korean and a British and things turn out really well for them as well.
@@beneditovideira836 no, racism really exists. ali wouldn't struggle in his life so much if he was a white expat from a western country.
@@nikkismodernlife Where exactly I said that racism doesn't exist?
The fact that I heard Elon said he would watch an irl squid game honestly reinforces what squid game is critising, the rich does not umderstand the poor and only sees them as puppets to be played and toyed with, only for the bored billionared to stare down at us and watch as we all fight to live
All the billionaires are so out of touch with reality it's sad. They've been geniuses as kids, have gotten highly rewarded for that ( capitalism) and built huge financial empires and live like it all their life. Rich parents, the best education, everything you need served in a golden plate and spoon. Any mistake or laws they break are ignored or outruled. We inch closer and closer to the hunger games.
@@_ashmason007 A bit dramatic, life isn't a movie with overblown characters and ridiculous motives for world domination. So long as we live, the standard of living will always be to improve our living conditions. There will be no billionaire driven apocalypse because there is no good motive.
Elon is known for saying edgy shit, I think everybody is known for saying edgy shit. Elon probably doesn't want 456 destitute gambling addicts to gamble their lives away in a rigged game.
@@yesyes-om1po i never talked about any apocalypse lmao? nor about world domination. I said that all law, plus rules will always be different for the rich or those very high in social class. You have to be blind to not notice that. Yes, progress will occur, because they want to improve their living conditions even more, and indirectly we too benefit from that. I advice you read up about sociology or class a bit more. And the hunger games i talked about, is literally happening. There is am open war in Ukraine, on who? The common people. Their houses, amenities, hospitals all blown up. The rich easily flee. Mass Shootings in America. Where? Public schools, again, the common people. it's already there, you gotta be literally ignorant to not be able to see it
So many legal suits against Amazon and Tesla for treating their base level workers like shit. Some Amazon workers weren't allowed pee breaks or time to have food in their shifts and massly umderpaid. And Bezos buyed a huge custom yacht for himself with a personalized helicopter landing for his hot new chick. Lmao. If reality seems dramatic to you maybe catch up with the news
An lot poor ppl would like to be on the show for chance to win all that money just sad
I feel like this show was so blatantly anti capitalist and the game is clearly a metaphor for worker exploitation. But somehow it's gone over so many people's heads. People are getting "fun dystopian scary show" out of it.
Yeah, like people who thought The Matrix was just cool specal effects...
It can be both. Some don’t want to look into the deeper meaning, and that’s totally fine! The story without the subtext was enough to nearly make me cry multiple times, the characters are well written, and the concept is amazing!
kinda weird that everybody's doing "squid game irl!!!!" i liked anthpo's video since it was self aware though
the craziest part to me is how everyone is SHOCKED that a non-english series became the most successful. do people not understand that there are talented people all over the world, not only in the USA? does Hollywood have a monopoly on art or what?
Most TV/Shows and movies have a flowchart of events and a checklist in order to do well. Innovation and breaking the mold is not always successful which is why many modern films/shows feel just about the same. I don't think squid game is all that unique and I feel that it's story has been told by Hollywood already. No doubt though, the show is good, it just isn't something that is transcendent. I honestly think a leading factor for why it was so popular was because of it's country of origin. I suppose people were getting tired of the same actors and settings in Western media.
I mean it’s not common to see a show not from America do so well that doesn’t mean there’s bad quality in media production in other countries? a korea show getting this amount of traction is very good timing because Korean culture is very popular it’s all about timing…
Literally, who said that?
With what kind of people do you hang out?
These videos honestly reviewing the themes of the show are so refreshing! So much of social media is flooded with “how to survive squid game” or “best games to play in squid game” I really think a lot of people missed the point. Irl I haven’t heard anyone bring up the themes of capitalism or poverty. They only talk about the games themselves.
I know right! Same thing here. It's honestly very frustrated. Reminds me very much of the music video and message in "This is America" by Childish Gambino.
Forbes made an article about it and their first problem with the show is that the VIPs are annyoing and like gross and stupid. 🤦♀️
While this is true and kind of disappointing, it is up to us to use the popularity of shows like this, with subtle critique of capitalism (or less subtle to people sensitive in the matter), to start a conversation about the parallels to our world. Starting with our friends and family.
@@lilac.mascara wait till they find out men like the VIPs exist in reallife who commit human trafficking and forced prostitution on poor folks in Thailand
I can get the point and still want to talk about the games... What is your point lol
Can anyone believe my dad watched this show and his takeaway "was money doesn't buy happiness" and that's neoliberalism in a third world country
yes that exactly something my parents would say
So many people took "money doesn't buy happiness" as a takeaway from squid game and it's honestly disappointing bcs it undermines squid game's actual message
or people saying that humans are naturally ruled by their instincts and that whole survival of the fittest bullshit 🙄
Money doesn't always get rid of your problems, would sound better.
@@leticianeal9147 I mean, money would get rid of the problems of most of the contestants. That's why they agreed to that horrible game in the first place. The problem was that when Gi-hun actually won, the survivor's guilt he had developed prevented him from actually using any of the money. That's the sick joke at the center of it all.
I find it so interesting to me how Korean media lately is able to make great art about class. We need to work on our class consciousness here in america.
We’ve had lots of media and movements about class. I get y’all like Korean stuff but geez. Remember occupy Wall Street or the hippies or all of those unions we created. There’s also a reason Koreans want to move here even though their country is very nice. Their opportunities are there are less because of crazy high competition and less chances to redeem oneself. I heard a Chinese guy say that America is the land of eighth chances.
@@raymonds7492 yeah but all of those examples are over a decade old. I was talking about current media.
You should watch Rowan Ellis' video about The Purge franchise. She makes a point that the franchise has class commentary as well and is not just gratuitous thriller.
I’m actually glad they are able to do that through film since in mainstream korean music they ban everything
@@raymonds7492 bro what? Are you that insecure about your country that anytime someone commends another country, you have to express the superiority of your nation? And as if there aren’t Americans coming to Korea in droves.
The fact that so many people on the Internet overly sexualised the characters just shows how similar they are to the rich people presented in the show
Exactly!!
it’s literally so gross to me that ppl sexualize the scene where joon ho is harassed by the rich guy like bro .😭
The Squid Game Twitter community is literally so disgusting, the sexualization is even applauded.
Welcome to Asian Fetishization
@@user-rd8xf6wr7j frrr it’s so gross 😭😭
the entire show had me putting myself into these characters shoes to see what I would do in these situations, and that scene made me the _most_ uncomfortable out of everything else that happened so far because, well, what would I do in that scenario?? being dragged into a room with some random old rich dude I don’t know trying to get me to sleep with him is just not it. like, what do these people think when they see that scene?? “omggg sexual assault🥺🥺 so hawwt 😫😫💕” ??????
This seems to be a running theme throughout Korean films like Parasite, Snowpiercer, Burning. The idea that wealth affords you the ability to do as you please, to whomever you please. And the poor are bottomfeeders who will fight over any scraps you throw at them.
Yup.
But also that rich people are pathetic just like poor people
How did parasyte have the idea of wealth allowing you to do as you want?
@@sud1881 His other film Snowpiercer is very similar because in it wealth creates a stratified society. Which creates desperation and powerlessness. In that society the poor are in servitude with no hope of ever leaving their positions in life. In Parasite the wealthy family cannot function daily tasks without the aid of cheap labor. The everyday mission of the maids, driver is to ensure the family is placed high into the heavens. For example when it rains there are different implications. The rich family sees it as ambiance not a worry since they live an insular life. The other family, the rains floods their bottomfeeder existence hence one of them sitting on an overflowing toilet of human waste just to get phone signal. Yes the poor family is just as schematic and selfish as the rich family but the conditions of poverty create a system of exploitation. The final act is basically the bubbling resentment of this stratified society.
@@danielcastillo4537 hang on what I don’t remember parasyte showing how everyone is struggling I remember parasyte just focusing on Migi and Sinichi fighting with what is basically swords and daggers.
Im guessing this isnt the only analysis video out there but yours was the first to pop up as I ventured through RUclips and I wanna express how refreshing it is to see people diving into the meaning and context rather than how to win the game, or death counts.
I mean the death count is literally in the show 🤦♀️
I like this kinda analysis , since it basically what the show trying to tell , but instead of telling , it showing .
I super enjoyed this video too because of that 💕
Also notice how in the end the Democratic vote ends by being decided by the number 1 man.
The reason he was given number 1 could also potentially symbolize the "one percent" at the top of the capitalist society, but i might be wrong haha
@@Name-dl3uq it has multiple symbolisms I think. In addition to what you said, he wished to play before he died so he would obviusly get to sign up first as well as he is the leader so he is number 1 in the whole organization.
I mean it's his game and when deciding he gives them the option to leave the game as they wanted, because he wasn't really playing for the money, but for the sake of the games.
I personally suspect that every single game that gets played has this phase. They always ball and demand to be let out, the few who can do not come back, but he knows most of them have no choices at all, and even the tiniest chance at escaping their, and their families', misery is more chance than they have in real life.
The symbols on the guards masks are supposedly letters of the Korean alphabet written in circle is “O”, the triangle is part of “J”, and the square is the “M”. Together it's OJM, which is the initials of the squid game in Korean - Ojingeo Geim. Also with the actual layout of the squid game you see the circles are the smallest which could denote their lower rank
It's amazing to see how far you've come, and so quickly. Your video essays gained such a big community so rapidly and I'm here for it. You never seem to miss with topics!
thank you!!! 💖🌸
Idk if anyone has mentioned it, but the Frontman boasting equality in the games is bs. In the honeycomb game, some people have an advantage depending on the shape they picked. I feel like it’s a parallel to real life where some people have more opportunities to climb up the career ladder. Like say race for example. Sure it can still be difficult, but people who picked triangle will have a much easier time carving it out than those who picked umbrella
Another parallel to real life is how the wealthy terraform the poor’s environment in the games. They also put them in a literal rat race.
But you must remember they choose what shape to get. They may not have realized what that meant for the next game but in a sense they were free to choose what shape would be in the cookie
@@kazig9759 yea, it was a gamble😪 i know i wouldve chosen the star or umbrella too
Also the fact that many of the games are based off speed or strength, making it unfair to women as shown. They also don't have any people with disabilities in the game except the old man, but if you had any dietary needs, like diabetes for example, you would die. They don't provide any medication or accommodations as far as I could tell. Just bc a situation is "equal" doesn't mean it's fair
I think the games are a metaphor for being in poverty or something
The red pill - blue pill -theory also works on a psychological color theory level, as red is a more aggressive and blue a calmer color, so people who chose red are likely to be fitter for becoming guards, whereas blue choosers are better suited for being the pawns in the game as they're generally more submissive than their red-choosing peers. The visual symbolism in this series really is something one could spend hours dissecting :D
there's also an urban legend around east asia, in the 2nd to last stall of a bathroom a ghost shows up. it asks you if you want red toilet paper [which causes you to bleed yout and die] or blue toilet paper [which causes you to lose air / choke, turning your face..well, blue] and the only way to not die is to walk away, decline the offer, ask for white toilet paper, etc. etc. it depends on the version of the story, but it's similar to how the 7% didn't return to the squid game, essentially choosing the 'white paper' option
This theory has already been debunked by the creator. Also, speaking in terms of actual psychology, the color someone picks says very little about their personality. That’s just a common misconception from pop psychology where “If YoU LiKe ReD tHeN yOu’Re fIeRy”
the red card blue card theory was debunked by the director. regardless of which card they chose, they'll all wake up as payers, not guards.
I'm so glad. This theory doesn't make any sense
@@jojomicheldu59 you tube users participated it too
I also noticed that in the last dinner with the last three participants they served them super red wine and rare steak. I thought this symbolized all the lives and blood it took for them to get at that place and how much more it would cost.
Something I think a lot of people missed:
In the first episode when gi-hun was playing with the guy in a suit, when he finally won the first thing that came to his mind was to slap the guy back, I just thought it was heartwarming that despite him being poor money was still not the first thing on his mind
As a Finnish person I've never understood the problem with subtitles. We only dub children's shows so those who can't read can understand
It's no longer a surprise that the west is consuming Asian media. I'm in my 5th Chinese historical drama and not stopping. Happy to incorporate the stories and rich worlds into my life. Here we are putting our toes in actual globalism and not just Western hegemony.
Yeah, Im quite deep in korean movies, shows and music. Any Chinese shows you recommend and where to watch them?
Hey ff! I recall you mentioned the symbols on the guards' masks, and I personally believe it had to do with the characters on the Squid Game title card. I don’t know any Korean, so I was curious about that too. The connection you made with it to game controllers was interesting.
Survival Games movies/series are also a reflection about
the highly competitive culture
in East Asian countries like Japan and South Korea.
Good point.
People keep saying that the guards symbols are like Playstation buttons but I believe that the angles represent the rank since the order is 1 to 3.
i think the stairs also represent ableism. those with wheelchairs are not even able to participate at all, and those with disabilities or chronic pain that can make it difficult to walk on flights of stairs are less likely to have been chosen. also most of the games require you to be mobile so even if you do get picked to be apart of the games you'll probably die during the first round.
Isn't that just real life though? In most places? Like people are trying to be so woke and say sth new by using the term ableism but you guys are just out of touch. Most of the world hasn't even tackled their lack of sanitation, let alone racism, let alone sexism, the latter two including South Korea. Yes, stairs are indeed inherently ableist, you woke Americans. Thank you for your Western White Insight.
@@HB-pz1cg number one: my point was supposed to reflect real life.
number two: I am not american or white.
number three: I am fully aware that the world still has so much to do but i think we should at least coming to terms with how fucked up everything is and that we should at least talk about it.
number four: i am disabled so i actually understand the struggles that disabled people have when it comes to ableism.
If you're trying to make an argument don't assume things about people.
@@coralena962 You can read into it if you want but I doubt they even had disabled people in mind when they designed the set. Ableism and ageism are not used terms in most places (yet). If they did have disabled people in mind they'd have illustrated that through a disabled character. Which they definitely could have, it's a missed chance.
@@HB-pz1cg yes I absolutely agree with this. I just thought my point was interesting and I wanted to share
The stairs one might be a stretch but the games part is true
Great analysis! I'd recommend anyone that enjoyed Squid Game to also check out the anime/manga Kaiji. It has a very similar premise and shares a lot of its' themes and messages regarding capitalism with Squid Game.
Great video! I'm kind of a amazed how many readings of this show don't even use the word "capitalism" when, agree with the shows position or not, it's pretty impossible to understand it without acknowledging that. Thing I noticed: I, personally, think the red and blue motif thing is entirely stylistic. If you go to around 2:39 and watch at 0.25 speed (I've been meaning to go to the show and check, but your video saved me the time) the two frames on the far left in the middle both show players throwing red cards at blue pieces. I guess you could say these are video of guards, but also, that would make no sense bc they aren't supposed to show their faces and the whole point of this display is to unnerve players by showing them themselves and they would have plenty of footage to fill the screen with without having to show the guards.
I'd be interested to see an explanation for the guards, though I was still satisfied with them being representative of all the people who enforce the systems within capitalism, like the loan sharks who come for Gi-hun, the police looking for Sang-woo, or the casino owners who come for Jang Deok-su. I love the long build-up as they go to remove their masks and you wait to see who's on the other side...and it's just a dude. Because of course it is. It's all just perpetuated by people who keep the violent game going because of the small benefits it brings to them.
I kept trying to figure out why I became so obsessed with Squid Game. After all it's just another death game story. But it isn't. It is soooo much more. I really like the observations made regarding class and the haves vs the have nots. But I think I found another one...one that made my skin crawl when the lightbulb went off over my head.
I am an American that has become very fond of K-drama. Watching them I have gotten some understanding of Korean culture and history. I am struck by the fact that many Korean celebrities are quite good looking some might even say pretty. I have seen on social media that this has become somewhat ugly, saying that these "pretty boys" MUST be gay. Why? Just because of there youthful appearance and stage makeup give them a feminine look? That is reflected when VIP 4 in the panther mask tells Joon-ho that he has"pretty eyes" and proceeds to force him into a back room and then forces him to commit a sexual act. Not only does this scene scream racial bias but shows the depth of depravity of this 1%er. He is most likely also a pedophile. Without saying it the implication is there.
Although such a small scene stuck in the middle, I feel like it defines alot about what is really going on here. My hat is off to the two actors in this scene...Wi Ha-joon and Geoffrey Giuliano.
I truly find the parallels between gamblers (the main character gambling on horse races vs the rich guys watching the squid games) interesting. The idea of a gambler becoming the victim of his own vice and how the whole even went full circle. This is also a reason why I wouldn't precisely call it an all out criticism of capitalism (though there is something that can be said about it in relation to greed and the corporate world) but more about human nature in general.
That was a pretty seamless sponsorship, not gonna lie
It was so god damn smooth
this is such a well made video essay... the research, the editing, the takes ...so goood :))
I did not feel the ending was hopeful. Gi hoon did not become a good father, didn't try to track down Ali's family to help them, he ignored the money instead of using it for good, he is still on surveillance by the rich for the rest of his life, the game continues without the old man. The message in my interpretation is helplessness
I dont think he knew Ali had a family, Ali only talked to Sang-woo about his family. Also the end of the show is hope, he does use the money for good he got her brother out gave him a better home and used money to help him. Also about being a bad father he is giving up his relationship with his daughter to try and save the people about to enter the game (capatalism) so I would personally say it was a hopeful message plus the guy getting help for the homeless man was to show that there was still good in humanity.
@@PocketDong plus let's be honest, he can't raise her as a good father anymore. Leaving her is probably the best thing to do currently.
@@eduardopantoja9115 I wouldn't say leaving her would be the "best" choice.
@@eduardopantoja9115 uhhhh why not? because he lived through war-like conditions? because he survived trauma? Because he witnessed suffering and death? Hate to burst ur bubble dude but welcome to earth. That's the human condition a lot of the time.
@@mbking2044 i think it is. his daughter is good enough with her stepfather/mother. and also, considering the fact that he is essentially being watched i think that it's safer to not see his daughter
The theory for the colors they choose doesn’t really make sense because there’s a scene where we see footage of some of the other contestants playing that game and some of them are throwing the red one
I rewatched the show recently. Something I noticed is that after Lights Out, the games start to focus on killing people. The other team needs to die in order for you to win Tug of War, your partner needs to die for you to win Marbles, most of the other players need to die in order for you to make it across the glass bridge, and the last person remaining needs to die in order for you to win the Squid Game.
a friend from korea sent me a photo of three windows on a kindergarten building, each shaped like a square, circle and triangle. since the characters are playing children's games, i assume that's where the inspiration for the shapes came from.
I had never thought of the symbolism of Gi-Hun getting his hair dyed red! Really really great video!!
I think that everyone should watch Kaiji Ultimate Survivor. It may seem less interesting or attractive to new audiences, but I feel it's a better critique on capitalism than Squid Game. If you like that kind of thing you will probably like it!
Jeff Bezzos caught me off-guard lol. Great video! I liked how you commented on how the rulers of the game keep saying that everyone has equal chances to win, but it's all really an illusion. I think another example that shows this very well is Ali's character: since he isn't Korean, he doesn't know how to play the games and can't win them alone, in this game where everyone is supposed to be equal and have the same chances to win, being an inmigrant obviously presents a huge disadvantage, just how in real life everyone is supposed to have the same opportunities to get a job etc etc but it's not true
Yup.
I'm not gonna lie, that ad placement was so smooth
I agree!
It has been really disheartening seeing the general discourse about this show be how horrible all the people playing the games are. Thank you for your video! I hope more people wake up to this stuff in my lifetime.
oh so those animal people were not actually furniture. i was so confused about what are they-
YESS I WAS WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT THIS
Not just capitalism. But how we structure society in general.
capitalism IS the way society is structured. lol
The way the men kept treating the women and the old man😤 (edit: spelling)
@@nicoleg8634 then that isn't communism? communism has never been truly tried, but that's also assuming that communism is the only other option, which just isn't true either.
@nicole g i never compared communism to capitalism or even mentioned it. that isnt what communism is either. communism promotes equitable distribution of goods and erasure of socioeconmic status.. which is arguably A GOOD THING. secondly, no politician keeps their promises and im sure ur president is not sloganning communist ideolgies if that is whats happening
@nicole g communism is the absense of the state 😭
i've never been this early before but i'm just here to say: i always look forward to your videos!! thanks for making them and working hard on them ♡♡
Thank you so much!!
Loved this, the whole show was critiquing capitalism until the end though, that final game with the old man placing the bet on the man left there in the street really bothered me, because neither questioned why he was there, left to freeze to death, only if one other person would help them, no question of the system as a whole. It kind of undermined everything it was building up to
the old man IS the system, the fact that he was wrong about human nature is the point of that scene. he lost the bet.
@@mischr13 the funny thing is that he kind of didn't lose cause he died before the police arrived. He died believing that humanity was lost, while Gi-Hun managed to get back that small sliver of hope which made him turn his life around once more.
I think it further proves how the rich view regular people's lives as a game or a bet, so far removed and lacking empathy.
I don't think it undermined the message. Gi Hun bought into Il Nam's game, Gi Hun had become part of the 1% looking down on his former self yet waited around for someone to help. After winning, Gi Hun promptly began to make his own choices. He dyed his hair out of defiance and used the money to help out Sang Woo's mom and Sae Byeok's brother, after a full year of not contacting them due to his survivor's guilt. Then when the cycle begins, Gi Hun stops someone from joining then tables his personal responsibilities to look for answers about the game and see if he can stop it.
@@freesuckerMCR the way I viewed that was those at the top will only see what they want to see and so will never actively try to change the system. They become blind to human nature and will die with their beliefs without ever learning that they are wrong.
If they are wrong even.... The ideal is that they are wrong but the system does kind of justify their beliefs also so its a complicated one 🤔
I'm very glad Squid Game exists because we need to be more considerate of how we use our money and use it for others in need of saving.
true that-
or....how about we use the hoarded HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS that a few hundred people own, and I shouldn't use my dearly earned pennies that I need to survive my own damn self? I don't think "being more considerate" of how I, or anyone I know, spends money has even the tiniest potential to do the same kind of good a tiny, tiny fraction of Bezos or Elon's rape and blood money could do.
good video as always! i love your really thorough analysis of the different themes in the show. one thing, though, im pretty sure the shapes on the masks of the guards were supposed to represent the shapes making up the squid in the titular squid game (square body, triangle head, little circle at the top of the head) instead of playstation buttons, especially because theres no X
i don't blame you for this (you gotta make money somehow), but i just loved how there's an advertisement in a video abt squid game's critique of capitalism and the way you segued it in there. really hammers in the point we can't escape it
This video is SUPER solid, good job!! I love the points you brought up, especially the ascending/descending cinemtography. I always love when the cinematography can help tell a story.
The only issue I have with anything to do with squid game is that 456 (I'm bad with names at the best of times) doesn't go out and help the man bc it seems very weird that he didn't. And that he didn't do anything for a year with any of his money bc surely he would at least have done something for his daughter or paid off his debts? I still loved it tho, I just feel that the ending could have been just a little more put together is all☺🍊
I think the trauma made him unable to spend all that money. Like after all that happened he needed to return to what he used to know before ever being able to move forward.
i love this video !!!!!! the analysis of the stairs in particular was super interesting :0 your channel is great !!
thanks alice!!
I don't think the symbols on the guards masks doesn't have any connections to control buttons, circle, triangle and square are the three shapes to create the layout for squid game
The symbols were their jobs. Square was the manager, Circle is the worker, and triangle was the soldier
Interesting thing you may have missed. The guards ranks are determined by the number of points present. The O ones have no authority, the Triangle ones have 3 points and have some authority and the Managers have 4 points and have the most authority. Moving up the ranks, the Front-Man's mask is full of vertices. (Perhaps another video game reference, 2D vs 3D with 3D being more expensive to make than 2D?) Then above the front-man are the VIPs who are covered in vertices with the Owl, or 'player 1' having the most, fitting for the original creator of Squid Game.
Initially, Il-Nam’s monologue just pissed me the hell off. But you make a really good point about how I’m SUPPOSED to be angry at it because he’s WRONG. The poor and the rich are not the same. Maybe the working and lower class are bored, but not in the way that Il-nam is bored. Not in the way that actively worsening and ending the lives of others is used to alleviate that boredom.
This is a fantastic video! Definitely deserves a lot more attention
The amount of times I've seen people say this is a warning for the "dangers of socialism" makes me want to just not exist anymore 😭
WHAT AHHHHH
omg what??! 😭 zero critical thinking skills
It gives when bootlickers are listing communism/socialism, but they're actually problems with capitalism
Literally what?? How can one miss the point this hard
@@lilac.mascara Forced labor camps, bread lines, no private property, no basic human rights.
The way i have been patiently waiting for a squid game analysis video. Thanks for you
With the winnings, he could have funded a series about his experience in the game for three seasons. I’d love to watch it
I like this new conspiracy theory that this show exists in the show's universe and it's how he spent his winnings.
Actually Season 2 Is Confirmed
It’s so nice to hear an Irish girl’s voice on a pop culture video essay!! You do you, gal! What college are you in? ❤️
I don't want to say while I'm still attending for privacy but once I've graduated I'll talk about it :)
@@elleliteracy of course!!! Good luck with your course 🥰 love your channel! X
Fortunately there will be a season two eventually. This show is such a masterpiece. The fact that they all chose to go back to the game knowing how terrible and soul crushing it is because they need the money is such an important message about capitalism.
This was such a good video and analysis!! I've been a bit skeptical on watching videos about Squid Game but I'm so glad I watched this one!
2:52 that was the smoothest sponsor segue i have ever seen in my life
squid game has made me so desperate for an adaptation of liar game w the same sort of style and budget PLEASE netflix
oh man, slipping in that surf shark ad was just about as dystopian as the show itself.
It was smooth though lol. She has to make money somehow
The uniforms are actually pink (Magenta) but besides that you made very valid points and references I could never
That short blurb about the Kardashians was a great touch
Came here straight after watching the finale, great video 👌
If you liked squid game, you should definitely watch Kaiji (the anime)
thank u for this! this is the first vid ive seen thats commented on the actual meaning of the show. the point abt the visual symbolism of the staircases was so true & made me realise it absolutely ties into this idea of the myth of upward mobility and capitalist meritocracy that the show comments on. the stairs (much like the print it references) don’t operate in a way that allows for simple movement upward, instead the path they follow seems to go up, down etc. its warped and convoluted. it goes to show the reality of how difficult it is for poorer individuals to work their way up the social hierarchy, and how much of a fantasy upward mobility is under capitalism. my mind is blown rn that is such a brilliant detail!
Meanwhile the front man moves in an elevator an option he achieved solely by already participating in the game and winning which requires you to value money over human life
@@lilac.mascara YES SO TRUE
wow you spoke this so eloquently! what u said reminds me of many thing, but something comes to mind in particular that we learned about in world history. China's dynasties had the civil service exam to give the people meritocracy-a chance to climb the stepladder. when in reality the lower classes couldn't afford time or the resources needed to pass it. Chances to pass it were slim, especially if you were poor. You couldn't take it at all if you were a woman. to pass, you needed to be thoroughly educated in confucianism. Confucian values emphasized filial piety and ultimate respect towards the emperor, which shows how even with a somewhat meritocracy, even educated, you still always had your distinct place. similar to nowadays.
ahhh she’s back
14:05 that’s been disproven we see a player throw down a red card in the player selection montage
after finishing this fabulous series, i was waiting for a video that touched on this! great video, i really loved it :)
I've been waiting for this one TURN IT UP ‼‼
Okay but the way you placed the sponsor in the video was brilliant
13:30 that jingle remind me of an anime. Ion remember which one tho
Azumanga Daioh
Really loved this take on squid game, I wanted to compare it to Old Boy because of the parallels. Love your content.
Gi hun is a great main character, I feel like most can relate to him
So you're an overall bad person?
@@Just_A_Random_Desk Excuse me? 🤨
@@mbking2044 gambling addiction, was too focused on killing the other dude to promise Sae-Byeok, didn't go to see his daughter.
@@Just_A_Random_Desk The gambling addiction was at the beginning of the story and never brought up again, Yes he did want to kill him but he he eventually wanted to make amends, and not wanting to see his daughter doesn't make him a bad person since he had a reason.
@@mbking2044 dude could've gone to see his daughter then went back to south korea because his life doesn't seem to be guaranteed, especially with what he's planning to do next.
No. 1. About the oil man. If you translate 오일남 "Oilnam," (oil comes out) It means an oil tycoon. In other words, it is the name that describes the rich man of oil.
I for one look forward to eating the rich. Let's hope this series heightens some more appetites.
@@sertgy. Yes.
@@sertgy. You don’t even know what my political ideology is, to be fair. I think if I articulated most of what I believe you’d agree with me, and then if I gave it a name you’d say you disagreed.
@@sertgy. Could I ask what exactly about it, that you disagree with?
I thought I could sense a Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor influence in Squid Game, that anime is really good and tightly focuses on 1 character in a very similar situation to the Squid Games
I think this show is a commentary on "crony" capitalism not pure free market capitalism.
Pure free market becomes shit also, humans just can't function at the scale we are at
r/woosh
You really went all out with this essay evidence and comparison between the games and real life really impressive
I think people can sometimes confuse "capitalism" with "human desire for resources". capitalism did not invent scarcity, wealth inequality, or greed. the problem that humans have infinite demands but there exists finite resources in the world isn't new. one can look at literally any story that involves competing for money as a critique of "capitalism", though that is like saying any story than involves hunger is a critique of french cooking.
long, long before liberty was a concept as we know it today, wealth inequality and poverty existed. if we look at burial sites for example from long ago, we see that 20% of humans have 80% of the wealth. this has always been true.
The claims of 'capitalism' strips people of their individuality and makes them cogs in a machine. again, a lack of individuality is not a symptom of our freedom, it's something that's existed forever for humans. would anyone think that individual humans were permitted more to express their individuality 1000 years ago? obviously not.
Many socialists have a very, very short time frame of history that they understand. they know they've been born into a world with problems, as anyone can recognize, and they believe "capitalism" is the dominant economic system that the world exists in now. as they have not learned much about humanity's history, they confuse the problems with something that's only existed since humans have been granted liberty and freedom on any sort of scale.
they romanticize utopian ideologies without even understanding what the pursuit of those utopian ideologies caused.
"some humans starve" - capitalism's fault
"sickness exists" - capitalism's fault
"i feel envy towards others" - capitalism's fault
Speaking of scarcity, thank you for leaving a common sense comment in an ocean of adolescent sophistry.
_Of all the languages around the planet, you chose to speak facts. Hats off to you my man_
I've noticed some people, no matter the actual form of government, will say the show is 'critiquing' capitalism basically as soon as there is a poor man and a rich man. It doesn't really make any sense to me.
@@pogisdog _It's funny because one of my classmates once said that the eastern front was basically a poor vs rich scenario, with the "German aristocrats" attacking the soviet worker class. Like, I wanted to slap her so badly and I'm pretty sure every soldier on the eastern front would've wanted to as well._
*Ah yes, the german reich, with barely any equipment to outfit 500000 men properly at the end of the war with 6+ million people being given a singular rifle and an armband. They are clearly monarchists trying to erradicate the soviet worker class, lmao*
Ali was my favorite character, but Sangwoo was by far the most interesting to watch
YeS ! ! ! We need Battle-Royale-type movies & series like this to gradually educate the masses about the evils of Capitalism ! ! !
This video needs to be shared ! ! !
The problem is people who aren't aware of how bad capitalism is, won't see the cirque of it in the show itself
@@lilac.mascara Sure, it's bad, but it's not nearly as bad as the alternatives.
@@Just_A_Random_Desk ikr