In the first episode of Squid Game, a mysterious salesman knows Gi-Hun is struggling with debt and invites him to play a life-changing game with him by picking either a red or blue card. From red light green light to the colors of the wardrobe the guards vs the players wear, this was done purposefully. Shades of red and green are prominent throughout the show and the colors are set up from the beginning to seemingly represent the powerful vs the powerless. These are everyday people just like us viewers who are just trying to succeed and be happy, but the real world isn’t as easy as all that, as the show dives into an allegory of a capitalist society and how we ourselves are always fighting for our lives… often pitted against each other. Everyone that participates in this game is just trying to survive in today’s society, whether its trying to reunite their family like Sae-byeok, or trying to provide for their family like Ali, but they’re unable to catch a break. All people are supposedly created equal, but the reality is that we’re not treated that way. Inspired by the violent, competitive, albeit beloved Korean children’s games of the same name, Squid Game balances nostalgia with terror as the contestants play red light green light, honey combs, tug of war, marbles, and hopscotch… but there are deadly meanings set up from the minute the show begin.įrom the circle, triangle, and square shapes that symbolize the squid game and are hidden everywhere from the set to business cards to the masks worn to show ranks, to the over the top size of structures, representing the hierarchy in the game, everything has a meaning. He meets a man at the train station who offers him the opportunity of a lifetime and ends up kidnapped into a Battle Royale to the death alongside 456 other contestants to win a life changing pot of money… but is it all worth it in the end? And do any of the people in this story actually have any power? We follow Gi-Hun, an absent father who is struggling through life following his failed marriage, gambling problems, and debt issues. Squid Game has taken the world by storm, becoming a global phenomenon, with its candy coated killer kids games that expertly explores its characters and the balance between society’s powerful and powerless.
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