Not every television show warrants a quirky adaptation. In fact, my general quality of life would probably be better if most shows stopped getting quirky adaptations.
Squid Game is a South Korean drama series released on Netflix on September 17, 2021. The thriller show follows a financially destitute gambler who competes against hundreds of people in similar financial situations, in a twisted game-show-type setting involving childhood games and activities with the incentive of winning 45.6 billion KRW. The only catch is that losers are put to death. As the impoverished fight for stability, the ultra-rich (the VIPs) spectate in their gold plated masks and lavish lounge. Squid Game is not passive about its message as a work of anti-capitalist entertainment at any point. In fact, in episode two, the players are given the choice to quit the game, but once they do, they realize that their real lives are worse, and return to the game. I like Squid Game. I agree with the overt political messages of it. Likely, you do too. If not, I bet that you at least understand it.
The show tells the narrative of people who fight to the death because they are too poor to decline any means of earning a buck. So tell me why Netflix released a reality game show that is a replica of the reality game show presented in the scripted series.
Squid Game: The Challenge is a show now available on Netflix that you can watch… if you want. Shockingly similar to the scripted series, there are hundreds of contestants, over-the-top sets, and a life-changing cash prize of $4.56 million. The outstanding social commentary? Not so much. I can’t really figure out who the target audience is. Is it for the media illiterate? Maybe, but regardless of how confused I am by the appeal of this display, there are things that I cannot deny, like the fact that for some time, Squid Game: The Challenge was the most-watched show on its streaming platform, which is such a ridiculous slap in the face to the source material.
I disagree with the entire concept of this show, but at least I can rest easy knowing that nobody was injured or killed. In the original show, one of the first challenges is an extreme game of “red light, green light,” where participants would be shot for moving at the wrong time. In the reality TV adaptation, nobody got shot, thank god. Although I lied, more to myself than to you, when I said that nobody got hurt. Unlike in the fictional series where this game of “red light, green light” was quick-paced and short-lived, the “real” version of the game lasted hours. Contestants crouched in uncomfortable positions in the cold for hours, wearing only thin jumpsuits. Players reported collapsing during filming and even developing nerve damage and hypothermia following filming. Just because nobody died doesn’t mean that the entire situation isn’t insane and dystopian. The only facet of the show that isn’t betrayed in the series is the inhumane nature of the games.
Moral and ethical qualms aside, it’s just another reality show. After the show’s release, multiple participants have anonymously shared their belief that many of the challenges had unfair outcomes. Could they be saying that because they lost? This is reality television that we are dealing with. Of course, the most famous people are winning games easier. Of course, the most outgoing people are being granted leniency. Without influencers and extroverts, what would these kinds of shows even be? B-roll of people in need of medical assistance? This show had to be casually watchable while also attempting to draw from a psychological thriller. So yes, I believe that the outcomes of these games were scripted.
This is a review that I have been putting off for quite some time now, solely because the mere existence of this show makes me feel like I’m witnessing the death of art and media literacy. Netflix owns the rights to Squid Game, and that’s too bad. This seems to be the choice for artists. Sell the rights to your hard work for the chance of being seen or own your efforts and risk being completely unnoticed. It’s a bleak reality when both success and failure can be devastating and unfulfilling. Who would want to pursue meaning when these are the possibilities awaiting us?
As someone who is hoping to pursue creative writing in the future, I am worried. This is an important moment for me. I’m having an old-person crisis about the state of our modern society, and I’m becoming a little jaded. That aside, I’d like to clarify one thing; on the off chance that any of my writing finds success and is getting some kind of gross sequel, please offer me some grace. You know that I’d never do that.
A successful work is never allowed to die, like an ouroboros. Some serpents never gag on their tails. Netflix sucks. Whether you watched Squid Game: The Challenge earnestly, or with an ironic curiosity, it is about time we grab the snake by the neck and ask it if it is hungry, or just bored.