The Squid Games is more real than we know

This all started one Saturday evening when my husband and I began scrolling through Netflix to find something to watch. For all couples out there, married or not - you know the drill.

"What do you want to watch?" - "Let's scroll until we find something."

And after scrolling through all of Netflix three times over and forgetting what you said "Maybe." to, You settle for whatever looks interesting that's on-screen without needing to scroll more. For us, that was Squid Games

Squid Games by this time had already blown up! From Tik Tok shorts to Instagram to story updates on Snapchat- everyone, everywhere was watching this Netflix Series. Still, I had no idea what it was about! At all. My Husband vaguely knew that it was something to do with playing games and dying if you lose. Fit the general genre of the more recent popular stories and it was doubtfully going to be much different from the common "survival of the fittest" vibe all industries seemed to be delving into.

What attracted him seemed to be the unending question in his head as to what this was all about and why it was so popular as well as the question of why they were playing children's games and killing each other? While these were questions in my mind, my undoubtable catch was the fact that the villains were in bright pink jumpsuits in the commercial. Being a major Harry Potter fan, my brain went more down the route of "Pink is the WORST bad guy!" as we all know about Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter "and the tale of that abusive bitch." So obviously, these pink soldiers must have been generously evil.

Oh, to be oblivious... I had NO idea-

Anyways! We finished the series by Sunday afternoon and I was- well, I was conflicted.

(Spoilers, move on if you care about spoilers. This article is full of them!)

From the initial screaming at the T.V for Ali (Player 199) to not give his marbles away, to crying over Oh Il-nam (Player 001) "dying". Then, getting my heart ripped out, twisted, and put back in, all at once when Ji-Yeong (Player 240), sacrificed her own life to ensure that Sae-Byeok (Player 067) would win their marble game- I'm just- That whole episode was just like, I was unprepared! I needed a lot more tissues and a lot less empathy.

Not to mention, all the anger in Sae-Byeok's (Player 067) death, being Sang-Woo's (Player 218) SECOND BETRAYAL! First, he killed Ali (Player 199) by lying and taking his marbles, and second, he literally slits Sae-Byeok's (Player 067) throat while she is already actively dying after she vouched to protect his life. Then, later Sang-Woo (Player 218) stabs himself in a 1 x 1 battle with Gi-hun (Player 456) Which I found to be even more aggravating because it almost feels like, comparably speaking, he got off way too easy-

THEN to find out Oh Il-nam (Player 001) wasn't even dead! He was just BORED! And literally killed THOUSANDS for it! (That's including most of the previous squid games as he did admit he created the games and that homie was old. There was more than one or two!) Then, he actually died at the end of losing his own game on humanity (Irony. It's real) - to our main character, Gi-hun (Player 456) father of the year! Skipping out on going to America for his daughter's birthday to instead stop an obviously unending Squid Games not to mention abandoning Sae-Byeok's little brother with his backstabbing friend's mom when he promised to take care of her brother if she didn't make it. AHH-

Needless to say, a few days went on to process this, and finally, I realized after reading DOZENS of articles- that no one really sees how real this series is. No, I am not saying there is an island out there with millions of kidnapped people forced to play redlight greenlight to the death- Although there could be! That's not where this article is headed, sorry...

No! I am saying look at the finer details and the metaphors! Don't see it? Let me show you!

Detail One! --

Black Market Organ Sales are still a thing

For those of you who may be unaware, The Black Market is also referred to as, The Shadow Market. It's a market created to sell things that are typically prohibited by the government! (Illegal.) It's unknown when the black market was initially created however the term is actually very new, believe it or not, it was widely used more towards World War II, between the years of (1939-1945). Furthermore, while exact figures are hard to come by (The Black Market doesn't really keep tabs on its figures because it is illegal and that's just... proof? It better protects the sellers and the buyers more, to not track it.), the illegal trade of all organs, specifically, generates between USD $840 million and $1.7 billion annually (per year). This accounts for an estimated... 10% of transplanted organs (Everywhere), according to a 2017 report from Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a non-profit research and advisory organization focused on illicit financial flows.

In the show, The Squid Games, you see that people will go as far as to reap your corpse, as the Pink Soldiers did, to sell your organs - Or they will hunt you down and offer that as an ultimatum if you cant pull out of your debt, as seen when Gi-hun (Player 456), was threatened to have his eye removed. In SOME rather RARE cases, people will do this willingly to get out of debt. More often than not, selling a kidney- Seeing as people have two and can survive with one.

Recipients may pay upwards of $200,000 for a kidney, but the big hat trick with The Black Market that causes people to hunt each other for this out of desperation... is, yes, recipients pay about or more than $200,000 for a Kidney (Which is not the most valuable of your organs, by the way) but the donor may receive as little as $5,000 of that, themselves. That's about 2.5% of its value.

After COVID-19, I am sure many of us can hardly get out of debt from rent on that. But in many third-world countries... it was like that long before COVID-19. Now, it's just... worse. Poverty keeps The Black Market alive. Poverty and desperation. If you forget for even a second what people will do in desperation for money- Watch Squid Games again. It's a bold series and it's accurate in its expression of the amount of debt people are in. Not only that, it shows the kind of people who often end up in such debt. Some, you may believe deserve it, but other's like Sae-Byeok's (Player 067), they got delt really bad cards in life and are honestly trying to find ways out of it, not just for themselves but also for people they love, like her little brother who was stuck in an orphanage.

Detail Two! --

The VIP members were distinctly American

A little bit of filler information here,

As Oh Il-nam (Player 001), explained on his deathbed- the VIPs were all originally clients to Oh Il-nam (Player 001) and his old financial firm. Over time, it became a repeat process... they got bored of their life of wealth and luxury. They wanted something fun and if someone out there could entertain them, they would shower that someone in wealth as a reward! They wanted a game, but one, no one would ever really know about. One only the lowest of low could play.

So, they got together and set up the Squid Games. A series of games they could call their own that would achieve their goals. The VIPs used their capital funds to help create the game so Oh Il-nam (Player 001) and his masked man had everything they needed to set it up properly. The majority of the VIPs appear to be American, though the Deer-Masked VIP speaks with a Japanese accent.

Typically speaking, Americans are pitted as the bad guys- especially when it comes to finances (The rich). They were displayed as careless, heartless, lustful, and demanding. Not to mention, old, white, and fat men. This is not at all unlike many stereotypes of rich Americans, and something else that stood out to be a common rumor is when one VIP expressed interest in the obviously younger and "Imposter" waiter. Expressing that if he could do as the VIP asked then he may live. (Implying that if he refused they would kill him.) These are very common stereotypes and unfortunately, many stereotypes have truth to them. Its often said that rich Americans are fat and overly perverted.

Detail Three! --

The City of Seoul

Yes, the city of Seoul is a real place in South Korea. However, the condition of that city is a different story.

In South Korea, in the city of Seoul, workers are protesting in the name of Squid Games. Millions of people are adorned in pink jumpsuits as well as square, circle, and triangle masks, to represent the lengths they are willing to go and have already gone to take a stand for their own people and the poverty they are actively dying in.

In a recent review, a man named Lee said; "Some scenes were very difficult to watch."

Lee was a worker at South Korea's Ssangyong Motor's who struggled with financial difficulties and depression because a carmaker laid him off along with a minimum of 2,600 other people while filing for bankruptcy protection in 2009... Years of protests and court battles along with government intervention occurred before jobs were made available to Lee and his co-workers again. But not before a chunk of them committed suicide, often blaming themselves for their new financial condition and being unable to provide for their families.

In conclusion, the Squid games were inspired by the economic woes of South Korea, and that's no secret. However, it is not the only show like that or inspired that way. Like so many other shows, it has a dark cry of inequality displayed in our economic classes. Those classes being; Business (VIP's & Player 001), First-Class (The Masked Man), Middle-Class (Pink Soldiers), and Poverty (The Players). Those classes are far from dead in our real world - especially after COVID-19, no matter what country you are from... Debt has climbed higher than ever before.

The Squid Games was highly admired for the boldness of its Directors when representing class diversity. They represented it in ways where you can even directly see the classes in the facility of the show, along with their common stereotypes- from Business, you see VIP's and Oh Il-nam (Player 001) representing the highest of the high, financially. Untouchable by even the Law, as seen when a Detective comes in to try and help and ends up dying in the process. His death seemed to go unmentioned and unnoticed.

First-Class you have The Masked Man, the "Frontman" who was implied to be the head first until he started answering to someone else. He stands above Middle and Lower Classes in an obvious way. Middle and Lower-Classes do have their differences but to Business and First-Class they are almost the same and equally expendable as shown in the episode where the Doctor, Byeong-Gi (Player 111) was killed alongside one of the Pink Soldiers for cheating. Making the games no longer fair.

Middle-Class, you have your Pink Soldiers that stand between Poverty and First-Class. It's the middle ground between either faction and they can clearly afford to live, have their jobs, even interact with First-Class but they also interact with Poverty. Less often in a positive fashion mostly out of fear of being Povershed one day themselves. Because as much as they are one step from First-Class, so are they to the Lower Class and often that's a terrifying prospect.

Then, Lower Class, poverty, now we have the players. Those who have more debt than they have time in life and they just want a second chance, honest or not. They aren't afraid to play dirty because that's what they grew up in. Desperation is all they have.

What attracted me to this show was an army of Dolores Umbridge's... What had me hooked though could not have been further from that. There are endless metaphors that ring with truth and pain in this series. That intrigued me because as a child and even now, the best way I communicate is in metaphor. For example...

There is a recognition of a metaphor- One I believe to be of childhood v.s adulthood. Let me explain... As an adult, we live in that colorful house and our lives are exactly what we see on the house next to us when we look outside. See, we are conditioned to disguise our pain, debt, recent suicides, and suffering with a smile, a shrug, pretty colors, and soldier attitude. Because if you say it, it causes more problems for you, drama, more suffering and fighting- help disguised as further debt, etc. On the flip side though, as a child, we used to live in that black house, devoid of color or help. It's okay because our parents went through it too, right? We have more responsibility but even so, none of it really matters when we look out the window because next to us is that prettier colorful house, and that could be us. Just play hopscotch, it's not far! Hide and seek and our problems are gone, even for a moment. As a child, the whole world looks brighter on the outside, and as an adult, it's harder to see it. You're looking out the same window, just on opposite sides of the same world.

Another metaphor I noticed is... you would think the Players are the children as they are always playing games- But that's what our parents did... I think the Pink Soldiers are actually the kids in another Metaphor. Because they're always seen. But they should never be heard. They must know all the rules and obey every last one or they'll be punished. Sometimes they get a warning, sometimes they don't. Even they have their own hierarchy, like siblings. Circle, youngest, told what to do the most - Triangle, middle child, three points between Youngest, Oldest, and Parents, they're expected to be out of the way but maintain the circles as the Squares request. Squares are the oldest- They get told everything, and in turn, everything is expected of them. To manage the circles and triangles, maintain order, report anything and everything astray, etc, etc.

Anyways! That's my take on it and the details some people probably didn't notice. If you have any questions or concerns I do take Feedback here! Also in that same button, if you have any articles you would like promoted, my Facebook Page does that as well! Thank you all so much! Don't forget to like and subscribe! I really appreciate it! 🖤