The Perfect Game
For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last few years, Squid Game is a Korean TV show about gameshow contestants with crippling debt essentially fighting to the death over an egregiously large cash prize, which of course, is graciously donated by societal elites and the uber rich who are watching all along. This is obviously a fictional TV show and a false premise, but… It’s not so far from reality, is it?
Speculators believe that a hostage incident in 1986 at the North and South Korean border–called the ‘No Man’s Land’–was the inspiration for the TV show and where the real-world version of Squid Game actually took place. Allegedly, a group of hostages were forced to compete in survivalist contests, fighting for their lives to escape, but this rumor is completely unsubstantiated and has been thoroughly debunked. And with no real evidence supporting the game’s existence, “The Challenge 1986” joins the ranks of other unlikely legends, going down in history with the Zodiac crimes, cryptids, and the disappearance of D.B. Cooper.
However, because of its entirely plausible, yet horrific construct, Squid Game, the TV show, has hypnotized audiences by being so incredibly believable. Most of us wouldn’t be surprised if, a few years from now, there was a true crime podcast about an underground crime ring entrapping poor people in gameshow battlegrounds to settle their debts for rich people’s entertainment. But that’s exactly why we’re all so obsessed with it—Squid Game could really happen.
In fact, CNN Journalist, Airielle Lowe, has pinpointed the American fascination with the show, claiming that, “the plot comes across as a gross exaggeration of some dystopian future, [but] Squid Game reminds us of the unfair and unpredictable nature of life that many of us have experienced, even if you have had the benefit of growing up better off.” And while dystopian stories often touch on human nature or societal tendencies, Squid Game has really called us out as a species, once again, in its recently released season 2. Lowe continues her analysis saying, “We can see parallels to our own challenges in the lives of the players—and when we do, we realize that Squid Game is in many ways a surprising mirror of our present reality.”
Via u/memezar
We Live in a Society…
Other dystopian worlds, while intriguing and usually sporting some societal critique, don’t strike the same cord as Squid Game. For example, Mad Max sets their post-apocalyptic scene through resource depletion, tyrannical governments, and breaking down humanity to its rawest form. It’s the plausible reality of dystopian story constructs that have fascinated us for eons. Without that shred of possibility in the storyline, audiences aren’t nearly as interested; the human element is what gives us something to grab onto.
Øivind H. Solheim, an acclaimed fantasy novelist, points out that our fascination with dystopian fiction lies within our own fears, claiming that, “particularly in times of uncertainty, dystopian stories frequently mirror the anxieties and worries prevalent in contemporary society.” Plus, with a thread of truth lining each tale, we’re not only escaping our current reality, but postulating some alternate–and usually far worse–version.
Squid Game takes this thread of truth a step further, ingraining its storyline as it takes aim at the plausibility of a deadly, class-driven gameshow. Because in our current society, it’s not so unbelievable. Although audiences understand this story is fictional, there’s something all too real that strikes true for members of the working class, desperately climbing the ladder in the hopes that they’ll one day be successful. While dystopianism always stems from a grain of plausibility, there’s something about Squid Game that feels a little closer to home than Mad Max or stories of dark futures.
Not Too Far-Fetched
Actually, since Squid Game’s season 1 release in 2021, MrBeast, one of the biggest YouTubers out there, has created his own version of the gameshow in real life. As writer Remy Millisky points out in her latest critique of modern content creators, YouTubers are pushing the moral and ethical limits of content in the pursuit of viewership.
MrBeast’s latest stunt, more akin to the early 2000’s classic, Takeshi Castle, boasts a whopping prize of $456,000 for his contestants. He has tapped into the playful nature of gameshow culture with childlike challenges and fun little obstacles, while maintaining the ultimate motivator for his players: Money.
While there are significantly fewer horrors than in Squid Game–like betrayal, high-stakes alliances, and of course on-screen murders–it’s a very tongue-in-cheek duplication of the haunting show. Compared to the rest of MrBeast’s content, which undoubtedly thrives on the desperation of poor people trying to “win” some sort of big-ticket prize, it was only a natural segway for him to capitalize on the success of the TV show. But this parallel is exactly why we’re all so gripped by the entire tale, proving it’s not too far-fetched of a dystopia after all.
“In the US, we play our own version of Squid Game every day, and some do so more than others,” Lowe darkly puts. “Whether it’s fighting for better wages, to maintain a roof over one’s head, or even for basic worker rights, Americans are playing a game of opportunity and success, too—the main difference is that for the players in the show, the rules for success are much clearer.” It’s the show’s poignant portrayal of the depth and darkness of human nature that’s attributed to its international success.
Survivalist trials of any kind bring out the extremes in a person. While some contestants in Squid Game become murderous, greedy psychos, others realize their compassion, tenacity, and courage. Human nature is complex and convoluted, but the game brings out the rawest tendrils of each persona, highlighting not only humanity's shortcomings, but also their greatest strengths.
Although Squid Game didn’t win any Golden Globes this year, it is still the most popular non-English speaking show on Netflix–literally ever–with 2.2 billion hours viewed and 265.2 million views, according to Forbes media analyst Paul Tassi. It may not be winning awards in 2025, but it’s certainly stealing the eyeballs and catching the breath of audiences all over the world who feel a sort of kinship with the main character, Seong Gi-hun, a regular Joe-shmoe with a good heart, stiff moral compass, and a sizeable debt to settle.
Fiscal Motivation
If you saw a headline right now about a deadly gameshow that awarded contestants millions in exchange for blood-sport, would you be entirely surprised? Strangely, most of us wouldn’t be too shocked by that prospect because at this point, it almost seems like a fair way for us “poor folks” to catch a break from the world’s pressures. Dangling above us like a piano in a 1950s cartoon skit, financial ruin could very easily become the next crowd pleaser on TV, by banking on voyeuristic and cut-throat human nature. And as we all can imagine, it wouldn’t take much for the uber wealthy and super powerful to get together the funds, the legal loopholes, and desperate contestants to create a real-world Squid Game.
All society ever needs is a little money motivation.
Red Light, Green Light
Foreign language shows rarely reach audiences in America, but when a story strikes true to the working man’s plight as Squid Game has, we can’t help but get pulled into the dystopian vortex. A violent, vulnerable, and aggravating dystopia, Squid Game is more true to reality than most dystopias. As competitors in this life-or-death game show we call life, we find ourselves playing against other down-and-out players over a lofty cash prize. We risk everything, including their livelihood, time, and wellbeing to increase our winnings and take our chances at becoming insanely wealthy... Even if it costs everything.
Turns out, most of us are one bad decision from being desperate enough to put our lives at stake in a hypothetical blood-money gameshow, and the worldwide success of Squid Game proves that we’re not the only ones out there feeling the pressure and desperation that this show skillfully, and creepily, portrays.
However, the relatability in this show isn’t limited to the doom and gloom of class-related circumstances. Squid Game also highlights many character’s greatest strengths like loyalty, courage, determination, and the ultimate triumph of morality over greed. Sometimes a person’s greatest moments come from their darkest times and like Seong Gi-hun and the other contestants who shone brightest with their backs against the wall, we can ban together and join forces against our oppressors.
Because at the end of a long day at the office, we’d do just about anything for an early, luxurious retirement, but always remember this: It’s not our fellow contestants with their thumbs on our tails, it’s the masked 1%-ers watching the game from above. And although a $38M jackpot sounds cool and all, at least you’ll never be an out-of-touch moron who doesn’t know that a banana costs $0.25.