Lately, ‘Squid Game’ has been dominating the media. Though the premise is enticing, I was initially put off by the disconcerting coloured stairs and the prospect of reading English subtitles or listening to dubbed audio. However, it's so outrageously popular - Netflix’s most popular ever show - and showed up everywhere. Watching it seemed inevitable.
The show felt like watching a car crash - you just can’t help but watch even though you want to look away. Sometimes, I could feel my heart beating out of my chest, in that way it's described in novels. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt such an array of emotions and intensity during a movie or tv show - which I think is partly what makes this show so captivating.
Apart from this, what really fascinated me was the truths about humanity raised by the show. Amidst the violence and drama are several life lessons to be grasped through its powerful storylines. Here are seven (along with some memes).
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
1. Kill 'em with kindness
Random acts of kindness are a running theme across the episodes, such as Gi-hun feeding a stray cat, Ali saving Gi-hun in Red Light Green Light, and Sang-woo giving Ali money for the bus ride home. When it comes to the games, Gi-hun protects his friends no matter what. He’s especially compassionate towards Il-nam - at least before he knows he’s a murderer. He wins the games while maintaining his values, conveying that taking the more moral route in life, though harder, is worth taking.
Often horror films will end darkly with all the good people dying in the end, but the final episode signifies goodness prevailing. This is shown by the lady helping the man on the walk way, her small action having a great impact.
Underneath the twisted nature of Squid Game is a narrative that there is hope for humanity, even if it's just a glimmer. This hope can be amplified or destroyed by the choices we make as individuals and the actions we take.
2. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Many have a tendency to want everything quickly - fast money, fast diets, fast fame… But every success takes some form of sacrifice. For example, successful relationships require adapting to each other’s needs; being healthy means sometimes giving up certain foods and spending time and effort to exercise; getting good grades requires watching less television, giving up social time, and spending more hours studying.
For the players, there was this notion of life being cruel and barely worth living without money. Apart from this, at the beginning of the games, their gambling tendencies made the games an irresistible offer. The players may have felt winning the money would be fast and easy due to the children’s games premise, but did not foresee the ironic price they would have to pay for it. The money didn’t take conventional hard work like a 9-5pm job, but did require sacrifice - many gave up their humanity and 441 their lives. For Gi-hun, his loss of innocence only scrapes the surface. He paid with his blood, sweat, tears, mental anguish, time, and relationships. Ironically, he’d wanted the money to look after his mother, only to come home to her dead body; Gi-hun lost the opportunity to spend time with her before she passed. Though Gi-hun won the money in the end, it was not an easy fix and arguably not worth the process.
3. Be careful who you trust
The crushing moment in Squid Game was watching the realisation of betrayal across Ali's face. Ali was too trusting which Sang-woo took advantage of. Frankly, it was naive of him to ever hand those twenty marbles - his literal ability to live - to his competition who, like him and everyone else, was desperate to survive. Sang-woo's previous actions made him appear trustworthy to Ali, however, Sang-woo's survival instinct overpowered his morality. It is not always easy to identify who is and isn’t trustworthy - especially when it comes to life-and-death situations (I assume) - so we should be careful about who we let into our lives and what we share with them.
4. Money can't buy happiness
Without money, life sucks so much for the players that they’re willing to do anything for it; they feel like they have nothing to lose. The lack of money strips away any sense of self-worth. There’s a low-angle shot of the players looking up at the spherical piggy bank on the ceiling and the room is dark except for this glowing piggy bank. It feels as though the piggy bank is a sun shining light on them from above - their only hope for the future. The players are desperate and they idolise money, with this sick game somehow being perceived as their best option for getting it. However, after winning, Gi-hun lives exactly the same lifestyle. He is in no way more content than he was before the games, but rather, even worse off given the trauma he's experienced. Money didn’t turn out to be his revolutionary silver bullet.
Conversely, Il-nam has all the money in the world but is still bored and searching for fulfilment. He says to Gi-hun, “Do you know what someone who doesn’t have any money has in common with someone with too much money to know what to do with? Living is… no fun for either of them.” It is like the horseshoe theory applied to happiness: the rich and poor struggle with the same complexities of life. Money is important, but not godly. It won't fill a void within us.
5. You can’t judge a book by its cover
Sang-woo appears to be successful; he’s “the genius who went to SNU!!” However, in reality, he’s a jerk struggling with debt. Il-nam seems to be a cheerful old man living out his last days, but is secretly an evil mastermind. Players also perceive Il-nam as incapable when he was one of the best players in many of the games.
There may be people around us who appear a certain way on the outside, but are struggling with battles we don’t see. This phenomenon has been amplified by social media, everyone looking picture-perfect all the time. Those whose posts are the happiest on social media could be the most miserable in real life. It’s hard to see someone’s anxiety through their smile or the fight a couple had just a few minutes before posing for a romantic picture. What people say and show about themselves doesn’t always reflect their reality.
6. Crises reveal one’s true colours
In the first 12 minutes of episode one, Gi-hun appears reckless and self-indulgent - he steals his mum’s money, gambles with it all day, is chased and beaten up by loan sharks, takes back a tip from a cashier, and fails to fulfil his promise to his daughter on her birthday. This crazy man is the protagonist we’re meant to root for?!
On the other hand, his best friend Sang-woo appears to be outstanding and even selfless, as shown through his kindness towards Ali in giving him money for the bus ride home. However, these two characters' contrasting true colours are revealed during the games. Gi-hun is in fact good-hearted, unselfish, and bold.
One way this is vividly displayed is by the life-threatening choices he makes, such as pairing up with Il-nam for the marbles game even though it put his life at significant risk. Conversely, Sang-woo is monstrous on the inside - he cares about nothing other than the money. He doesn’t tell his teammates to go for the triangle dalgona. He elaborately betrays Ali. He pushes the glass factory worker to his death.
In the end, Sang-woo’s death is also due to greed - he would rather die and let Gi-hun win than face the world again with nothing. From day-to-day life, it’s easy for anyone to put on a good face to fit society’s expectations. It is during tough circumstances that people’s true character and flaws may be revealed as the pressure and stress strips away any facades.
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