About Squid Game
Post 1222:
Mad Spoilers.
You know how we can be really down and out and desperate sometimes? We’ve all been there. The car won’t start and the girlfriend just left and the bills are overdue and the dog doesn’t even look at you with pride. Those pants that always fit are just a little too tight for normal breathing. Your favorite TV show went off in a direction that makes no sense because the writers have some personal thing going on with the actors.
And then the obvious happens. You find yourself competing in a death match for money, engaging in quirky games at the end of a loaded gun, driven by some tiny hope that things will be better if you can stay standing after all others have been mercilessly mowed down.
Squid Game is brutal and unique. The characters are mostly well written and it takes itself serious enough. The direction is good. Special effects, acting, all good. Lots of clever dialogue and set pieces.
But the premise. It’s farfetched to the point where I’m not sure I buy in. It has to walk a tightrope, not convinced it does. Here’s what I mean: After the first bloody game where a ton of people get shot and killed, a bunch of people decide to quit and go home. But home is just what they left—pretty much hopeless. They’re poor or they have the law going against them, etc.
Anyway, this is the part where the characters are reminded how terrible life is. It’s also where the audience is reminded. I think they put this part in because initially we’re not convinced anyone would go through this. It’s like a writing reset button.
I can see awful people putting themselves through this insanity. But some of these characters aren’t desperate or hardened enough. They do a really good job of making me think they’d run this gauntlet, but nah.
I think the worst motivation is that of the game runners. What they give us is not enough. Yes, there are some secondary reasons why they do this. but it seems like nobody would go to all this trouble. The show is meant to be believable, right? Still, at times I was totally invested. Some of the character moments are fantastic. It goes for it and puts the contestants in impossible situations that require tense action.
I guess it’s a really good show with a really high concept. High concepts are great if you can make the audience buy in. I didn’t quite get there. But I appreciated the try. Plus, this was nothing like the death match I participated in to get myself out of that mountain of parking tickets.
I’d say take a look. See if you buy it. Cheers and see you after.
