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Sorry, but you're already living in the “Squid Game”

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Re: Sorry, but you're already living in the “Squid Game”

#21

Post by pkrotich »

silvester23 wrote: post #15
nnoitra wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The acting is superb, I really have not seen a single actor fail to deliver. They are all shocked beyond reason given the circumstances. It's like watching what would happen in real life. It has high realism precisely because not everyone believes in a dog eat dog world. There are those that sacrifice themselves to save someone else. The immigrant that believes he is inferior simply because he came to the land and yo…

> The acting is superb, I really have not seen a single actor fail to deliver. Have you seen the episode with the VIPs? They are terrible across the board. Their delivery sounds like NPC background dialogue from a third-rate low-budget video game.

I thought that the casting & acting for the scene was on purpose to demonize the VIPs / controllers (westerners).

Evan costumes were horrible MardiGras masks would have even been a step up.

Re: Sorry, but you're already living in the “Squid Game”

#24

Post by biddit »

silvester23 wrote: post #15
nnoitra wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The acting is superb, I really have not seen a single actor fail to deliver. They are all shocked beyond reason given the circumstances. It's like watching what would happen in real life. It has high realism precisely because not everyone believes in a dog eat dog world. There are those that sacrifice themselves to save someone else. The immigrant that believes he is inferior simply because he came to the land and yo…

> The acting is superb, I really have not seen a single actor fail to deliver. Have you seen the episode with the VIPs? They are terrible across the board. Their delivery sounds like NPC background dialogue from a third-rate low-budget video game.

If you were to view their script and line delivery through the lens of a non-English speaking Korean audience, which this show was targeting, I think you'd find that this is a non-issue.

The same way that the vast majority of shows and movies produced in America for American audiences contain absolutely atrocious foreign dialog...

Re: Sorry, but you're already living in the “Squid Game”

#25

Post by silvester23 »

omnicognate wrote: post #18
miguelmurca wrote: post #7

To be completely honest I don't understand the appeal of Squid Game. It's a very thin metaphor around super shocking imagery --- and don't get me wrong, although it's not my thing, I can understand people liking slasher movies and the like, but I don't understand why this discourse that Squid Game is very deep (and anything other than cheap gore horror) became so popular.

You get the same every time this is done: Hunger Games and Battle Royale were also hailed for much more than the competitive brutality idea they were built on, and really they had little else to offer but that. For some reason people seem to feel the need to say they enjoyed it for reasons other than just enjoying inventive, competitive death games (maybe they really do, I don't know). Anyway, I loved Squid Game but…

> For some reason people seem to feel the need to say they enjoyed it for reasons other than just enjoying inventive, competitive death games

I guess that's because otherwise you are kind of taking on the role of the sadistic spectators. I'm not saying that's true but it might feel like that to some people.

I kind of enjoyed Squid Game but I totally agree with you, I do not think it had much to offer in terms of social commentary, it's pretty one dimensional.

Personally, I prefered 'The Platform' (also on Netflix), which is a bit of a different take on a similar theme, although it is not any more subtle about its metaphor.

Re: Sorry, but you're already living in the “Squid Game”

#28

Post by mandmandam »

Though I've seen it a hundred and more times, I'm always a little surprised to see this community completely miss the point of artistic works that challenge inequality.

Y'all seem to think that we're in some kind of meritocracy, that predatory capitalism isn't centrally planned, that you earned your position in society and so everyone who's poor just isn't working hard or smart enough...

And even after watching a show that makes the point in as simplistic a metaphor as you could wish for; even after reading an article that breaks the metaphor down precisely and makes it abundantly clear, there's still people in this thread saying "I don't understand the appeal", "it's just brutality and shock value", "if you can watch this you're rich and who it's aimed at", "pfft, this is a ripoff of [obscure manga]"...

How can smart people miss the point so completely? It's simple, but still surprises me almost every time - "“Never argue with a man whose job depends on not being convinced.”

Re: Sorry, but you're already living in the “Squid Game”

#29

Post by AussieWog93 »

miguelmurca wrote: post #7

To be completely honest I don't understand the appeal of Squid Game. It's a very thin metaphor around super shocking imagery --- and don't get me wrong, although it's not my thing, I can understand people liking slasher movies and the like, but I don't understand why this discourse that Squid Game is very deep (and anything other than cheap gore horror) became so popular.

It's the execution. The main plot had been done multiple times before but not to anywhere near this level.

The acting, characters, sets and twists made it chilling in a way that makes Hunger Games et al look amateurish. At least until the English-speaking people opened their mouths...

Re: Sorry, but you're already living in the “Squid Game”

#30

Post by peakaboo »

silvester23 wrote: post #15
nnoitra wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The acting is superb, I really have not seen a single actor fail to deliver. They are all shocked beyond reason given the circumstances. It's like watching what would happen in real life. It has high realism precisely because not everyone believes in a dog eat dog world. There are those that sacrifice themselves to save someone else. The immigrant that believes he is inferior simply because he came to the land and yo…

> The acting is superb, I really have not seen a single actor fail to deliver. Have you seen the episode with the VIPs? They are terrible across the board. Their delivery sounds like NPC background dialogue from a third-rate low-budget video game.

You picked the worst acting of the series as an example here. The previous episodes actually did have superb acting. One huge difference to American and British shows is that nobody tried to be cool in squid game. They were acting like humans would.
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