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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”

#51

Post by subjectsigma »

mandmandam wrote: post #28

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 sho…

You're conflating different people's comments. From reading the thread, people expressing opinions described in your second paragraph are not also expressing opinions described in your third paragraph.

The show can have a good message and also have bad writing/be derivative/etc.

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

#52

Post by Sebb767 »

mandmandam wrote: post #28

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 sho…

> 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...

Not everything is perfect, but we're not living in a dictatorship yet. Sure, some poor people don't have a chance and the closer you are to money, the easier it gets, but it's not like it's all on the system. There are also quite a few capitalist countries other than the US, with less problems.

> 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]"...

I agree that squid game can be interpreted that way. But let's be real here, there's massive amounts of gore in there and it's portrayed extensively, far beyond where it would be necessary to make a point. And I'm pretty sure that a lot of people watch it mostly for that and for the crime story, not the implied portrayal of society. You can see it in there, but squid game is mass market first, social critique second.

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

#53

Post by mountainb »

djbusby wrote: post #39
mountainb wrote: post #23

Yeah all these waves of enthusiasm for a show just wash over me. I have ignored every one of them in recent decades. It has never harmed me socially to be utterly unaware of the details of the latest Mad Tiger Squid Soprano.

Did you skip The Wire? That show was amazing.

Yeah I did!

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

#54

Post by mypastself »

mandmandam wrote: post #28

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 sho…

Not sure what you’re arguing against here. A piece of fiction can have a strong moral point of view and still be of poor quality. The righteousness of message doesn’t instantly make the messenger appealing.

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

#55

Post by agent008t »

0x_rs wrote: post #5

I don't see the appeal of this show. It's a prepackaged, shallow production that adds little to the actual works it undoubtedly inspires and gets much from, FKMT's manga.

The interesting thing to me is its popularity. Back in 2007, the same people that are now singing praises to SG would not have looked twice at Kaiji. In fact, I bet that had SG not been popular, the very same people would not watch it or allow themselves to enjoy it.

In other words, it seems to me that it first had to be publicly announced as 'popular', before people would consider watching it thus actually making it popular.

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

#56

Post by merpnderp »

peakaboo wrote: post #34
boppo1 wrote: post #17

I enjoyed squid game, but it bugs me that everyone says it's a critique of capitalism. They're literally participating in a centrally planned system.

And why do they participate? Because its their only chance to get away from being poor. That's exactly the point of capitalism - people do things they don't want to do every day so they don't have to be poor.

But what’s the alternative to freely trading your labor for goods and services? Taking them through government decree?

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

#57

Post by BrianOnHN »

bjornsing wrote: post #12

Meritocracy is definitely under attack. Another Netflix show with a similar message is “3%”.

"What free trade did to blue collar jobs, remote work will do to white collar jobs." [1]

If Naval is right, then that will make America the same as the "Offshore" in "3%"...

[1] https://mobile.twitter.com/naval/status/1463388121710481410

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

#58

Post by rvz »

0x_rs wrote: post #5

I don't see the appeal of this show. It's a prepackaged, shallow production that adds little to the actual works it undoubtedly inspires and gets much from, FKMT's manga.

Yes. Basically it is a re-branded, re-heated and re-packaged entertainment version of today's rat race.

Unfortunately, lots of people are just easily impressed by what influencers are watching or what is 'trending' these days. So they follow the hype squad around; like sheep.

It is great for Netflix's business since they have a successful hit, but count me out of the hype squad; since I simply cut through the hype.

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

#59

Post by donkeyd »

0x_rs wrote: post #5

I don't see the appeal of this show. It's a prepackaged, shallow production that adds little to the actual works it undoubtedly inspires and gets much from, FKMT's manga.

It's fun, it's well produced, the acting is decent, the children's games add a fun twist. It's a great way to spend a couple of hours over the weekend. And it's way, way better than most of the stuff that gets released on Netflix.

Not every movie has to be a work of art with a truly original story. If that were the case, non of the most successful movies of the past decade(s) should really exist.

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

#60

Post by pietrovismara »

bjornsing wrote: post #12

Meritocracy is definitely under attack. Another Netflix show with a similar message is “3%”.

Meritocracy as we imagined it never worked. We just deluded ourselves into thinking we all have a chance, but we deeply know that's not true.
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