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In the latest installment of El American’s Spoiler Free, our analysts Juan Felipe Vélez, Salomé López and Ignacio M. García Medina focused on commenting on the new and popular Netflix series, South Korea’s Squid Game, with the special participation of our co-editor-in-chief, Orlando Avendaño.
Squid Game is about a large group of individuals with financial difficulties. Mired in debt and willing to do anything for money, these individuals accept a mysterious invitation to participate in a survival game whose prize would get them out of trouble.
But the players soon realize that it is a bet between life and death in exchange for a juicy sum of money. Many will die if they lose the game. Despite the mortal consequences of losing the game, most decide to continue with the game.
The struggle between production and ideology in Squid Game
“An abuse of plot twist,” was the first comment of Juan Felipe, who considers that, although entertaining, the premise of the series is that “we are willing to sell our dignity and even our lives” in exchange for money or to satisfy the powerful.
The series is strongly loaded with social criticism. Despite praising the good acting and the quality of the script, Orlando says these factors do not justify the big buzz the show is getting from fans. He points out that the success of Squid Game adds to the rise of South Korean culture, along with K-Pop and the 2019 film Parasite.
The production of the show is worth highlighting, says Ignacio who pointed out the scenarios where the games take place. Salomé López seconds him, commending the quality of the images and the powerful photography that seems to pay homage to the mythical genius of cinema, Stanley Kubrick.
All agree on one thing: the series’ downfall is its intense ideological content. Without going too far into the details, Squid Game portrays the rich from the Marxist cliché of the powerful who, hidden behind a golden mask and with a cigar in hand, enjoys the struggle between the lower classes who fight for the money he has to spare.
Where to watch Spoiler Free?
Every Thursday at 8 PM (ET) on El American’s YouTube channel you can watch live the program Spoiler Free, where every week with a special guest we analyze series or movies with an interesting message.
