Whether you come across it on Netflix or through a meme or video on social media, the South Korean series Squid Game is everywhere. The series is a hit worldwide, in about ninety countries it is in the list of the most watched series at the moment. And the appeal extends beyond the living rooms where the series is watched.
Orders for the signature green tracksuits and white Vans have skyrocketed, for example, and ‘dalgonas’, honeycomb cookies at the heart of the series, are fast becoming all the rage.
The series is about a deadly game, for which South Koreans who are in large debt are approached. 456 participants compete with and against each other for the prize money of more than 30 million euros. In a colorful bubblegum environment, participants are pitted against each other while playing Korean children’s games. Anyone who does not do this well or is not fast enough will be ruthlessly and brutally slaughtered.
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“It is precisely that combination of humor and horror that is typically something that South Koreans are very good at,” says film expert Lauren Murphy about the series. They binge-watched the nine episodes within a few days. “People are captivated by the colorful world, the well-developed characters and stick with it because in an enlarged form it has parallels with how the real world is designed.”
Film journalist Thijs Schrik is now halfway through the series and now understands where the hype comes from. “I had to get used to it. But the theme of the gap between rich and poor, debts, criticism of capitalism in a context of a game of life and death, is recognizable and strikes a chord from the Netherlands to America,” he says. fright.
South Korean pop culture
With the launch and success of Squid Game South Korean culture has definitely become mainstream, Murphy believes. “That is, for example, due to K-pop and the Oscar-winning tragicomedy parasite. And that is not surprising, because there is an entire industry and a lot of money available for film productions. It’s rather crazy that we didn’t discover it sooner.”
With the popularity of Squid Game Interest in the South Korean language has also visibly increased. The language app Duolingo has seen a 76 percent increase in registrations from people who want to learn Korean since the series came out. “Thanks to the offer of, among other things, Scandinavian and Spanish Netflix series, people accept that it really doesn’t all have to be in English anymore.”
Social media phenomenon
But that Squid Game would also become such a hit outside South Korea, it seems a surprise to Netflix, says Schrik. New series that Netflix expects to be widely viewed tend to be promoted more through advertisements and on billboards, as was done with series such as La Casa de Papel and Stranger Things.”
The tip to Squid Game came to him this time, however, via a message on Twitter. And now it’s almost impossible to access social media without seeing a reference to the series. “The songs, the colorful environment and the costumes make the series a real social media phenomenon,” Schrik says.
Re-enacted at schools
For parents, the findability of the series outside Netflix poses a dilemma. Even though the series is intended for 16 years and older, younger children are also on TikTok and Instagram. Primary school children would recreate the games of the series, after which the losers are beaten, a Belgian school writes in a Facebook post to parents. In England, too, parents are urged not to let their children watch the series.
How long the popularity of the series lasts, according to Murphy, depends on a possible second season. “There seems to be a stepping stone to that in the last episode. I hope that the madness that is in it now remains and that the underlying social message remains.”