Here are two of my favorite scenes from the Netflix hit Squid Game, when trying to analyze the show from a Marxist perspective.
Spoilers for episode 2
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The ending of the episode, when everyone returned to the island. I think this was a great scene to highlight the sham of bourgeois democracy. At the start of the episode, the contestants democratically voted to leave the horrible murder game. But when they come back home they realize that they are actually not any better off since all of them are poor and destitute, in massive debt. So it's actually preferable to them to return the game since they have a chance to win the billion Won price and make their life better.
They all had to "freedom" to leave the game but it turns out if your material conditions are so bad, it's not actually "freedom" at all. You are forced to participate in the system, just like capitalism. Any chance to vote democratically is just an illusion, no matter what you vote for, the underlying system won't bring any actual benefit to you.
Spoilers for episode 3
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The scene when they are doing the honeycomb game and one of the contestants snaps and holds the guard at gunpoint. Then he yells "What kind of sick game is this? Why do some get an easy shape when others are stuck with difficult ones?"
I thought this was a great line because it sums up how unfair the competition in a capitalist system actually is. Some people are more privileged than others. Your social class, nationality, gender, etc. determinates how easy it's for you to advance in society.
Born in a family of bankers? You'll probably get a cushy job in your dad's company and don't have to work a day in your life. Born in a working-class family? You'll probably have to work grueling hours in a demanding job just to get by.
Just like the contestants had to select the shape without knowing in advance what their task is, the privileges you get in life are determined entirely by chance.
Anyway, I'm not very well versed in Marxist theory so it's possible I misunderstood some of this stuff.
If you haven't watched Squid Game yet, I can highly recommend it. It's cool to see so clear anti-capitalist rhetoric in a major TV show. In addition to having a deep meaning (which many libs will no doubt miss), the show is also really entertaining with impressive and tense action scenes.
Here's a cool quote I think is pretty relevant:
It is difficult for me to imagine what "personal liberty" is enjoyed by an unemployed person, who goes about hungry, and cannot find employment.
Real liberty can exist only where exploitation has been abolished, where there is no oppression of some by others, where there is no unemployment and poverty, where a man is not haunted by the fear of being tomorrow deprived of work, of home and of bread. Only in such a society is real, and not paper, personal and every other liberty possible.
– Joseph Stalin
There’s lots of moments like this. When it comes to the red/blue paper tile that Seong Gi-hun is encouraged to play. He constantly loses and as such is constantly beaten up. That’s the deal. The moment he wins he almost gets his revenge, but is stopped and reminded of the rules of the game. Capital gets to beat the shit out of you and all you get in return is a measly pay cheque as a reminder of the deal.
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I think when Gi-hun gets red hair at the end it means he’s a commie now. That’s why he stole the squid game card from the random dude in the subway station and why he almost killed the old guy in his tower. He played the squid game as an individual and won, but still feels fucking awful about it, and has decided to work in solidarity with other workers now to destroy it. Thoughts?
I think Netflix makes every show have a cliff-hanger season 1, because they need to hold out on the chance the show is a hit and can be turned into a season 2.
The hair-color change has a very anime-vibe. Changing one's hair - cutting it, dying it, shaving it, etc - signals a change in the character's personality. But the blood-red color doesn't scream "Communist" on its face, because the main character isn't seemingly out for a revolution. He just seems out for revenge. It isn't even clear that he's adopted solidarity as an ethos. He doesn't go out and round up friends. He decides to go Lone Wolf, in what looks a bit like a suicide mission.
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Everyone who was a guard/enforcer of the games was an unmitigated psycho. Clearly shown by their banter in scenes not doing guard work.
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That was my favorite reveal too. I liked how they have it better in the sense that they (for the most part) aren't literally risking their lives the way the contestants are. But at the same time they aren't allowed to talk to each other, aren't allowed to even see each other's faces, and must live in isolation. The contestants at least get a modicum of genuine human interaction. The enforcers are denied even that. At the same time, it's clear the enforcers are just as expendable as the contestants and that any obvious, public fuck-up gets them killed too (like the one who was held at gunpoint and took his mask off). I did find it somewhat curious that the organ-harvesters weren't punished more harshly though.
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You are absolutely right. I've read online that people really hate him because he's so evil/callous/manipulative. But I actually really liked his character a lot. I think he was really well written and probably the most realistic character. It's clear that he never really wanted to do all that stuff to his friends but he's the only one who understood how the game is played: you either lose or you die. Since there is only one winner, you have to betray the other players at one point anyway if you want to win.
Wait, how? The creator literally came out and said the TV show is an allegory for "capitalist hell" in South Korea.
You see that’s where you are wrong. It’s anti communist. Have you even seen the show?
I'm not sure if you are trolling, but yes, I have seen it.
Can you point one thing about it that's anti-communist?
I am trolling.
People on the bird site and r*edit are claiming that it represents communism because ??? Even though it is very explicitly supposed to be anti capitalist in nature.
Maybe people are confused because they see the guards in the uniform and think "This is just like 1984/KGB/Mao's red guards"? Communism always gets conflated with dystopia/totalitarianism/authoritarianism.
I'm pretty sure the guards in the show are modeled after the police. They even wear Axon body cams.
Yep. The guards imo represent police/military/management who are not capitalists, but enforce capitalism.
