Sado-Capitalism II

 “Squid Game,”directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, Season 2, 2024

This is a rough watch, even more difficult than Season 1 because we know what is coming (reviewed below). Squid Game is cut-throat capitalism as a series of deadly children's games. It is sado-capitalism and necro-capitalism combined. It's a reflection of South Korean society, but also the poverty and debt reigning in other bourgeois countries like the U.S. and the U.K. The only encouraging thing about this season is that the winner of the last game has come back to destroy the rich billionaires and murderers who have constructed it. At the same time his ally in the police and armed men he's collected are attempting to find the secretive island lair among the hundreds of islands that rim South Korea.

The early part of this series involves finding the subway man who recruits down-and-outs to the game; repeated boat trips searching for the game island; and the stories of the two men intent on ending this slaughter. There is a traitor in each revolutionary group and there might be a traitor among the armed guards. There are weaklings and good people among the players, per usual. There are the standard crude, lumpen morons thinking they are going to win billions of won in the game, along with one creepy seer. The players' debts, which explain their presence, involve crypto coin fraud, gambling losses and medical debts, all common in South Korea. All these debt 'losers' are considered by the game owners to be part of a useless, surplus population that deserves to die. Yet, oblivious, the players are still split in half on their attitude towards the bloody game, the most surprising thing of all. Half are blinded by all the dead people's cash flopping into the hamper at the top of the barrack's room.

This is the motivation for violence by design, including fratricidal violence.

Most of the games are different from the first season. At the end there is an attempted revolution by a semi-dedicated minority aimed at the control room. This revolution seeks not to 'reform' the game but its termination. I'm no expert in game theory but as the blog has pointed out before: “Marxists question ‘what game to play.’  Institutional theorists question ‘what rules to use’ in the already chosen game. Situational theorists like Grusky / Weeden look at the moves to use within the rules of the fixed game.” Here the rebels question the game itself for a change.

Democracy gets its comeuppance, as the 'democratic' votes during the game are driven by greed, manipulation and bracketed by automatic weapons. The monied rulers are hidden, protected by locks, walls, guards and secrecy. In fact, other than the masked Front Man, we never see them. We still see the secretive trade in body parts from injured participants, a trade that is widespread across the world. We still see the colorful, maze-like MC Escher stairs, the militarized barracks room, the various ominous game environments and the employees dressed in red with geometric symbols etched into their masks.

What is most disturbing about this season is the all-powerful nature of the game controllers and funders, even as they are being assailed. This island is perfect fascism, as if resistance is futile. The mainland police don't care and the frequent spike of missing civilians in reports don't seem to matter. The pursuers make a number of obvious mistakes, including the hero Seong Gi-hun. The anticipation of hostile action by the billionaires is almost perfect. This series will end at three seasons, which is intelligent considering the brutal and hard-to-watch nature of the subject matter. At any rate, Squid Game is a metaphor for capitalism in our times. Watch it if you dare.

Prior blogspot reviews on this subject, use blog search box, upper left, to investigate our 19 year archive, using these terms: “Squid Game,” “South Korea,” “debt,” “dystopia.”

The Cultural Marxist, January 11, 2025