Life is not a "squid game"

In 2000, the film "Battle Royale" directed by Japanese temple-level director Shinji Fukasaku shocked four and won numerous awards, but at the same time, because the main body of the story is mainly composed of teenagers and the camera is bloody, this work that fully demonstrates the aesthetics of violence and is full of human compassion and care does not make more waves in the future, but quietly plays a role over time to make way for endless blockbusters. More than two decades later, the TV series "Squid Game" launched by Netflix in the United States and South Korean director Hwang Dong Hyuk has caused a sensation around the world as soon as it was broadcast, becoming the highest-rated non-English original drama in Netflix's history. Although the production standards and styles of the series all show the traces of the maturity of the Western film and television production chain, what really touches people's hearts is still the gentle cruelty in Japanese and Korean works, the bipolar struggle between chrysanthemum and knife, and the ultimate dilemma of selfish desire and morality tearing apart human nature.

At the beginning of the play, the play uses the perspective of the male protagonist to reproduce the small game that he was keen on as a child- "Squid Game": under a specific venue, a specific time, and a specific game rule, the two sides of the game compete for the winning point, and especially emphasize that the losing party will "die", which is just the so-called game out. But the "out" in the game of life is not only the loss of life, but also the overthrow of soul and spirit. At the end of the final episode, the winner of the squid game, No. 456, chooses the latter between forgetting the past and restarting and returning to the Cave. From the producer's point of view, this is the foreshadowing that the second season of filming is bound to leave, but it is also his decision to redeem others and seek soul comfort after crossing life and death. The male protagonist's motivation for behavior has changed from the specific mission to be fulfilled as a father and son, such as the initial struggle for custody of his daughter by his ex-wife and the treatment of the old mother who has worked hard all his life, to preventing and saving more "former selves" and from being reduced to "horses" on the racecourse. The warm-hearted big brother who loved the elderly, women, and displaced people in third world countries at the time of the game level became a hero in armor after escaping death.

In this game of 45.6 billion won in prize money, the investment capital of each contestant is his own life. The games are also very simple, they are all familiar game scenes in childhood, but when these games are at the cost of their own lives or others' lives, each game is artificially given a lot of meaning in addition to the sense of form itself. Game one, "123 Wooden Men," is an absolute respect for the rules; Game Two, "Sugar," is a test of intelligence and will. If the first game is the ideal situation of equality for everyone, the second sugar game is much like a portrayal of the fate of life full of chance and uncertainty - some people can choose simple triangles, while others will unfortunately choose an unusually complex umbrella pattern. Whether to remain calm and survive in adversity, or to be arbitrarily disposed of by fate, is between the thoughts of the individual. "Tug-of-war" is a typical example of teamwork, playing to each person's strengths, and ensuring that the collective interests are maximized.

Under the uncertain "marble game", there is the most cruel choice - teammates who originally relied on trust and emotion to become the ones who kill each other with their own hands in this game. We see that those who once extended the hand of friendship betrayed friendship, wives died and fulfilled their husbands, and innocent girls voluntarily chose sacrifices to achieve the life wish of the little sister to survive and reunite with her brother... Even the male protagonist No. 456, who has always been compassionate, is forced by the instinct to survive and bully the old man who pretends to be confused. Compared with the first three games, the thirty minutes of the countdown to this game are filled with warm and quiet life memories of several main characters, which is one of the few literary dramas in the play, highlighting the beautiful side of human nature.

The "Glass Bridge" is almost a cruel and inhumane killing game. None of the first players in the line became stepping stones for the others. In this way, if the tragic grandeur of "one will achieve ten thousand bones" in ancient poetry fades away from the aura of fighting for honor and faith, only the shameless success of naked stepping on the blood and bones of others is left.

The final game scene returns to the opening "Squid Game", which is the ultimate battle between the two survivors after a long period of torture. Male protagonist No. 456, who has been good at games since childhood, ruthlessly hurt and thoroughly provoked by his former friends, chose to give up at the critical moment of victory, and eventually became the only survivor due to the suicide of his opponent Shangyou. Interestingly, the key to victory in the "Pinball Game" is also the initiative of the Player 001 to give up the last marble in his hand, rather than the aggressive snatching of No. 456 - which makes the protagonist never subjectively enslaved by the rules of the game. The light of humanity that the creator carefully cares for in him makes it exude infinite charm, and of course, it also reserves unlimited possibilities for the continued growth of this character.

While the praise is overwhelming, it should not be ignored that there are still many details in the play that are difficult to scrutinize. For example, the police officer Huang Renhao, who lurked in, repeatedly showed flaws but repeatedly escaped with victory; and the branch line of human organ trafficking was abruptly interrupted with the death of the doctor player, and this clue did not help much to the narrative main line. Especially at the end of the whole play, it is revealed that player 001 is actually the driving force behind this killing game, although his decrypted dialogue with the male protagonist No. 456 is full of philosophical thoughts on life, but it also greatly weakens the tension of the series itself, offending the blank space that should belong to the audience's self-thinking. (Dayu)