Netflix series Squid Game seems irresistible

05-11-2021

Western Europe

Joe-Lize Brugge, RD

In the Netflix series Squid Game, children’s games are played on life and death. Children and adolescents watch the violent episodes en masse. What should parents know when their child is part of the hype?

Hundreds of green-clad figures run across a field in the episodes of Squid Game. It seems harmless, but woe betides the player who still moves when the big doll on the field looks back. That person is immediately shot dead.

Dutch Media pedagogue Marije Lagendijk says that many children in primary school are familiar with the Netflix series. Signs of this include the games that the pupils play in the schoolyard. “For example, you see a revival of a cookie challenge, in which children cut a shape out of a cookie with a sharp object. That game is in the series as well.”

Squid Game is also popular in Reformed circles, says Jeroen van der Laan, media literacy practitioner at Hoornbeeck College. According to research he conducted over the past four years, Reformed youth are almost as active on Netflix as non-reformed youth. “That means that Squid Game is also becoming popular in reformed schools.” However, he expects some delay. “The Christian target group is never really ahead of new developments. That also applies to series that are launched on Netflix.”

In Squid Game, 456 South Koreans compete for a cash prize of more than 30 million euros. The similarity between the participants is that they are deeply in debt. Photo AFP, Youngkyu Park

Curious

Media pedagogue Lagendijk has several explanations for the popularity of the Netflix series among children. One is the fact that elements of the series are all across the internet. Many children come into contact with Squid Game through social media, such as TikTok or Instagram. They don’t always look for it consciously but come across videos of people imitating the games from Squid Game. “Those fragments aren’t always violent; some just show the game. But children are curious. They click through or type in terms from the series on Google. It is a small step to watch the trailer or the first episode after that.”

Squid Game kills participants

When you ask a class at a primary or secondary school who knows Squid Game, the chances are that most fingers will rise.

What is Squid Game?

Squid Game is a nine-episode South Korean series. The series can be viewed on the film platform Netflix.

In Squid Game, 456 South Koreans compete for a cash prize of more than 30 million euros. The similarity between the participants is that they are deeply in debt.

Only one participant can win the money. To do this, he must first win six children’s games. Examples of this are red light, green light – where players have to cross a field within five minutes without being seen running – a game of marbles, and tug-of-war.

At first glance, Squid Game looks harmless. The games that the participants have to play and the decor look childish. The setting resembles a large, brightly coloured playhouse with climbing frames and slides. Participants walk around in green-blue suits, and guards are dressed in bright pink.

Appearances, however, are deceiving. The games in the series appear to be played to death. Whoever loses is shot without mercy on the spot. Only the winner survives the game.

What is the rationale behind Squid Game?

According to some experts, Squid Game can be seen as a satire on the capitalist, individualistic society. People are in trouble and have nothing left to lose. This is reflected in the despair in which the participants risk their lives for the cash prize.

A typical example is a scene in which the participants are given the opportunity to step out of the game and then find out that their daily lives are in many ways just as brutal as the game. There too, they have to fight to survive, for example, to pay off their debts.

Who is watching the series?

Adults and young people – sometimes even in primary school age – watch Squid Game en masse. Netflix recently reported on Twitter that the series had attracted more than 111 million viewers within 17 days. This makes Squid Game the most successful series launch Netflix has ever had.

Why is the series so popular on Netflix?

Some experts attribute the popularity of Squid Game to the recognisable elements in the series. Nearly everyone has nodded at some point. The metaphor of destructive individualism in society also evokes recognition among viewers.

According to experts, the popularity of the series also fits in with the trend of increasing interest in South Korean films in general. According to Remko Breuker, a Korea expert at Leiden University, the country invests a lot of money in the “creative industry.” According to Breuker, this benefits the quality of the films and could therefore explain the growing fame of Korean movies.

Another explanation for the popularity of the series, according to the media pedagogue, is peer pressure. “Everyone is talking about how exciting Squid Game is, and kids feel like they’re missing out if they can’t join the conversation.”

Lagendijk suspects that the episodes are also childishly set up. “Playing games in a bright and open environment with playground equipment is attractive to children.” Media literacy practitioner Van der Laan suspects that the ‘fantasy world with sweet colours’ is really attractive. “Squid Game is presented as a visual feast with non-stop excitement. That is directly compatible in the world of children and young people.”

Murderous tyrant

Marije Lagendijk has not yet watched the entire series. But the trailer and the first episode of Squid Game were enough to conclude that she wouldn’t watch this series for entertainment. “I found the mass slaughter of people intense.”

Lagendijk and Van der Laan, therefore, find it worrying that children are confronted with intense images. The two fear that constant exposure to, among other things, murder and manslaughter can normalize violence. If children are more often confronted with violent scenes, the violence may seem a legitimate solution, says Lagendijk. Seeing violence always influences the viewer, Van der Laan adds firmly. He sees in this a risk of a downward spiral. According to him, that starts with habituation and acceptance. “Whoever sees a lot of violence in series may also find it normal that people are killed in the real world. The more extreme violence children see, the more likely they are to slide into a dubious level of morality. Although I am not saying that every good boy turns into a murderous tyrant.”

In addition, children can become frightened by seeing scenes for which they are not psychologically ready, says Lagendijk. “They can have nightmares, become restless or withdrawn. Some can’t sleep because they have to think about those nasty images all the time.” Van der Laan suspects that few young people enjoy seeing so much blood in real life.

In some children, seeing violent scenes even leads to momentary aggression. In Belgium, primary school students went so far as to punish the losers of Squid Games with hitting and kicking. Lagendijk has not yet received such signals in the Netherlands. “You can’t say that a child who watches Squid Game by definition becomes aggressive.”

Ten Commandments

As a Christian, Squid Game is difficult to justify, says Van der Laan. “Many elements of the series are at odds with the guidelines that the Bible gives us, including in the Ten Commandments.” In addition to the mass violence, he points out that the series glorifies selfishness – to survive, participants in Squid Game have to think only of themselves. Only one contestant can win; the other participants will die during the game. “On the contrary, the Bible points us to charity and care for one another.”

Participants take part in an event where they play the games of Netflix hit "Squid Game" at the Korean Cultural Centre in Abu Dhabi. Photo AFP, Giuseppe Cacace

Van der Laan also finds the image that the series presents of life questionable. “It is presented as a game, but also as a dystopia in which people are killed for entertainment. That is not how society functions in real life. Besides, life is not a game.”

Van der Laan, therefore, advises no one to watch Squid Game. “I wouldn’t know what benefits it could bring. It’s dubiously low-level entertainment. Why would you want to watch something like that?”

Tips for parents

Help, my kid has seen Squid Game. What should I do? Media pedagogue Lagendijk and media literacy practitioner Van der Laan provide advice.

To find out if a child has watched Squid Game, it is best to engage in conversation. Lagendijk: “Parents can, for example, raise the subject by asking: “I recently read something about people being shot after a game. What do you think of that?” Ask a neutral opening question, Van der Laan also advises. “For example, say: I saw this or that online. Do you know where that came from?” It also helps to monitor the mobile phone of a child who is still in primary school, says Lagendijk. “Then you’ll see soon enough whether he has watched Squid Game.”

Never judge the child if it turns out that he has seen the series. Lagendijk: “Children do not always look it up on purpose; sometimes they run into it by accident.” According to the media pedagogue, punishment is counterproductive. “If children know that they are no longer allowed to use the internet, they will no longer tell their parents that they have encountered bad things.”

“Ask open-ended questions, such as, “Why did you go to see it? What do you think of that violence? Then a child gets the feeling that it is being taken seriously”, explains Van der Laan. “Tell them to come anytime if they’re scared or can’t sleep.”

It is important to hold onto Biblical frameworks. “If you put Netflix series along with the guideline of the Ten Commandments, a lot is not suitable,” says Van der Laan. “Always ask yourself and your child: What does the Bible say about this?”

This is a translation of an article previously published in Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad, on October 19th, 2021