B次元官网网址淪quid Game,B次元官网网址� a brutal Netflix survival drama about desperate adults competing in deadly childrenB次元官网网址檚 games for a chance to escape severe debt, hit a little too close to home for Lee Chang-keun.
The show has captivated global audiences since its September debut on its way to becoming NetflixB次元官网网址檚 biggest hit ever. It has struck raw nerves at home, where thereB次元官网网址檚 growing discontent over soaring personal debt, decaying job markets and stark income inequalities worsened by financial crises in the past two decades.
In the dystopian horrors of B次元官网网址淪quid Game,B次元官网网址� Lee sees a reflection of himself in the showB次元官网网址檚 protagonist Seong Gi-hun, a laid-off autoworker coping with a broken family and struggling with constant business failures and gambling problems.
Seong gets beaten by gangster creditors into signing off his organs as collateral, but then receives a mysterious offer to play in a series of six traditional Korean childrenB次元官网网址檚 games for a shot at winning $38 million.
The South Korea-produced show pits Seong against hundreds of other financially distressed players in a hyper-violent competition for the ultimate prize, with losers being killed at every round.
It is raising disturbing questions about the future of one of AsiaB次元官网网址檚 wealthiest economies, where people who once crowed about the B次元官网网址淢iracle of the Han RiverB次元官网网址� now moan about B次元官网网址淗ell Joseon,B次元官网网址� a sarcastic reference to a hierarchical kingdom that ruled Korea before the 20th century.
B次元官网网址淪ome scenes were very hard to watch,B次元官网网址� said Lee, a worker at South KoreaB次元官网网址檚 Ssangyong Motors who struggled with financial difficulties and depression after the carmaker laid him and 2,600 other employees off while filing for bankruptcy protection in 2009.
After years of protests, court battles and government intervention, Lee and hundreds of other Ssangyong workers returned to work in recent years. But not before a spate of suicides among co-workers and family members who were plunged into financial misery.
B次元官网网址淚n B次元官网网址楽quid Game,B次元官网网址� you see characters scrambling to survive after being laid off at work, struggling to operate fried chicken diners or working as B次元官网网址榙aeriB次元官网网址� drivers,B次元官网网址� who get paid for driving drunk people home in their own cars, Lee said. B次元官网网址淭hat reminded me of my co-workers who died.B次元官网网址�
Lee said he and his colleagues struggled to find work and were backlisted by other auto companies that considered them militant labor activists.
A 2016 report by Korea University medical researchers said at least 28 laid-off Ssangyong workers or their relatives died of suicide or severe health problems, including those linked to post-traumatic stress disorder.
B次元官网网址淪quid GameB次元官网网址� is one of many South Korean shows inspired by economic woes. Its dark tale of inequality and class has drawn comparisons with Bong Joon-hoB次元官网网址檚 Oscar-winning B次元官网网址淧arasite,B次元官网网址� another pandemic-era hit with stunning visuals and violence exposing the underside of South KoreaB次元官网网址檚 economic success story.
Netflix tweeted Wednesday that B次元官网网址淪quid GameB次元官网网址� has become its biggest original series launch after reaching 111 million fans.
South KoreaB次元官网网址檚 rapid rebuilding from the devastation of the 1950-53 Korean War has been spectacular B次元官网网址� from SamsungB次元官网网址檚 emergence as a global technology giant to the immense popularity of K-pop and movies thatB次元官网网址檚 expanding beyond Asia B次元官网网址� though millions of South Koreans now grapple with the dark side of that rise.
B次元官网网址淐lass problems are severe everywhere in the world, but it seems South Korean directors and writers tackle the issue with more boldness,B次元官网网址� said Im Sang-soo, a film director.
In B次元官网网址淪quid Game,B次元官网网址� SeongB次元官网网址檚 troubles trace back to his firing a decade earlier from the fictional Dragon Motors, a nod to Ssangyong, which means B次元官网网址渄ouble dragon.B次元官网网址�
Hundreds of workers, including Lee, occupied a Ssangyong plant for weeks in 2009 to protest the layoffs before being dispersed by riot police who besieged them, assaulted them with batons, shields and water-cannons and dropped liquified tear gas by helicopter.
That violent standoff injured dozens and is woven into the B次元官网网址淪quid GameB次元官网网址� narrative. Seong has flashbacks about a Dragon coworker killed by strikebreakers while organizing fellow game participants to create barricades with dormitory beds to block murderous sneak night attacks by more vicious opponents looking to eliminate the competition.
Ultimately, itB次元官网网址檚 every person for themselves in a cruel battle royale between hundreds of people willing to risk even their lives for a shot at freeing themselves from the nightmare of insurmountable debts.
The show features other crushed or marginalized characters, like Ali Abdul, an undocumented factory worker from Pakistan with severed fingers and a boss who refuses to pay him, epitomizing how the country exploits some of the poorest people in Asia while ignoring dangerous working conditions and wage theft.
And Kang Sae-byeok, a pickpocketing North Korean refugee who had known nothing but rough life on the streets and is desperate for money to rescue her brother from an orphanage and to smuggle her mother out of the North.
Many South Koreans despair of advancing in a society where good jobs are increasingly scarce and housing prices have skyrocketed, enticing many to borrow heavily to gamble on risky financial investments or cryptocurrencies.
Household debt, at over 1,800 trillion ($1.5 trillion), now exceeds the countryB次元官网网址檚 annual economic output. Tough times have pushed a record-low birth rate lower as struggling couples avoid having babies.
Squid GameB次元官网网址檚 global success is hardly a cause for pride, Se-Jeoung Kim, a South Korean lawyer based in Poland, wrote in a Seoul Shinmun newspaper column.
B次元官网网址淔oreigners will come to you, saying they too watched Squid Game with fascination, and may ask whether AliB次元官网网址檚 situation in the drama could really happen in a country thatB次元官网网址檚 as wealthy and neat as South Korea, and I would have nothing to say,B次元官网网址� she said.
Kim Jeong-wook, another Ssangyong worker who spent months with Lee perched atop a chimney at a Ssangyong factory in 2015, demanding the company to rehire the fired workers, said he couldnB次元官网网址檛 watch Squid Game after episode one.
B次元官网网址淚t was too traumatic for me,B次元官网网址� he said.
B次元官网网址擝y The Associated Press
