Bang bang! Screech! Over one hundred people were just shot and killed for losing a game of red light green light. Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, in the new Netflix show Squid Game, a group of poor people gather annually to play six children’s games. The winners of each game move on to the next, while the losers are killed. The main character, Seong Gi-hun, is a grown man living with his mother; facing massive debt. Seong meets a man who invites him to the 33rd annual Squid Game. 455 other individuals go to the Squid Game, each of which facing similar economic circumstances. By the end of the games, only one person successfully completes each of the six games and wins millions of dollars. Viewers also learn the Squid Games are run by the elite and powerful as a form of entertainment. One may consider this world to be dystopic and cruel, but it is not disconnected from reality as one may think.

The first major symbol is the Squid Game logo itself. The rectangle represents the masses while the triangle on top represents the wealthy who control the masses. The bottom circle represents the people in extreme poverty and debt. Finally, the top triangle represents the elite who control the world. This perfectly represents the Squid Game philosophy. In fact, one of the games involves players on a field the same shape as the logo. In this game, the goal is to start at the bottom circle and make it to the top circle, similarly to how the winner of all the six games goes from extreme poverty to being extremely wealthy.

A second symbolic moment is after the players vote to end the game. At any point, players are allowed to have a vote on whether to end the game or not. Should the majority agree, the games are canceled. However, players had the option to return if they wished. Many players came to the conclusion that they could not continue living in extreme debt, and that playing was the only option. Consequently, 93% of the players returned. The potential to live an economically stable life was enough to convince the vast majority of players to risk their lives in the Squid Games. In many ways, this represents the capitalist society we live in. Just like the players had the “choice” to play the game or not, poor people have a “choice” as well. They can either agree to work and earn a subsistence wage, or they can live in severe poverty without a source of income. The message in Squid Game is that the “choice” people make to work is far from voluntary.

After surviving to the end and winning millions of dollars, Seong returns home to find that his mother has passed away. While Seong’s pursuit for wealth was successful, it came at the cost of his mother life, something money cannot buy. Despite winning millions of dollars, Seong does not change his lifestyle and he is no happier than he was before. The meaning here is quite clear: money cannot buy happiness.

Imagine a world controlled by the elite. The masses have no choice but to work low pay jobs which only expand upon the elite’s wealth. And even worse, the wealthy have convinced the masses that they are trying to help them. Is this Squid Game? Or is it the late stage capitalist economy we live in?