By Yusuf Boluwatife
Since its release, Netflix Korean series ‘Squid Game’ has set social media ablaze. In nine episodes, it tells the story of 456 highly indebted individuals who were offered an option to compete for a cash prize of 45.6 billon won (about $38 million) by playing traditional childhood games. Elimination, however, from each round means death.
While some viewers argue that it was a stupid thing for anyone to agree to participate in a death game just to set off debts, others are of the opinion that it wasn’t a bad decision — after all, life itself is full of risks.
In this piece, BlackBox Nigeria explains the risks and rewards associated with the game should it happen in a real-life situation.
• Death
The number rule of the game — and its biggest risk — is the inevitability of death. In ‘Squid Game’, each round comes with deaths and winnings. You lose, you die; you win, you get a step closer to the grand prize. The grace of a second chance is non-existent.
• Insecurity
One of the basic needs of humans is security and a ‘Squid Game’ doesn’t come with a slight percentage of that. As seen in a scene from the movie, a player had beaten his counterpart to death. Consequently, other players felt insecure that they had to stay up in turns to keep watch of any attack — for several nights.
• Mental health at risk
For players, each day and level will be accompanied by mental health-threatening issues. From living in fear of being killed by other players, to watching people die for the slightest mistakes, to being paranoid about betrayal by a teammate.
• Strategic planning and thinking
This is one certain feature a real-life ‘Squid Game’ will possess. In one of the games played in the movie, Tug-of-war, the main act, Chi Jun, had women and a frail-looking old man on his team, making it practically impossible for them to win. However, the team came up with a strategic plan that helped them beat their stronger opponents.
• Survival of the fittest
Players in a real-life ‘Squid Game’ would have to do everything possible to survive — the scene where Sang Woo betrayed Alli comes to mind. The fear of death is also eminent (remember the elimination rule).
•Team work
A real-life ‘Squid Game’ would certainly feature team work as it was in the movie. The success of any team would depend on the thinking ability, physical strength and other important qualities of each player put together.
