[Slate] The 'Murder' Game in Squid Game That Would Appall Oh Il-nam

Season 1 Achieves a Delicate Balance Between the Joy of Play and Fierce Competition
Season 3 Becomes a Mere Murder Drama, Heightening Only Dramatic Anxiety
With Only the Subject and Center Left, Persuasiveness and Enjoyment Are Diminished

The founder of 'Squid Game' is Oh Il-nam (Oh Youngsoo). Although he amassed a vast fortune, he found no joy in life and thus created an extraordinary world. He even devised games so intriguing that he personally donned a green uniform and participated. "When I was young, you know, whatever I did with my friends was fun. I lost track of time. Before I die, I wanted to feel that again, just once. That feeling you can never experience sitting in the audience."

'Squid Game' Season 1 Still Cuts

For him and the VIPs, the games are a form of play. Dutch philosopher Johan Huizinga defined play as "a free activity standing quite consciously outside ordinary life as being 'not serious,' but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly." He described it as "an activity that is performed within certain fixed limits of time and place, according to rules freely accepted but absolutely binding, having its aim in itself and accompanied by a feeling of tension and joy, and the consciousness that it is 'different' from 'ordinary life.'"

For the participants in Squid Game, these rules are unacceptable. For them, the game is a productive activity that offers material benefits and utility. When participants are eliminated, the remaining players can expect a larger prize. Moreover, the games are neither free nor fictitious, making it impossible to expect the inherent fun and enjoyment of play. In fact, since elimination means death, they cannot let their guard down even for a moment.

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk blends the perspectives of these two contrasting groups in 'Squid Game' Season 1. He vividly highlights the appeal of play while depicting the fierce competition among those at the bottom of society. A representative example is the scene where Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jungjae) desperately licks a dalgona candy with an umbrella shape. The camera comically captures his frantic face, and playful music is added to maximize the fun of the game. At the same time, the anxious expressions of eliminated participants and the sound of gunshots heighten the tension.

Squid Game Season 1 Still Cut

In the tug-of-war game, dynamic movements and the desperate faces of participants are crosscut, simultaneously conveying the charm of play and the fear of death. In the glass bridge game, the thrill and terror of not knowing when someone might fall probe deeply into the participants' inner worlds.

This exquisite combination was also achieved thanks to art director Chae Kyung-sun and music director Jung Jaeil. With colorful backgrounds and fairy-tale-like spaces, as well as music using instruments (sogo, recorder, castanets) reminiscent of elementary school practice, they emphasized innocence and nostalgia. By concealing as much as possible the structure that inevitably distorts play when it connects with reality, they preserved the essential elements of fun inherent to play.

Unfortunately, these strengths are almost absent in 'Squid Game' Season 3. The first game, hide-and-seek, is little more than a simple murder drama. Before the game, half the participants are handed knives and told they must kill at least one other participant to survive. Physical combat is an energetic and primitive form of play. However, in this game, the roles of assailant and victim are clearly divided, and the latter must either fight barehanded or flee. Not only fairness and justice but even fun are lost, serving only to amplify dramatic anxiety.

Squid Game Season 3 Still Cut

The final pushing game is no different. The organizers instruct participants to push at least one person off each of three pillars in sequence. In this monotonous structure governed by the law of the jungle, there is little room for intense mind games or psychological warfare. The majority simply band together to push out the weakest participant. When Seong Gi-hun draws the hidden knife, they immediately search for another scapegoat as if nothing happened.

In a game where murder is both the purpose and the method, viewers are completely cut off from the sense of play. This signifies three major losses: the process of play itself, the generative, accidental, and momentary qualities of play that are the roots of imagination and creativity, and the ambiguous status of play that allows one to overcome metaphysics based on binary oppositions. Only the subject and center of play remain, making the story less convincing and reducing its enjoyment. In this drama, the viewer's perspective aligns with that of the VIPs. If Oh Il-nam were still alive, wouldn't he be appalled? He would not even dare to put on a green uniform.