You may have seen the memes going around about “Squid Game” on Netflix, and they’re probably confusing if you haven’t seen it yet. Since I’ll be talking about some twists and turns of the series, a spoiler alert is in effect.
This South Korean Drama is about adults of all ages that are heavily in debt being offered to play a game with a huge cash prize. What they don’t know is that if they lose…they’re killed. As each player is “eliminated” more money is added to the cash prize, making the stakes even higher as the game goes on. Another chilling twist is that all the games played are childhood games such as tug-of-war and red light, green light. In my opinion, it has some parallels to “The Hunger Games” series because it goes back to the idea where people are fighting for their lives for rich peoples’ entertainment. It’s even shown later in the series that a group of elite people called “The VIPs” travel to watch the games in person and even place bets on people. However, what makes this stand out is that it’s set in the present day, unlike “The Hunger Games” which was set in a dystopian society.
This image of the doll might be circulating through your Twitter or Instagram, and this comes from the first game in the series- red light, green light. This is the first game among the series of childhood games played. At this point the players still don’t know that they’ll be killed if they lose, and they don’t know this until the game starts; making the dolls appearance even more terrifying. The doll is actually a character often shown in Korean schools. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Actor HoYeon Jung who played the role of Kang Sae-byeok talks about this. “When we were at school, there were characters. One is a boy, and one is a girl. The boy’s name was Cheolsoo, and the girl’s name was Younghee.”
The episode where this candy is featured shows the players trying to carve out the shapes indented in, and if the shape cracks just slightly, they’re killed on the spot. As scary as it sounds, it has been trending specifically on TikTok. People have made their own versions of Dalgona candy as it’s only a blend of melted sugar and baking soda, so it’s easy to replicate. However, if Dalgona candy in the show is so deadly, why are people recreating it? The candy is a good representation of the show’s appeal to people as the childlike aspect of it continues to pull people in. This is also seen in the bright colors within the game halls, the green tracksuits players wear, and even the music played. It’s creepy but alluring to the viewer.
Sources
https://mashable.com/article/squid-game-dalgona-candy-challenge
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