After Parasite’s huge success in 2019 as the first non-English-language film to win the best-picture Oscar, and with the ever-growing popularity of Kpop and Kdramas; Korean pop culture has been put at the forefront of global entertainment. But nothing has compared to Squid Game’s rapid and exponential popularity in so little time.
Squid Game is a South Korean Netflix series directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk. This thrilling dystopian story depicts a competition between hundreds of indebted individuals with one main objective– earning the ₩45.6 billion prize (an equivalent of $47 million CAD). Each player is identified by a particular number, present on their turquoise-green tracksuits. They each have to defy death by playing a set of different children’s games: “Green Light, Red Light,” cutting out dalgona candy, tug of war, marbles, glass bridge, and the squid game (a type of hopscotch). The game ends when one final player wins the last game by killing their rival. This thriller has an avid binge-watching potential, with its various cliffhangers and talented actors. It also has many interesting socioeconomic messages, such as the hopelessness of the capitalistic grind and the extreme lengths to which the economically desperate are willing to go (Inkoo Kang). It is therefore by no surprise that it has taken the world by storm!
It is by far the most watched show in Netflix history : Squid Game has been watched by 132 million people and will have generated about $1 billion CAD. 66% of viewers finished the series in the first 23 days of its release and the main actors have accumulated millions of followers on Instagram in just a few weeks. What is most interesting is that Squid Game has gained great popularity in western countries such as the USA; as 95% of the viewers were outside Korea and the series topped Netflix’s charts in 90 countries. This global craze underlines the importance of a diversified and multicultural global entertainment industry, uniting many cultures together, and dismantling the vision of the “western (and particularly Hollywood American) pedestal of pop culture”.
You can watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/oqxAJKy0ii4
The Importance of a Multifaceted Entertainment Industry Brought on By Globalisation
Squid Game has sparked many conversations surrounding South Korea’s prevalence on the international stage, therefore changing the face of entertainment. South Korea has become a “global exporter of culture”, in part thanks to the many investments Netflix has been carrying out (it has invested over $870 million CAD)– arguably as a way to connect the east to the west.
In fact, according to Deadline, “since 2019, non-English-language viewing in the U.S. has grown by 71%, and 97% of Netflix’s US members have chosen to watch at least one non-English-language title in the past year. The ramp-up is even more dramatic for K-dramas, whose US viewership has jumped over 200% between 2019 and 2021”. Moreover, according to Washington Post journalist Inkoo Kang, it is a step in the right direction that services such as Netflix give audiences easier access to cultural products from other countries, in other languages and social contexts.
Netflix has indeed been a crucial actor in dismantling cultural and language barriers for entertainment consumerism around the world. Thanks to globalisation, and an open outlook on other cultures, Netflix has served as an advocate for the international recognition of many shows other than Squid Game (such as Spanish shows Casa de Papel and Elite, French shows Lupin and Dix pour Cent, Mexican show Casa de las Flores, and, of course, many Kdramas). For example, Kdramas are the most watched television shows in India (viewership increased by 370% in 2020 alone). There is also a growing popularity of Nollywood (Nigeria), and of course the prevalence of Bollywood and Indian dramas watched around the world are a pure demonstration of the shift we are experiencing in the 21st century: the shift from Hollywood towards a “one-world culture”. Globalisation here helps legitimise foreign entertainment as equally valuable to western entertainment, as to create a melting pot of intermeshing voices, viewpoints, and traditions.
The Role of Gen Z and Social Media in Redefining the Entertainment Industry
It is moreover interesting to analyze Generation Z’s role in promoting foreign cultures and entertainment through social media. In fact, Gen Z will dismantle present western-centric systems to integrate a more inclusive global pop culture. The show has completely taken over social media, trending with hundreds of thousands of tweets every day (Forbes). The news about the series spread quickly over other platforms such as TikTok and Instagram with trending TikTok sounds and Instagram hashtags, gaining popularity and creating intrigue and interest around the world. Many famous tiktokers made their own dalgona candy and funny sketches, while many Instagram influencers posed as some of the main characters, thus commercializing the “squid game look”, which later became one of the most-searched Halloween costumes in 2021 around the world, and particularly the USA. In fact, Squid Game costumes were the 23rd most popular costumes in Google’s search, and was the most searched costume idea in Detroit.
In addition, according to the New York Times, in September, the Oxford English Dictionary added 26 new words of Korean origin, including “hallyu,” or Korean wave. This illustrates a certain openness from the West to immerse itself in foreign pop culture, and in particular, depicts teenagers’ and students’ willingness to learn the language. In fact, during the add-drop period of fall 2021, at Brown University, Korean language classes saw unusually high levels of interest from the student body, resulting in one class, KREA 0300: “Intermediate Korean” becoming over-enrolled (Brown Daily Herald). There’s even a Squid Game crypto coin at this moment! At this point I’m expecting a Squid Game amusement park in Seoul!
Overall, Netflix and Gen Z are catalytic actors in the spread of foreign pop culture, interlinking the west to the east, allowing for a shift from Hollywood to a “one-world culture” — meaning a global interconnection of cultures into one. I expect to see many foreign-language movies and TV shows on Netflix and other streaming platforms in the years to come.
Carla is a U2 student at McGill studying International Development in the Honors Program with a concentration in Environment. She’s a citizen of the world; as she has French nationality, is of Italian descent, was born in Sweden, lived in the USA and is now living in Canada! Some of her main interests include human rights and most particularly women’s rights, climate change mitigation and poverty alleviation.