#s well as often kiddos also have the same varying strengths and weaknesses but i think it just highlights how the old man couldve Not

[moonsun2010]

How Squid Game (2021) Reinterprets Childhood

[Major Spoilers Alert]

Perhaps because childhood games are so inbaked into the show's very premise, but ive not seen a lot of, or any analysis of Squid Game through the lens of childhood so far. Most of the analysis seems largely focused on the themes of social inequality and humanity, which is perfectly fine--these are obviously major parts of the show, which has interesting commentary on both themes. What i think is worth examining though, is how Squid Game pays homage to and reinterprets the concept of "childhood". It'll be remiss not to address them.

The episode that actually made me think about how Squid Game is linked to childhood was episode 6, appropriately titled "Gganbu" (yeah feel free to cry now I know I did when I first saw that). Like, I know that Squid Game's entire premise is Adults play Deathly Childhood Games, but only when Old man (i know he's Il-nam but it just feels right to call him Old man) and Gihun made the promise to be Gganbu did it really hit me that theyre not just forming friendships, but specifically reliving their childhoods. The set design adds to this idea too: we first begin with bright morning skies in "Red Light, Green Light", less sunny but still bright blue skies in the Honeycomb game, and now sunset skies in Ep 6. Sunset is usually when all the games end, when its time to return home. Hence the prop backalleys not just being remniscient of where these games were played, but also reminding us that at the end of the day, these games have to end. For Old man and Gihun, their game has to end as well. Previously the show let both the characters and the audience continue under the hope that maybe all these characters will survive, maybe the police officer will get help in time yknow? But Ep 6 bursts that bubble in reminding the audience that there can only be one winner. And in a game where losing is death, combined with their pact to be Gganbu, the sunset all at once represents the nostalgic feeling of regret at having to end a game, and also the death of their friendship. That's part of why its so heartbreaking when Old man is "killed", because its not just a loss of a beloved character, but perhaps also striking a personal nerve as we remember our own feelings of regret at having to end playtime with friends. And looking at Ep 9, when we find out the Old man was the mastermind, the death of their friendship becomes true in more ways than one. Jiyeong and Saebyeok's friendship represents a different kind of ending, with their friendship being more remniscient of the temporary friends youd make in the play area and then have to leave, never to see them again.

I don't think its a coincidence that when the players split into different groups (after player 101's group's murder spree), that it feels kind of like the stereotypical bully clique vs victims dynamic in schools. Whether the writers intended it is irrelevant, because that dynamic makes Minyeo's later "defection" from their group to Gihuns group for Tug of War fit so well into the "low grade bully gets kicked out from the bully group and allies with the victims" trope. Highschool dramas are rife with this! It works well in establishing a sense of camaderie and hope, which makes the later deaths all the more painful :)

Then with Gihun and Sangwoo's final showdown, we have flashbacks of them(?) as children playing squid game. It draws a direct parallel to their current grown up Squid Game. This contrast between the relatively innocent violence of the childhood version and the lethal violence of the adult version suggests the reason for such a drastic change is because of the pressure of adult life. Under the pressure of debt and death, childhood games become a microcosm of the larger "games" played in adulthood. With the artifical blue skies of the initial Red Light Green light game transformed into a dark rainy set by the natural thunderclouds overhead, it further emphasises how the line between childhood games and adult "games" are blurred.

Once Sangwoo kills himself, ending the game, the clouds clear and the VIPS (representative of the corrupting force of adulthood/debt/capitalism??) disappear. Gihun can now return to his adult life, but at the cost of his childhood friendships. The way Squid Game reenacts both the negetive and positive aspects of these childhood games really heightens its tragedy because above all, there's no real way to return to that childhood without warping it in some way.