Squid Game director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, has revealed how his own life provided inspiration for the show's main characters. Squid Game premiered on Netflix on September 17 and has been taking the world by storm, quickly surging to become the most popular show on the streaming service in countries around the globe. The series follows a batch of cash-strapped individuals as they compete in a series of deadly children's games in hopes of winning a massive cash prize.
As the success of Squid Game continues to grow, Dong-hyuk has begun opening up about his masterpiece. Dong-hyuk revealed Squid Game was in development for over a decade before it finally made it to Netflix due its unique premise. However, the show debuted at just the right time period, where capitalism, competition, and social inequality have become widely scrutinized topics. Thus, despite the extreme circumstances featured in the series, viewers are able to find the characters relatable in their financial situations, desperation, and willingness to take risks. Part of this relatability may stem from the fact that there was real-life inspiration behind the series.
In an interview with CNN, director Dong-hyuk revealed that main characters Seong Gi-hun and Cho Sang-woo were inspired by his own life experience. Dong-hyuk explained that Gi-hun and Sang-Woo were named after two of his real-life friends, who he described as his "inner clones." Meanwhile, both of the characters' stories bear resemblance to Dong-hyuk's own early life. Like the characters, Dong-hyuk comes from a financially struggling region in South Korea and, like Sang-Woo, he went to Seoul's prestigious University and became the pride of his neighborhood. Check out his statement below:
"They [Seong Gi-hun and Cho Sang-woo] represent the two sides of me. Like Gi-hun, I was raised by a single mother in a financially troubled environment in Ssangmun-dong. At the same time, like Sang-woo, I went to Seoul National University and my entire neighborhood praised me and had high expectations of me."
The personal connection that Dong-hyuk has to the series imbues its characters and setting with even more significance. Dong-hyuk's decision to utilize a real neighborhood in Seoul, Ssangmun-dong, for Squid Game's setting illustrates the real social equality and class strife that exists in South Korea, and in major cities throughout the world. Meanwhile, like Sang-woo, Dong-hyuk experienced the pressure that a financially troubled community places on a young individual who goes off to college. Dong-hyuk's stories of his childhood and his financial struggles while creating Squid Game show just how realistic the concept of the show is. Gi-hun and Sang-woo aren't just fictional characters, but are based off of the reality of growing up in a lower socio-economic region and the burden of high expectations.
Overall, Dong-hyuk's personal inspiration for Squid Game fosters the show's relatability and powerful themes. Since Dong-hyuk's own history is integrated into the main characters, viewers can empathize with them deeply. The show may not necessarily speak to everyone, but it truly speaks to those who are down on their luck, struggling financially, and come from humble beginnings. The contestants' return to children's games in Squid Game isn't as shocking or unrealistic when one considers the lengths often gone to in order to achieve financial security and get one more chance to come out as a winner in society. Dong-hyuk's story lives on in Squid Game and brings recognition and awareness to themes of inequity and the negative consequences of capitalism.
Source: CNN