An Irregular Update - 12/23/2021

Squids, Series, and Sequestration

So in the past six months there was indisputedly one subject about South Korean culture that clearly overwhelmed all the other ones- Squid Game. While Squid Game isn’t a film per se, it might as well have been treated like one in the discourse. I still remember September 17th well. From my perspective, as someone who covers a wide swath of South Korean series rather than just the fads, I actually had quite a few choices available to me for new series that day.

There was also The Veil, an spy thriller starring Namgoong Min. Yumi’s Cells, starring Kim Go-eun, a hybrid live-action and animated work, follows the cells in the title character’s head as she goes on various misadventures. One the Woman with Lee Hanee, a word play on Wonder Woman, features an heiress swapped with a prosecutor due to the various memory hijinx. Unless you’re a big South Korean drama fan you probably haven’t heard of any of these names or titles.

Now, you might think they were all completely overwhelmed thanks to Squid Game’s massive popularity. But nothing could be further from the truth! The Veil had a short prequel series, sans the male lead. Yumi’s Cells has already been confirmed for a second season. And One the Woman ended with impressive ratings of over 15%. From my perspective, having to choose between the four shows to review, all had their advantages and disadvantages. Squid Game only barely registered above the other three because its airing on Netflix gave it the most accessibility for HanCinema’s target English language audience.

The reason I’m telling you all of this now, and not three months ago, is because Squid Game hype has finally dropped down to the point that the show can be discussed a little more soberly. My perspective is unique. I was one of the few people actually willing to discuss Squid Game in less-than-glowing aesthetic terms while it was still new. I was the first Tomatometer critic to give Squid Game a negative review- and there still aren’t very many.

But more importantly I’m one of the few people writing about South Korean film or drama professionally in English. So I was really, continuously agitated seeing mainstream press coverage by people who obviously knew nothing about South Korean media culture. It’s terribly frustrating to have worked in this field for nine years and have people dismissing South Korean media success as provincial, or acting as if Netflix single-handedly invented the idea of watching foreign television shows. And for all the praise heaped on South Korean film, Netflix still has a lousy South Korean film selection in English language territories, with subsequent international South Korean Netflix work largely being ignored. I doubt the market for an informed perspective on the Squid Game phenomenon has improved since September- but at least now I can share thoughts on this hopefully without being shamed as a reflexive contrarian. More to come.