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Netflix has doubled down in an attempt to gain back the loyalty of their customers. The network has announced a reality competition based on the hyper violent Korean megahit Squid Game, which premiered late last year.
The distilled version is this: the original show follows a group of contestants in a high-stakes game of life or death as they traverse potentially lethal challenges for the entertainment of an elite few.
Spoiler alert: it isn’t pleasant.
But blood and guts are the least disturbing aspects of the scathing commentary – the underlying message seems to be that capitalism is evil, though the philosophical problems that weave themselves through the plot are more numerous and subtle.
Somewhere in there was a moral about not killing one another for money, unsurprisingly.
Since the network won’t be literally encouraging bloodshed among its contestants, everything will be fine.
Right?
They’re offering the highest prize money in history to the 456 players of the real-life Squid Game – that’s over $4 million to the winner (or winners), for the curious among you.
The direction Netflix is taking as their viewership loses faith in the platform is not surprising, but it is disheartening. In response to users asking for more quality content, they ignored all requests and offered audiences an opportunity to metaphorically kill each other off, instead.
What an uncomfortable direction shows are heading towards, right? At least we here at The Gen Bridge seem to think so…Thanks, Netflix!
The upcoming series might very well be a sign that Gen-Z media is doomed – gone are the days of films and television that sparked curiosity and wonderment. No, instead our children will be peeking through their fingers, mouths agape at the morbid spectacle of not-even-original concepts like Squid Game.
Just because the original Squid Game story was repackaged with game show flair doesn’t mean it wasn’t a ripped-off concept all along – Battle Royale told this story with school children 20 years ago.
Maybe it was just a sign of the times that Hollywood executives didn’t rush to try and reenact that competition immediately…but we’ll stop there. We don’t want to give Netflix any ideas.
