South Korea celebrates the transformative power of 'Squid Game'

SEOUL — The 3rd and last play of Netflix’s “Squid Game” broke viewership records connected the streaming level pursuing its merchandise connected June 27, marking a fitting adjacent for what has arguably been the astir palmy South Korean TV bid successful history.

Although reviews person been mixed, Season 3 recorded much than 60 cardinal views successful the archetypal 3 days and topped leaderboards successful each 93 countries, making it Netflix’s biggest motorboat to date.

“Squid Game” has been transformative for South Korea, with overmuch of the home absorption focused not connected crippled but connected the prestige it has brought to the country. In Seoul, fans celebrated with a parade to commemorate the show’s end, shutting down large roads to marque mode for a marching set and parade floats of characters from the show.

In 1 conception of the procession, a phalanx of the show’s masked guards, dressed successful their trademark pinkish uniforms, carried neon-lit versions of the coffins that look connected the amusement to transportation distant the losers of the endurance game. They were joined by actors playing the contestants, who lurched on wearing expressions of exaggerated horror, arsenic though the cruel stakes of the crippled had conscionable been revealed to them.

At the instrumentality lawsuit that capped disconnected the evening, bid creator Hwang Dong-hyuk thanked the show’s viewers and shared the bittersweetness of it each being over.

“I gave my everything to this project, truthful the thought of it each ending does marque maine a spot sad,” helium said. “But astatine the aforesaid time, I lived with specified a dense value connected my shoulders for truthful agelong that it feels freeing to enactment that each down.”

Despite the overnight planetary fame “Squid Game” brought him (it’s Netflix’s most-watched bid of each time), Hwang has spoken extensively astir the carnal and intelligence toil of creating the show.

Visitors instrumentality photos adjacent a exemplary of the doll named “Younghee” that’s featured successful Netflix’s bid “Squid Game,” displayed astatine the Olympic parkland successful Seoul successful October 2021.

(Lee Jin-man / Associated Press)

He unsuccessfully shopped the amusement astir for a decennary until Netflix picked up the archetypal play successful 2019, paying the manager conscionable “enough to enactment nutrient connected the table” — portion claiming each of the show’s intelligence spot rights. During accumulation for the archetypal season, which was released successful 2021, Hwang mislaid respective teeth from stress.

A gateway into Korean contented for galore astir the world, “Squid Game” amusement served to spotlight antecedently lesser-known aspects of South Korean culture, bringing inventions similar dalgona java — made with a accepted Korean candy that was featured successful the amusement — to places specified arsenic Los Angeles and New York.

The amusement besides cleared a way for the planetary occurrence of different South Korean series, accelerating a aureate property of “Hallyu” (the Korean wave) that has boosted tourism and exports of nutrient and cosmetics, arsenic good arsenic planetary involvement successful learning Korean.

But alongside its worldly successes, the amusement besides provoked conversations astir socioeconomic inequality successful South Korean society, specified arsenic the prevalence of debt, which looms successful the backstories of respective characters.

A fewer years ago, President Lee Jae-myung, a longtime proponent of indebtedness relief, said, “‘Squid Game’ reveals the grim realities of our society. A playground successful which participants involvement their lives successful bid to wage disconnected their indebtedness is much than contention — it is an arena successful which you are warring to survive.”

In 2022, the amusement made past arsenic the archetypal non-English-language TV bid and the archetypal Korean bid to triumph a Screen Actors Guild Award, taking location 3 successful total. It besides won six Emmy Awards. That aforesaid year, the metropolis of L.A. designated Sept. 17 — the series’ merchandise day — arsenic “Squid Game Day.“

Although Hwang has said successful media interviews that helium is done with the “Squid Game” franchise, the Season 3 finale — which features Cate Blanchett successful a cameo arsenic a recruiter for the games that are the show’s namesake — has revived rumors that filmmaker David Fincher whitethorn prime it up for an English-language spinoff successful the future.

While saying helium had initially written a much accepted blessed ending, Hwang has described “Squid Game’s” last play arsenic a sobering past changeable to its unsparing representation of cutthroat capitalism.

“I wanted to absorption successful Season 3 connected however successful this world, wherever incessant greed is ever fueled, it’s similar a jungle — the beardown eating the weak, wherever radical ascent higher by stepping connected different people’s heads,” helium told The Times’ Michael Ordoña past month.

“Coming into Season 3, due to the fact that the economical strategy has failed us, authorities person failed us, it seems similar we person nary hope,” helium added. “What anticipation bash we person arsenic a quality contention erstwhile we tin nary longer power our ain greed? I wanted to research that. And successful particular, I wanted to [pose] that question to myself.”