‘Squid Game’ creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has said he still believes in a humanity that moves people to put confidence in a better and more just society even under the life-and-death pressure of social survival games, reports Yonhap News Agency.
“We are living in a society where people dare to tread on other people to survive,” he said in a pre-taped interview by the Seoul-based Corea Image Communication Institute. “But I still believe that this society doesn’t have to be one where we need to kill others and override them to go up.”
He cited a quote by Sae-byeok (the character played by Jung Ho-yeon) in the eighth episode: “Don’t do it. That isn’t you. You’re a good person at heart.” The words interrupt Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who tries to stab his old friend and final competitor Sang-woo while he is sleeping, ahead of the final round of the deadly contest of heavily debt-ridden people to win the equivalent of $38.2 million in prize money.
The simplicity of the children’s games and satire of modern capitalist society in ‘Squid Game’ won enthusiastic response across the world, becoming the most successful Netflix show in history. It was viewed for more than 1.65 billion hours in the first four weeks after its release on September 17 last year.
Hwang, who wrote and directed the nine-part dystopian series, said that the world has changed to a large extent since he first conceived the idea of making ‘Squid Game’ about 10 years ago. A draft of ‘Squid Game’ had been shelved for about a decade, as local investors and producers turned down Hwang’s project.