maamiamtryingmybest

[maamiamtryingmybest]

Spoiler Warning ahead for Squid Game and Cyberpunk Edgerunners

When Gi-hun died, it felt empty. I was so puzzled about why it felt empty when in contrast to Cyberpunk, the ending felt so impactful. They both died because of some overarching oppressive capitalistic system but one feels deeper than the other. In Cyberpunk, David didn't really have much ambition of his own. He wanted to carry out Maine's role and make Lucy happy. He became one of the most powerful against the odds and died on the hands of Adam Smasher. Lucy got away and got her dream; only for that dream to be empty and unsatisfactory. In Squid Game, Gi-hun died because he wanted to save the baby. Because the game technically didn't start as yet and MG Coin didn't count, he died so both won't get executed. Gi-hun's goal was to save everyone but in a self-sacrifice he was able to save one person.

I think the difference is that the former made it clear that despite fighting against the oppressive nature of Night City, where the upper class has the ultimate advantage over everyone. There is something emphasised about the helplessness of it all; where at a moment's notice your life is instantly ruined and no one is there to help you because of how hard the corpos decided to make it for everyone. The main crew looked like they were rebelling against the status quo, only for there to be a line to say that "the corpos control everything". It just made one realise how no matter how one fight against it, it's a very hard to get out of the pure corporate control. It makes you feel like your dreams of becoming so impressive so meaningless in contrast to the real powers that could make you disappear if they feel like it. Which makes David all the more impressive because he managed to make it that far to become a legend of his own. David's death was always foreshadowed and it still hurt because we grew to like him throughout the season. Also, we still had a payoff of Lucy's ambition, only that her dream coming true felt hollow when she realised she was alone. With Squid Game, Gi-hun's death rang empty because I felt like it wasn't discussing the realities of how these oppressive systems came to fruition in the first place. Yes, we we saw how the rich was enjoying the games, but everything feels like, "well, that's how the world works" And I think a really major component is the idea of consent. It doesn't feel like they're giving a great understanding of how this misleading idea of consent work that arises through the voting system. Even though some people "chose" to be a part of Squid Games, that's because of how horrible the outside world was treating them like the upper classes that constantly exploits, while pouring money into ridiculous things such as watching poor people suffer for no reason. They didn't choose out of free will, they chose because they had to or else the children that needs medical treatment will die. They chose because they have debilitating debt. They chose because they're a part of a marginalised community that makes it difficult to be financially stable. I don't feel like there was an emphasis on how the rich was actively contributing to these factors such as in Cyberpunk where you saw that the Trauma Team was more ready to tend to rich persons than someone who could not pay for their service.

Gi-hun died by the rules of the game, not against them, the same rules that the frontman pretended was the natural state of the world, and not manufactured by rich sadists who could have easily provided help. While David died fighting against corpo's most powerful weapon against him. In that way, David had his own rebellion to his last breath. And him dying highlighted even more how the oppressive systems are hellishly difficult to confront. I think it's that Squid Games left out the part where it shows that reality that I just mentioned that makes it feel empty. Of course, Gi-hun would sacrifice himself to save the baby because he wants to show that he cares above all else, in contrast to the rest of the players and the rich guests who was overseeing everything. But something was missing there and I feel like it's that lack of acknowledgement of how badly exploitation is. We saw how the game worked as it does the first time where the rules are more or less abided by, so the game resuming as normal after the coup did not feel engaging as it should be because I was really looking forward to that deconstruction of Squid Games as itself. Gi-hun's last exclamation is that "We are not horses." But there is something about that horses analogy that could go even deeper than just that. Because if the contestants are just "horses in a race", then who put the horses there? Like I said, a lot of these people did not choose to be a part of the Squid Games freely. They chose because of how severely disadvantaged they are, and the VIPS knew that and enjoy their suffering. (As well as being the ones who contributed to them joining Squid Games in the first place.)

I would have really liked if Detective Hwang was able to bring something to fruition from two seasons of searching the island, maybe bring some more chaotic to the already unstable facility. We saw guards infighting and the last season just ended with a coup. I thought as the series nears its ends, the system that took disadvantage of so much people would implode because people will not take the abuse forever. It may be 5 years or 20, but it would not have gone forever and I think that even if the rich people made it out alive, there would be some impact that would happen that wouldn't be solely the Squid Games had to relocate.

There are other things I have in mind as well. The last game, sky squid game, lacked the dynamic part of the original squid game. We were connected to both Sang-woo and Gi-hun, and we saw how their friendship turned into rivalry. The emotional stakes were high as well as the physical and it really hurt seeing Sang-woo's end like that. However, in this version, it was initially just standing and arguing and the stakes did not feel as high. I did not care for most of the finalists here and I didn't feel anything for player 125's death. Most of them were really selfish and I know that it's typical for people in oppressed groups to think that it's better to sacrifice the ability to care in order to benefit them and their immediate circle(only for sooner or later, most of them end up being taken advantage of). But something about how the execution of the characters does not feel as right as it should have, maybe because since we see the players being more active in their greed than the VIPs who are passive enjoyers we don't attribute the responsibilty as equally. While the players are responsible are continuing the game and simply wanting to kill the child, the VIPs are just as or more responsible for creating the systems that led to this point and allowing people to kill each other when they have all the power to stop them. But I don't know that part came across for others. Also, I know Gi-hun's decision not to kill anyone in the beds was because he had a moral conscience but I feel like it didn't really amount to anything when he helped to kill most of them anyway. MG Coin's final reveal that he was a villain did not feel as earned as it should have. I noticed that we saw the rich people had more input in season 3 than in season 1 and I would've liked it if having more screentime had much more impact on the story. Even the idea of the other VIPs being more involved in the game as guards feels like it has more potential than one short scene of them revealing their faces.

All in all, Gi-hun's self-sacrifice made sense but it didn't feel satisfactory, most likely because it didn't do enough introspection as to why these forces are in place which led to his sacrifice, as well as how Squid Games formed as a whole in response to rich people's taste for violence. While David's death felt impactful because while it showed how inescapable the abusive nature of corporate control is where it does not downplay the cruelties the upper class tend to display.

[maamiamtryingmybest]

[maamiamtryingmybest]

Some people simply cannot afford these books due to so many factors such as availability etc. The softcopies of these books are so crucial to students, researchers and more :(