*SPOILER ALERT!* If you have not watched "Squid Games" and plan on it, DO NOT read this article. I will be sharing not a review of the viral series but rather its themes and meaning for us.
Hierarchies
In every society we have a hierarchical system in place. Many do not recognize it, others certainly do. We common citizens of the world are at the bottom rung of the ladder. Even our bosses (if we have one - I do not) are on this bottom rung despite their authority over us. We are small fish in the pond of the powers that be but that's fine with me.
A notch above these managers and supervisors there may be a CEO or an owner of a corporation. They may be said to be on a rung higher than ours. They may answer to or work for or with powerful politicians. Here then is another system of hierarchical power. Aside from mayors and council members, which typically do not hold any real power per se, I speak of representatives, senators and the vice-president and president of a country.
In "Squid Game" the ones running the game are ranked by a mask with either a circle, triangle or square. Above there people are the Front Man and the VIPs.
Though the Front Man and his workers (slaves like us) claim there is an equity among all 436 players in the game, in reality there is not. Power always wields a heavy hand over the disadvantaged and this is no different than in the the 9-part series that has been watched in 90 countries since its premiere.
Above: The Front Man. He is like the supervisor for the elites who are some of the richest men on Earth. They have so much money that life is no longer fun. They can buy anything their hearts desire and have it all, so they "bet on humans" like some of us bet on horse races or cockfights or the lottery.
The elite see the six Squid games as a fun form of entertainment. I won't post an image of the elites and spoil the fun. Suffice it to say they are also disguised like everybody else but the players.
The central theme, then, is the power the elites have over the world and thus have over everyone else on the planet. If you think about it wisely, you will see that what the series portrays is certainly true in our world today.
Money
Money makes the world go 'round, right? There is nothing wrong with money, but there is something wrong for the love of money, as it is the root of all evil. This too is a major theme in the "Squid Game" series.
Players have an opportunity to win ... I won't say how much but it is a substantial amount.
We have seen from our experiences that the lure of money makes some people do things they would not ordinarily do. "Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless" (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
Human smuggling
The smuggling of humans happens in countries throughout the world. It is a sad crime against humanity. Women and children are the victims most of the time. Kids and females are sold into prostitution. Kids are sacrificed by the elite for their blood. This is true.
In "Squid Game" the trafficked people (players) are all heavily in debt.They have made bad financial decisions out of greed or foolishness or for other reasons. Basically, the players are tricked into playing the game and then whisked away to play. Again, I won't spoil the fun and explain how.
As for debt, the Apostle Paul says: "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8, NIV).
Equity rather than equality
Equality used to be all the rage in the world in Western civilizations but the pendulum has swung to equity, a more devious concept.
Equality attempts to provide the same resources to all people, whereas equity refers to the just and fair provision of resources to all people, which allegedly represents impartiality.
Equality supposedly provides an even playing field for all, but we don't see that in our world. On the other hand, equity allegedly gives everyone fair treatment, something else we do not observe.
In the Squidaverse, the supervisors who do the bidding for the Front Man and the VIPs constantly affirm that equity is inherent in all the games and that each player is treated fairly. If you have watched the series or plan to, you will note that this is simply not true. And it can never be true in our real world, either. Life is certainly not fair.
Godlessness
Only one person of all the players is religious. However, his theology is wrong. This is either because the writer (who is brilliant) didn't know Christian theology or because he intentionally wrote this into the script. I have no clue.
Though it is a form of Christian belief it nevertheless moves off from Biblical theology as found in God's word. I won't go into detail here. You may explore it on your own or perhaps you already know it providing you have watched the series.
Season 2?
Netflix reports that "Squid Game"is its most successful show ever. People are clamoring for another season. Will it happen? The ending (which I won't reveal) does leave a void thus a hint that there could be a follow up.
However, from what I have learned about show business is that it typically takes a couple of years from script to premiere, so we're looking at early 2023 if at all. I did see an interview where the writer said he wanted to make movie first but is keeping an open mind about it.
Good News
"Squid Game" is a story for our contemporary times in which we live. We humans are here one minute and gone in a blink of time. James, the brother of Jesus, put it this way: "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14, NIV).
Life isn't fair. Money is power. But one thing we can know for sure is that Jesus loves each and every one of us. We are therefore obligated to love Him back and be obedient to Him but we have a choice to do it or not. We can serve God or money but we cannot serve both. Which then will it be?
This movie looks interesting, it has captured the human kingdom...