Hwang Dong-hyuk, the director of Squid Game, recently talked about the hidden realities of the show’s VIP characters, exposing how some of the show’s most sinister characters were influenced by real-life billionaires, political disputes, and even his own personal hardships. “They’re not hiding anymore,” he said. Squid Game
Hwang infused *Squid Game* with elements from his own life, using personal struggles as a foundation for the story. The show mostly follows impoverished and desperate gamers who are prepared to murder one another in order to obtain money. The show makes it apparent that the ultra-wealthy elites watching from above are the real villains, despite the fact that viewers have frequently chastised the participants for their self-centred behaviour.
The VIPs are wealthy elites who treat the struggles of the poor like a twisted form of entertainment.
The True Source of Inspiration for the VIPs
Episode 7 of Season 1 introduces the VIPs. They are depicted as obscenely wealthy, alcoholic, English-speaking males who wear gilded animal masks and wager on players’ lives as if it were a horse race. They stay hidden in opulent suites during Season 1, watching the mayhem from afar while receiving protection and pampering from Lee Byung-hun’s character, the Front Man.
It turns out that Oh Il-nam, Player 001, was in fact in charge of the VIPs. As he was dying, he made the lethal games only for fun, showing how the ultra-wealthy may lose touch with life and human misery.
However, these VIPs go above and beyond in Season 3. They participate in the game rather than only watching it. They take off their masks and use their bare hands to murder. Squid Game
This change was deliberate, Hwang said. He aimed to demonstrate how those in positions of power no longer even attempt to hide their influence. He said to TIME magazine, “In the past, those who really controlled the system stayed hidden behind the scenes, almost like a massive invisible conspiracy.” But, particularly in the United States, that is no longer the case.
We talk about oligarchies a lot these days,” he added. However, these alleged tech titans come out in the open. They publicly identify the causes they fund. As if to declare, “We run everything,” they voluntarily remove their masks. We have authority.
Are Actual People the Subject of This?
Hwang acknowledges that the world around him began to resemble his characters—especially those like Elon Musk—during the writing process, even though the VIPs weren’t based on any one person.
“Elon Musk is everywhere, isn’t he?” Hwang uttered those words. “Everyone discusses him. He is a showman in addition to being the leader of a significant tech corporation that seems to rule the world. I absolutely thought, “Wow, some of the VIPs really remind me of Elon Musk,” after finishing [Season 3].
He also disclosed that, although he hadn’t intended it that way, one of the VIPs inadvertently ended up looking like former US President Donald Trump.
Squid Game Was Inspired by Real-Life Events
Hwang also discussed in the interview how the global financial crisis of 2008 and his own financial difficulties affected the development of the plot. He brought up political unrest in South Korea, which included the removal of a president, and even the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, in which Trump supporters broke into the building.
He became aware of the extremities people will go to out of hatred and greed as a result of these incidents. He thinks society dehumanises those who hold different opinions and has lost the capacity to disagree politely.
Hwang even started to wonder if democratic elections were still viable in light of the advent of AI, algorithms, and fake news. Players are asked to vote on who should be killed next in the series’ second-to-last episode. Gi-hun is handed a baby and forced to make an unthinkable choice. As though they were not making a life-or-death decision, one participant declares, “Let’s vote on who should die—and keep it democratic.”