“Squid Game” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk on the “darker” Season 2
Fans of Squidward know that a wake-up call means someone is going to die. Not our hero Ki-hoon, but one or more players hoping to win riches in a childish but deadly game. It is both a thriller and a critique of inequality and greed.
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Season 1 was an international blockbuster. The show has been viewed 330 million times and is Netflix’s most-watched series ever. The show’s star Lee Jung Jae and screenwriter Hwang Dong Hyuk won Emmy Awards. Both made history as the first Asian winners in their respective categories.
We first spoke with Huang in South Korea as he prepared to embark on a global promotional tour for season two.
“So, are you in a sweet spot now?” I asked.
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘sweet spot,'” Huang replied.
“Just things going well?”
“But it’s not easy. Nothing is easy,” he said. “People kept telling me, ‘You are the happiest person in Korea.'” But in my heart, I wasn’t that happy, and I struggled day and night. “
That’s thanks to a heavy workload: Huang directs and writes every episode. Sworn to secrecy, Sunday Morning was invited to a soundstage outside Seoul, where much of the second season was shot.
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Wong was at the top of his game, but that wasn’t always the case. He was only five years old when his father died. Afterwards, his family fell into poverty, he said. As a struggling filmmaker and deeply in debt, Huang said he sought escape in comic books. “I read a lot of survival game-type and gambling-type books,” he said. “It got me thinking, what if I combined a childhood game with people risking their lives for a huge cash prize? That’s how the idea was conceived.”
A sensational work was born.
In the show, desperate contestants who will do anything for money are exploited by an evil game master and powerful frontman.
When asked if Squidward represents how he views capitalists and capitalism—a bunch of desperate people being manipulated by a ruthless and wealthy elite—Huang responded, “I think fundamentally, continuing to push the system It’s human selfishness and greed. I’m becoming more and more pessimistic about human nature these days, and I almost think that for Homo sapiens, it’s greed that allows them to create a society that makes them feel most comfortable.”
Many of the characters in season two are new (Huang killed off a lot of them in season one), but the guards are back, as is Ki-hoon, now on a mission destined to stop the game.
To watch the trailer for “Squid Game: Season 2,” click on the video player below:
Huang said that the second and third seasons of “Squid Game” “will show people the lowest level of the world and the lowest level of mankind.”
So, will it get darker? “Yeah, it gets darker and darker every episode,” Huang said.
The show is so popular that 50,000 people recently applied to participate in a real-life (but not deadly) squid game in Paris. Prize: An early look at the new season.
Huang was surprised, especially at the huge success of his show in the United States, as American audiences don’t traditionally watch TV series with subtitles: “I’ve always wanted to make some shows that would be very popular in the United States, so I was surprised,” he explain. “At the same time, my dream has come true. But this level of success has exceeded my expectations.”
Ironically, the creator of this dystopian fable of despair and poverty now finds himself a rich man—one of capitalism’s great winners. Has this changed him? “Not much,” he said. “Of course it made my life better because I didn’t have to worry about (making) money anymore. But since then, I don’t think more success or more money has changed me that much because it’s Just a number means nothing to me at all.”
What Do What is meaningful is his work. But the success and pressure of Squidward has taken its toll: “I’ve been working on this project day and night for over five years. I’m so tired. I’m so tired.” Bored, you know? ” He laughed. “I need a rest, I need a rest. “
Free from non-stop work…free from the dark depths of humanity.
So, what makes Hwang Donghyuk smile? “My friends! I love talking and drinking beer with my friends.”
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Story by Michaela Bufano. Editor: Joseph Flandino.
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