Warning that this will likely be sad...and I will go on a tangent about Frontman, eventually, I usually do.

Okay, so lyric by lyric the song goes

"Lost the game of chance

What are the chances?"

— Inho while winning the games. Because he'd win, but he'd only have a chance of his wife surviving and she didn't so he "lost the game of chance." and what were the chances of her dying right when he got enough money to save her?

Side note (not side, I ended up YAPPING), saying this will likely make Frontman sound really bad...but I feel like sometimes Frontman silently judges Inho for going to join the games and leaving her. Cause he'd kinda be like "She was dying, she was pregnant, and you disappeared." Like that might've been her final straw or something, l don't know, and Frontman also doesn't know because he doesn't have those memories of having a wife, but any normal person can imagine the stress that such a situation would put on a sick person. Her husband going no-contact for five days while she'd be pregnant and dying. IMAGINE. And in my head, my personal headcanon is that she could sense that he's in danger. She would feel it...and I feel like Junho would try to hide from her that his brother went missing for like the first two days, but on the third, she would get really worried and have an argument about it cause imagine her like "I wanna see him. Where is he? Why isn't he visiting anymore? Something's happened to him. I wanna know what." She never got to see him again, by the way. That feels like twisting the knife.

Later on, Inho would hear about her argument, feel so much guilt, and I feel like its part of why introject Hye-in doesn't really like him that much...Inho would internalize so much guilt over what happened that when he'd split an introject of her, she'd blame him as a result. I don't think that introject Hye-in hates him, but I don't think that she particulary likes him either. Me, personally, I like thinking that, on a platonic level, she's closest to Young-il in the system...he's like a gay best friend with her...they have no issue fronting together usually. Then there's 132 that she falls in love with and everyone else...Frontman and Inho are usually "everyone else" category to introject Hye-in.

But side note, basically like I said, Frontman would sometimes silently judge Inho over how he handled the whole situation with Hye-in...but I also think Frontman would very much get that he was desperate to save her, backed into a corner...he'd keep his opinion to himself out of respect for Inho and his choices.

Lets not forget Inho has a strong moral compass. Which bleeds into the fact that Frontman doesn't. So Frontman respects Inho and his choices, but the reason he would judge is also because he would have made different choices than Inho...more or less morally right. Inho has a policeman moral compass which would include stuff like "Everyone is equal.", "Never lay hands on anyone unless provoked."; "Everyone has a right to their own body.", all good stuff for a policeman, but stuff that are not sustainable for their specific life in the long run...which is part of why Frontman would split eventually. Frontman's moral compass is skewed towards protection, his top priority is keeping his system and his loved ones safe at all costs. So, for him, autonomy flies out the window when its life or death situation. What a loved one wants doesn't matter to Frontman if they're dying. So basically I said this, but I think Frontman would've cut the whole issue with his wife's baby way sooner than Inho...cause personally I headcanon that the reason Hye-in's condition worsens so much is because she gets pregnant. She's pregnant, she needs to stop her liver treatment because it would affect her pregancy, so lack of treatment worsens her condition. So Frontman wouldn't have allowed her to cut the treatment. But without cutting the treatment, the pregnancy would have ended, the baby would have died...all stuff that Frontman would be okay with, but not Inho...so Inho did his best with the choices he had and Frontman respects him.

I'm sorry that I went on a ramble here...but one more side note that I also thought about. This whole autonomy issue would also be part of the reason that Frontman would agree to marry Gihun, for Young-il. Not whole reason because I like thinking that by the time Gihun would ask the question, their love would obviously be the main reason. Like no genuienly by the time they'd get to marriage, Frontman would love Gihun too. Pretty much everyone in the system would love, like or tolerate Gihun more or less, to different extents. But before marriage, Frontman would have this nagging thought in the back of his head that if anything bad were to happen to Gihun, their access to him isn't immediate and isn't guaranteed...because they wouldn't be married. The closest relative that would get to see Gihun and make all the choices on whatever would be needed would be Ga-yeong if she'd be of age, or his former wife, Eun-ji. And that really wouldn't sit right with Frontman. So you know, like the main reason Frontman would wanna marry Gihun would be their love, of course, but this would be an added reason, like the cherry on top. To Frontman, marriage would be a safety blanket. If anything bad were to happen to Gihun, he could walk in and literally go like "I'm his husband, where is he?" as opposed to not having anything. And same goes for Gihun, by the way. If anything bad were to happen to them, with their disorder and all of it, Gihun would be able to get to them as fast as humanly possible.

This having been said, I do feel like even married, Frontman wouldn't give up on his masked officer. He wouldn't cheat, he'd tell Gihun, but they would need to have a talk. But don't get me started on Frontman and The Masked Officer cause I will YAP. Infincer, my beloved. I have so much to say. And I think I've said enough so far...a side note turned into a whole essay. BACK TO THE LYRICS.

So. We got the lyrics

"Lost the game of chance.

What are the chances?"

...because Inho would lose the game of chance with his wife.

Then the song goes like:

"Soon they'll go home to their husbands.

Smug cause they know they can trust him.

Then feverlishly calling their cousins.

"Guess who we ran into at the bar

Walking in circles like she was lost.

Didn't you hear?

They called it all off."

One gasp and then

"How did it end?"

— this but Inho when people would gossip about his wife's treatment and eventual passing. Because imagine.

"Soon they'll go home to their husbands

Hugging them closer while they still can

Then feverlishly calling their colleagues (and then police colleagues talking)

"Guess who we ran into at the bar.

Walking in circles like he was lost.

Didn't you hear?

His wife died recently."

One gasp and then

"How did it end?"

Like DO YOU SEE WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT???? Cause I do. This song is so Inho grieving his wife's loss. And more or less, all the people talking I feel like would get Inho to feel ostracized by them...all the pity looks, which is part of why he'd quit his job as a police officer. 132 would carry some of those feelings when he'd split.

Which somewhat goes really nice with the song because I think the next lyrics fit 132 splitting. So the song goes like.

"Say it once again with feeling.

How the death rattle breathing.

Silenced as the soul was leaving.

The deflation of our dreaming.

Leaving me bereft and reeling

My beloved ghost and me

Sitting in a tree

D-Y-I-N-G

Its happening again

How did it end?

I can't pretend like I understand.

How did it end?"

I'll somewhat take it lyric by lyric.

"Say it once again with feeling." – Inho splitting once again. Because, the way I headcanon, he would have already split with Young-il when they were younger...but then its once again...with feeling...132.

"How the death rattle breathing." – 132 taking and having his memories, musing about how a dying person rattles their breathing.

"Silenced as the soul was leaving." – 132 silencing those players while killing them...all happening while his wife's soul would be leaving, because she'd die. Silenced as the soul was leaving.

"The deflation of our dreaming." — Inho finding out she died, never getting to say his goodbye, so all his dreams with Hye-in would deflate like a ballon to nothing.

"Leaving me bereft and reeling." — Inho not coping well with her loss.

"My beloved ghost and me.

Sitting in a tree.

D-Y-I-N-G."

fits somewhat with Inho splitting Hye-in.. sitting with her in a tree, but its not her, its an introject, basically.

"It's happening again." — Inho noticing a new voice in his head, and realizing "It's happening again." He's hearing voices...he'd technically been hearing Young-il too but because he was only one voice it felt more natural...with 132, Inho would realize he is actually hearing voices because he'd have DID but not know.

"How did it end?" — Inho not remembering how he coped with the voice in his head before, Young-il. Not knowing how his disorder was functional and struggling to find a way like "How did it end? How did I do it before? How did I function?" Not easy, for sure.

"I can't pretend like I understand." — Inho not getting his disorder basically.

"How did it end?" — Inho getting amnesia about those memories of what he did to survive, because 132 would take those so Inho would question himself like "How did it end?" you know.

A stab wound entirely through the hand like his would most definitely have severed a fuckton of his tendons in his hand— causing permanent stiffness and numbness along with a massive amount of loss of movement in his fingers. The show obviously didn’t reflect nearly a fraction of the effects of the stab wound besides the scar— but as someone who knew someone closely who had been stabbed through the hand and made a recovery after— Gihun’s hand scar ALWAYS interests me.

Gihun would have a LOT of trouble using that hand to hold things, press buttons, flip switches— literally anything. The nerve damage would be so debilitating the poor man could not feel pretty much any stimuli in that entire hand, but there’d be plenty of tremors and weakness in that hand. He would definitely need help holding things and picking things up with that left hand.

I personally had to light cigarettes and hold them for my friend— I could only imagine someone else would have to do the same for him. There were plenty of times when my friend simply needed me to massage his hand so that he could feel like he was feeling something and ease the discomfort/slight pain in it— cause even though its not supposed to be exactly painful, working tendons and muscles that are severed can get rather sore— and I did, so I could also see at least him doing it for himself with his other hand if not stepping out of isolation and asking someone else to (maybe Mr. Kim on one of the days that he brought medicine? And maybe thats what the medicine is for?)

Also, he did not get medical attention as immediately as he should have for what happened to it— so he very likely risked permanent functional loss AND deformity as well. It’s amazing that he supposedly healed so well but also…did he really though? ㅠㅠ also disability rep pls ㅠㅠ just a crumb LOL

I could get into headcanons and aus and stuff but i mainly just want to bring visibility to the injury/disability part of him that i love— cause i could make a whole other post for that. There are plenty of injuries and illnesses that Squid Game characters endured that could or would cause them to become disabled, and the point of my ramblings is not to say that that should be default or that that is the correct way to do it— nor is it even to force or guilt anyone to make disability content in the Squid Game fandom— but it is more so to say why the hell can’t they be disabled?(/lh) Especially with all the “x survives” aus as well!

I've wanted to make this post for ages (thank you to Joanne for giving me the push I needed)-- I mentioned on here ages ago that I was sure HDH was a huge Kubrick fanboy. These are some of the similarities and reasons I had that thought! In general a lot of Squid Game just vibes Kubrick to me. I'm not a huge Kubrick fan, but I do love The Shining, and recognize what an amazing director he was, so even though I don't really dig most of his movies, I have watched most of them.

Some of these are more along the lines of things Kubrick films and Squid Game have in common because Kubrick has such a wide influence over filmmaking, where others are more I think HDH meant them as an intentional homage.

Music

The Dies Irae: to be fair, it's an incredibly common musical motif! Originally (I believe) from the 13th C Gregorian chant (the Dies Irae poem is much older but this is the melody):

This motif is featured in the iconic Pink Soldiers Theme! if you can read music or are familiar with the Dies Irae melody and have seen Kubrick's The Shining, you'll recognize it from the opening score of movie as well! Fun fact: it also features in the Kpop Demon Hunters Song Your Idol (like. the actual words, lol).

Blue Danube: The piece that plays before each game in Squid Game (and I think during the final dinner scene in s1?) HEAVILY associated with Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. To be fair, if you're saying "huh?", the associated is probably stronger with people over ~35 and film buffs, but HDH is both!

Also Sprach Zarathustra: A reach, perhaps, but the book the musical piece was named for (Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra) is one of the books in In-ho's s1 apartment (I'm 90% sure? although some people have said it's a different Nietzsche book and I haven't had the chance to investigate which one lol). If Blue Danube is heavily associated with 2001, Also Sprach Zarathustra is basically permanently attached to the movie in the cultural zeitgeist.

Also just-- the somewhat out of place use of classical music in general reminded me of A Clockwork Orange.

Set and Costume design

The white waiting rooms:

On the left- moon lobby from 2001, on the right- the all white game lobbies in Squid Game. The pink of the chairs even matches the pink of the guards uniforms.

Human furniture:

On the left- human (mannequin) furniture in A Clockwork Orange, the right- Squid Game human furniture.

The bunk beds:

On the left- bunks in Full Metal Jacket, on the right, bunks in Squid Game. Obviously the Squid Game ones are stacked much higher, but they are very reminiscent of each other in design!

Dinner scenes:

The candelabras caught my eye here. On the left, Barry Lyndon, on the right, Squid Game finalists dinner.

Masks:

The left, the masks the secret society millionaire elitists wear in Eyes Wide Shut, on the right, Squid Game VIP masks

Death bed:

Saw this one discussed on Reddit and it really pinged something in my brain! On the left, 2001. Dave Bowman as an old man in his death bed, the black monolith appearing before him, then he dies/is reborn. On the right, Squid Game. Oh Il-nam on his death bed, Gihun dressed all in black at the foot of his bed, then he dies (and Gihun is reborn?). The blanket/sheets are also very similar in color?

Specific shots/framing

The Kubrick Stare:

Very well-known (and the topic that finally motivated me to make this post!). The stare that signals someone is dangerous! In-ho spends half of s2 Kubrick staring at people. Gihun does this a lot at the beginning of s3 (rip Daeho).

One point perspective:

Kubrick was really well-known as a director for one-point perspective shots. I'm not an expert in filmmaking or anything so I'm describing this as a layperson, but it's basically what makes those super symmetrical shots- the shot has a single vanishing point which is generally right in the center of the frame.

This shot from Full Metal Jacket has the perspective lines drawn on it, probably explains it better than I did:

A few more examples from Kubrick- The Shining and 2001.

and some similar shots from Squid Game

Firstly, I'll admit each season got progressively weaker. Season 1 was one of the best first seasons of a show that I've ever seen. I really loved it. It was really satisfying to see such a fantastic and timely show go on to be a global phenomenon. Season 2 was pretty good but not on that level! Season 3 was fine. I'll get to that later on in this post.

What kept me coming back was the show's beautiful dedication to making these players as realistic of human beings as possible. The diversity of age, gender, and personality was always something I was impressed by. A good man who is trying to reconnect with his daughter, despite his bad terms with her mother. A young woman who escaped North Korea and just wants to reunite with her brother. A disgraced businessman who wants to erase his family's shame. A Pakistani immigrant who just wants to support his family. A trans woman who just wants to live as her true self. A young pregnant girl who ended up in this absolute mess. Said pregnant girl's crappy baby daddy who ends up being a selfish asshole. Naive gamers, selfish gamblers, greedy men and women.

And even the unlikable characters are given screen time. Some have understandable motivations. Others don't. Because that's how people are.

These characters all end up in the same unfortunate situation.

Squid Game may have been memeified to the high heavens, but its message and commentary is extremely important.

Capitalism makes everyone fend for themselves, often at the expense of others. We are pitted against each other by the top 1% and told that money makes up your own value. I'm sure most of us think we're stand up human beings and even in dark times, we won't turn against one another, but Squid Game asks you to look at yourself--really look--and think "If my life was at stake, would I truly be a selfless person?"

It's a wake up call to every human being on this planet. You may think that you would sacrifice yourself for someone less fortunate than you, but.. would you? How many people can say that and be telling the truth?

Like Gi-hun says in his final moments: humans are not horses. We cannot just sit back and let ourselves be played with. Care for your fellow man. The kindest of people are usually lower on the economic ladder. Our economic system makes it clear that it's often easier to put others down for yourself to succeed. Those who do succeed through kindness will work harder. Some get lucky. Or maybe it's all by chance.

I was thinking to myself while watching season 3: "why is everyone dying? This is so depressing!" But now that I've had time to think, I realize that that's the point. This show is of the view that for the system to be overthrown, sacrifices must be made. But in the end, we do this for our future generations. Do it for our children and their children and so on. Making the world better for everyone right now is a noble goal but making it better for everyone in the future is even more noble.

It's what Jun-hee was thinking when she sacrificed herself for her daughter. If you are of this current generation, it's important to acknowledge the sacrifices our parents made for us. But know that you have the power to make it better. How?

By living.

The biggest act of defiance against the system is living.

Now that may sound weird in a show where literally everyone dies in the end, but think about it.

Even throughout the show's most horrific times. The players still find moments of small joys. Bonding over your pasts, telling stories, making friends, and sharing your thoughts. At the risk of sounding cliche, it's these moments that are priceless. With the same clothes, all given a number, there's an even playing field that opens doors for people to just be. A prime example of this is Hyun-ju and Young-mi. In spite of not having known each other, out of the goodness of their hearts, so many characters give their care and energy to strangers who need it.

Even though I was dissatisfied with how the show handled its latter two seasons, I'm happy that a show with this commentary has been such a hit.