“An oligarchy is taking shape in America,” said President Biden in his farewell address, giving a bleak warning about the increasing consolidation of power into the hands of tech billionaires. The top 1% own 34.9% of the country’s wealth and income inequality levels are on par with countries like Russia and Algeria.
Inequality levels have regressed to that of the Gilded Age in the 1920s.
As lower and working classes are increasingly subjugated around the world, Squid Game has become the most watched show on Netflix. Viewers are attracted by its visceral, anti-capitalist message, compelling characters, and phenomenal art direction. However, the roughly $900 million success of the show has transformed it into a commodity. Even the series’ creator Hwang Dong-hyuk admitted that he is “sick” of Squid Game and only made the second season because he was not paid well enough for making the first. This lack of passion seemed to influence the shift in focus from social commentary to
revenge.
“Season 2 is [Gi-hun’s] revenge arc. The theme of anti-capitalism was less important,” says Naomi Niu-Patton, ‘26.
Squid Game has exposed just how unfamiliar ideas of class consciousness are in the US, with reality TV offshoots like Netflix’s 2023 reality show Squid Game: The Challenge and especially Mr. Beast’s 2024 dystopian Beast Games competing to render the concept of Squid Game unrecognizable.
Despite the massive viewership of both reality competition shows, critical reception has been largely negative, rating just above 2 stars. Viewers of Squid Game: The Challenge express frustration with its shallowness and focus on drama between players.
“I hated how annoying the players were,” says Aidan Fine, ‘26.
Beast Games is more controversial. In September 2024, five anonymous contestants filed a lawsuit against Mr. Beast and Amazon, alleging inadequate access to food and water, sexual harassment, and lack of medical care. Aside from alleged human rights violations, the show gleefully exploits the desperation of ordinary people to support their families and themselves, compelling them to stab each other in the back and scramble for money in childish challenges, promoting greed and selfishness under the guise of “benevolence.” Sound familiar?
It seems America’s favorite part of Squid Game is the game itself, with less care given to the human story as accountability for the most powerful in society is eroded. After the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024, debates about wealth inequality have exploded on social media. With Elon Musk leading the Department of Government Efficiency and billionaires seated in the front row at the inauguration, their focus will be to transfer even more wealth from the bottom 50% of Americans to the top 1%. The American economy is at a turning point and, unless we are ready to risk our lives playing red-light green-light, something needs to change.
