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Cynicism taken into account: »Squid Game«, the series, becomes »Squid Game«, the reality show
Photo: Noh Juhan |
Netflix / Netflix
"The greatest Netflix series of all time is becoming the greatest reality show of all time." It couldn't be smaller when Netflix announced "Squid Game: The Challenge" last summer, the game show variant of the series high-flyer.
Now there are increasing signs that the shoot could be the biggest catastrophe in the history of reality shows.
More and more participants are reporting to the British and American media and reporting inhuman conditions on set: freezing temperatures, hours of waiting, hardly any support from the production team.
In Squid Game: The Challenge, 456 participants compete for a cash prize of $4.56 million.
The amount is significantly lower than in the South Korean series template, in which the players were able to win the equivalent of around 38 million dollars.
But it is by far the largest prize money for a reality show.
The drama series »Squid Game« tells the story of heavily indebted gambling addict Gi-hun, who receives an invitation to play a mysterious game that could solve his problems by winning.
However, he has to realize that his mission is his own life - losers are shot or otherwise murdered.
Netflix takes this basic idea and turns it into reality.
While no one is shot, the conditions still seem brutal.
Reports that surfaced after the first day of shooting on Monday last week indicate that the production company has lost control of the shoot and has simply overstretched itself with the huge number of participants.
Consistently, some of them report the freezing temperatures that bothered them on that first day of shooting.
The film was filmed in Bedford, UK, in an old aircraft hangar at temperatures around zero degrees.
The game "Red light, green light" can also be seen in the template.
The players are sometimes not allowed to move for a longer period of time.
In the reality show, according to participants, the time was sometimes extended to almost half an hour.
As in the series, they were only dressed in overalls and socks.
They had to take off their winter jackets, which they were allowed to bring with them.
Thermal underwear was handed out, but didn't help in the cold.
Several players collapsed and needed medical treatment.
However, the game was not interrupted.
Paramedics were initially not allowed to enter the field because the producers were worried about their recordings.
The shoot took nine hours in total.
One participant told Rolling Stone: "I've never seen anything more cruel and mean.
It was like a horse race and they treated us like horses.”
Another told Variety: "All the anguish and trauma we went through was not due to the game or the severity of the game.
It was the incompetence of the production company.«
The allegations cannot be independently verified.
All participants signed contracts prohibiting them from covering the shooting.
All are therefore quoted anonymously or under false names.
And apparently these are participants who dropped out right at the start.
Influencers were allegedly preferred
Netflix and the British production companies Studio Lambert and The Garden, who are jointly implementing the shoot, rejected all allegations in a statement: “The health of the players and the crew as well as the quality of the show are very important to us.
Any suggestion that the competition is rigged or claims that players are being seriously harmed are simply untrue.' Independent judges would monitor that it was fair to all.
This is exactly what participants in the »Rolling Stone« question.
They claim there is a clearly favored group of TikTok and Instagram influencers who should definitely make it through the first round, regardless of the true gameplay.
Many others would not have received real microphones, only dummies.
And although a large group of contestants crossed the finish line, they were told by the producers that they were eliminated.
Some participants seem to have revealed the atrocities on the first day.
While they were not allowed to move, there were reports of fellow players in their immediate vicinity who had collapsed.
An eyewitness says: 'It was horrible that there was a girl convulsing on the ground and we all stood there like the statues.
What planet is that even human on?
That's absurd!"
This development was already to be feared when the idea of the reality show was presented.
Because the original of "Squid Game" doesn't enjoy the suffering that is done to the participants of the game.
It is a satire on capitalism's promise that everyone can make it rich;
a piece of television art that criticizes this very promise as mendacious.
Netflix now thinks it's a good idea to ignore this criticism and let the competitions be played out in reality.
Without real blood, but with a real desire for sheer cynicism.
In the words of one participant: “Many had the idea of using the prize to change the lives of their families.
They were like, 'I'm going to go home with this, no matter what it costs me.' I think that's what the producers wanted. They wanted people not to think about their health, not to worry about their safety.”