Seoul — First was the movie Parasite. Next is Yoo Jeongyeon from ‘Minari’. Well, “squid game”.
The success of the dystopian Netflix drama at Tuesday’s Emmy Awards — whose star Lee Jung-jae won Best Actor for a foreign-language program for the first time — was greeted with cheers in South Korea and hailed as the country’s latest example. I was. Rise as a cultural superpower.
South Korea’s major media outlets such as MBC When union We made the news the lead story on our website. Chosun IlboOne of the nation’s biggest newspapers, The Squid Game, has written a “new history of K-dramas”.
“It seems that Korean productions are gaining more and more international recognition, which is exciting,” said Seoul-based commercial producer Lee Jae, who took a quick look at the series as soon as it came out last year.
South Korean director Hwang Dong-hyuk’s nine-episode survival drama The Squid Game has become a global phenomenon thanks to its candy-colored sets and scathing criticism of capitalist society. The show, produced by Netflix and released last September, has become the most-watched series of all time.
The drama centers on a race between 456 heavily indebted individuals who pit themselves against each other for a prize of nearly $40 million. Players must progress through several rounds of supercharged kid games such as Tug of War and Red and Blue Lights to win. The loser dies instantly.
The show’s popularity has sparked a Halloween costume frenzy of green tracksuits, pink boiler suits, and black masks to dress up as the show’s players and security guards.
The show’s candid commentary on a deeply unequal society and moral bankruptcy resonated beyond South Korea, capitalizing on the familiar dissatisfaction with wealth disparities around the world.
“It deals with this global trend of widening inequality between the rich and the poor, a phenomenon that is not unique to South Korea but is collectively experienced by the international community.” Lee, the show’s star, said in July.
Ted Sarandos, co-CEO and chief content officer of Netflix, said the series outperformed popular non-English shows such as “Money Heist” and “Lupin” at the time.and business conference Last year, he said “Squid Game” “blew them all away.”
The show’s success is the latest in a string of international accolades for Korean productions that have explored themes of inequality and economic struggle.
In 2020, Bong Joon-ho’s class satirical film “Parasite” became the first foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Last year, South Korean veteran her star Yoon starred in Minari, a film about an ill-fated family of Korean immigrants living in rural Arkansas in her 1980s when many poor Koreans left for the United States. She won Best Supporting Actress for her role. condition for a better life.
These previous awards show the increasing acceptance of foreign-language works, said Professor Daniel Martin of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He said the success of “Squid Game” at the Emmy Awards could be “hopefully a sign of a generational shift.”
Audiences said, “While they may go back to not caring about non-English content, the victory of ‘Squid Game’ shows that audiences are embracing Korean content, which is encouraging.” ,” said Martin.
South Korea has emerged as an entertainment giant in recent years, attracting global audiences with K-pop bands like BTS, hit TV shows and critically acclaimed movies.
Asia is an increasingly important market for Netflix. In the first three months of the year, Asia was the only region to show growth as Netflix lost subscribers for the first time in a decade, with Japan, India and the Philippines among the countries adding subscribers. was included. In the second quarter, Netflix added 1.1 million subscribers in Asia.
For “Squid Game,” an Emmy is just the latest achievement. In February, the drama won multiple awards at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Jung Ho Young.
One of South Korea’s most successful actors, Lee began her career as a model before appearing in many hit Korean films, playing characters such as romantic leads and vicious gangsters. His directorial debut, a spy thriller “Hunt,” was released in South Korea last month.
His fans were raving about it on social media and online forums.
“To Korea’s Lee Jung-jae! Congratulations on winning the Best Actor Award. You are an actor who will do your best for the work and your fans. I applaud you for your efforts to deserve such an achievement.” One fan commented. twitter.
“Wow, Lee Jung-jae won Best Actor. He’s really great,” said another fan Tweeted.
In her acceptance speech, Lee acknowledged her fan support at home and her love for the show. “I would like to share this honor with my family, friends and dear fans watching from South Korea. Thank you!” he said.