In Netflix’s megahit Squid Game, childhood games become cutthroat affairs and, according to recent reports, those fictional stakes are now being emulated in the very schoolyards from which the series drew its inspiration.
According to The Guardian, groups throughout the UK are attempting to warn parents and teachers of an alarming trend in which children inflict physical violence upon one another in order to replicate the stakes featured in Netflix’s Squid Game. The education safeguarding team from Central Bedfordshire council issued a formal email to parents as a response to violent events at schools in Belgium.
Red Light, Green Light – known as Grandmother’s Footsteps or Statues in the UK – has been a popular catalyst for the type of incident reported in Belgium. The Guardian reports that the children who failed the game were beat up in an attempt to recreate Squid Game’s fatal elimination process.
A less violent, but equally dangerous, situation derives from Squid Game’s honeycomb challenge, featured in the episode “The Man with the Umbrella.” There have likewise been concerns over children inflicting serious burns while attempting to caramelize sugar to make their own honeycomb shapes to play this game. Unlike Red Light, Green Light, the honeycomb concern did not appear to have a documented incident attached to its alarm.
While many UK outlets have recommended parents not allow their children to watch Squid Game due to its violent content, these reported incidents appear to have their roots in TikTok’s portrayal of the series, rather than the series itself. Without the context of Squid Game, which presents the various games as harrowing and steeped in class politics, TikTok extracts the games themselves and distorts them as fun challenges. The hyperbolic childlike aesthetic of Squid Game, which contributes to the series’ theme with its stark visual juxtaposition, also lends itself to splashy TikTok reinterpretations aimed at a younger demographic.
Children in the UK are far from the only ones impacted by TikTok’s co-opting of Squid Game’s viral nature. Ahead of the Halloween season, several schools in New York have banned Squid Game costumes due to their violent implications, exacerbated by recent incidents in schools.
As Squid Game’s far-reaching cultural impact continues to unfurl, interested viewers can experience the Korean series in its original and intended context on Netflix, where all nine episodes are available to stream.
Source: The Guardian
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