イカゲームはグローバル化のおかげ

経済格差を描いたドラマに世界は共感を覚えることをイカゲームのヒットの理由の一つに挙げているものが多いですが、イカゲームを楽しめているのは皮肉にもグローバル化のおかげなのだという逆張りの論考がありました。

Opinion: The success of ‘Squid Game’ illustrates the benefits of globalization and free trade

by Max Boot　October 5, 2021 at 12:45 p.m. EDT

It is also a brutal satire of the wealth inequality produced by unbridled capitalism. It is ironic, then, that the worldwide success of “Squad Game” is, in fact, the ultimate tribute to the power of capitalism — and in particular to two of its much-maligned outgrowths: globalization and free trade. Both have done a great deal to improve our entertainment experience.

だからと言って、グローバル化のしわ寄せを受けた人々を見殺しにしていいのかという問題があります。それに対しては、関税などの保護主義に走るのではなく給付金などの支援で支えるべきだとしています。この考えを推し進めればベーシックインカムみたいな流れになるのでしょう。

We don’t need tariffs to protect workers in dying industries; we can offer them retraining assistance or welfare benefits to make their lives better despite the dislocations of a changing economy. And, in the meantime, we can make life better for everyone by lifting tariffs and encouraging greater globalization.

次のはまさに資本主義の恐ろしさを描いたものですが、ネタバレが含まれるので読む方はご注意ください。書き出しは資本主義を悪者に描くものがポップカルチャーの主流になっていることをあげています。

CLOSE READS OCT. 7, 2021

A Game of Marbles Turns Squid Game’s Anti-Capitalist Critique Inside Out

By Roxana Hadadi@roxana_hadadi

Is there a theme more unifying in global pop culture than “capitalism is bad?” Spin the pop-culture globe and plop your finger down anywhere, and there awaits a version of this story: Maya Da-Rin’s The Fever, Rubaiyat Hossain’s Made in Bangladesh, Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You (and, well, all of Loach’s other films), Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium, Adam McKay’s The Other Guys. It helps that the statement is true, of course, and that the drastically entrenched gap between the haves and have-nots feels increasingly irreversible thanks to swollen corporations, climate change, and inexhaustible greed. “Wealth inequality” is a politely quaint way to say that approximately 2,000 billionaires hold more money than 4.6 billion people, according to Oxfam, and people all around the world can relate to the injustice of that. And probably some of those people count among the viewers who have helped make Squid Game the most in-demand show in the world.

イカゲームが描く恐ろしいところとして、最後の方には from people who stand with each other to people who stand against each otherとお互いに敵対せざるを得なくなることに触れています。記事タイトルがA Game of Marbles Turns Squid Game’s Anti-Capitalist Critique Inside Outとなっている点です。見た人はわかると思いますが、おはじきゲーム（Game of Marbles）がそのような残酷な仕掛けになっているのです。

Fantasies of luck and wealth turn these people against each other, and all this betrayal plays out in deeply personal, practically intimate ways. Enemies are no longer certain other people, but all other people. Song-woo had previously paid for Ali’s bus fare home; now he abandons him to his death. Gi-hun had previously cared for Il-hun like a son; now he intends to leave him trapped in his own memories. Before “Gganbu,” Squid Game emphasizes how capitalism destroys in a top-down way, but after it, the series takes an inside-out approach. Whatever drew players to this game ultimately changes them on a fundamental level, transforming them from people who stand with each other to people who stand against each other.

Yutaとしてはイカゲームそのものを楽しむというよりも、その反応の多様さを楽しんでいるというところです。