Why are you just watching?: polyvalent Korean spectatorship and critical Western spectatorship in Squid Game

Abstract

Although the narrative of Squid Game critiques socioeconomic structures, the characters, genre, filming techniques, and aesthetics, ironically, situate audiences as passive spectators. In this article, we discuss the ways Squid Game constructs a polyvalent Korean spectatorship and a critical Western spectatorship within the survival game genre. We argue the series hails spectators to consent to the same oppressive socioeconomic structures the show seemingly critiques. Additionally, we consider potentials of rhetorical witnessing for activating audiences and extending spectatorship theory.