Squid Game boss admits copycat shows like MrBeast’s can ‘leave a bitter taste’

The creator of Squid Game has given his verdict on reality TV shows inspired by the series, including the one devised by MrBeast, admitting that they ‘sometimes leave a bitter taste’.

This Friday, the third and final season of the dystopian survival thriller launches on Netflix, finally revealing whether Seong Gi-hun, aka Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae), will be successful in his attempt to take revenge against the sadistic Front Man (Lee Byung-hun).

Ever since its premiere in 2021, the South Korean show has been highly praised for its exploration of heavy themes, including the dark side of capitalism and social inequality.

Despite many viewing Squid Game as a warning against the perils of greed, it has still spawned reality TV shows, including Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge, MrBeast’s video $456,000 Squid Game in Real Life! and his Amazon Prime Video gameshow Beast Games.

Metro recently spoke to Squid Game mastermind Hwang Dong-hyuk while he was in London for the premiere of season three, during which we asked what he thought of competitions like the one created by MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), the internet star who boasts 408 million subscribers on YouTube.

His Squid Game video currently has 813 million views on the video-sharing platform. Even though it proved extremely popular, some criticised the concept for appearing to brush aside the deeper meaning of what the original series of Squid Game is actually about.

He later followed it up with his Amazon Prime Video series Beast Games, which saw contestants compete for a prize of $5m (£3.6m). Last year, a lawsuit claimed that Beast Games contestants were ‘shamelessly exploited’ while making the programme.

‘To be honest, I haven’t watched those kinds of shows, so I have no idea what is going on the show,’ Hwang responded when asked what he thinks of the reality competitions inspired by Squid Game.

The director continued: ‘But if you look at shows like that, they have rid of the social criticism or the satire or allegory that is in the original series. Obviously no one dies. No one has to go through a critical loss as a result of losing in the game. It’s made just for entertainment and for fun.’

Hwang, 54, acknowledged that he’s ‘heard some criticism’ of the copycat shows, from people who claim that they’re ‘diluting the original Squid Game spirit or the message, only making a spectacle of the show’.

‘But I think that in a way, that’s just how capitalism works. All things are created. They’re produced and they’re sold. And when something is a hit product, you get products that are derived from that, and then that is sold for even greater profit. That is just the basic system and really the rules of capitalism,’ he stated.

‘So while I will admit that sometimes it does leave a bitter taste, I don’t think that we should be completely and wholly against it, because that’s just the world that we live in.’

In September last year, the BBC reported that in a case filed at a Los Angeles court, five anonymous contestants who took part in Beast Games alleged that participants were ‘underfed and overtired’, and meals were provided ‘sporadically and sparsely’. There were also allegations of sexual harassment.

A couple of months later, when a trailer was released for Beast Games ahead of its December release, an X user tweeted: ‘Is this the same one where a lot of contestants complained of terrible conditions?’

MrBeast responded at the time: ‘We have tons of behind the scenes dropping when the show does to show how blown out of proportion these claims were. Just can’t release it now because it would spoil the games.’

In February this year, he told Good Morning America: ‘I’ve got to let the lawyers handle that, I can’t comment on it. But I can say I have personally talked to seven, 800 contestants. They all want to come back, they all had a great time, and you can watch their content online. And I think it speaks for itself.’ Amazon declined to comment when contacted by Good Morning America at the time.

A spokesperson for MrBeast also told the news programme: ‘The lawsuit, which was filed last September hasn’t achieved class-action status, still hasn’t been served.’ In May this year, Beast Games was renewed for two more seasons after becoming one of Amazon Prime Video’s most viewed shows.

Squid Game season 3 premieres on Friday June 27 on Netflix.

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