‘Squid Game captured the zeitgeist’: Emmys history maker benefited from good timing, Korean social media says of show’s awards
- The first non-English-language show to earn a major Emmy award, Squid Game took home the best drama series actor and director awards in Los Angeles
- Reaction in Korea was mostly positive, with social media posts noting the show had overcome its subtitling and had a story that fitted the global mood
Squid Game didn’t just have a big night at the Emmys. It had a historic one.
One of Netflix’s most-watched shows, Squid Game has already been greenlit for a second season, so it will have a chance to increase its Emmy take in future.
Korea’s Yonhap News Agency noted that the show had “overcome the 1-inch barrier of subtitles as Parasite did”, referring to that film’s 2020 Oscars best picture win.
Koreans on Twitter had mixed reactions to Squid Game’s Emmys success. Most posted their congratulations, but some asked whether the awards for the show represented tokenism.
Writing in Korean, one Twitter user asked: “How did Squid Game win the best director award, beating shows such as Severance, Succession, Ozark and Yellowjackets?
Among Korean users who retweeted the post, one wrote: “I truly congratulate the series for winning, but … it seems the Emmys took advantage of it to counter their reputation as ‘the most racist’ awards.”
Another commenter felt good timing and its good storytelling were behind its Emmy wins.
“There are a lot of series better than Squid Game. But Squid Game captured the zeitgeist. It was lucky to some extent that a series which depicted [a hellish Korea] received funding and spread throughout the world when the world was also entering that hellish life.”