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Comment by keiferski | Hacker News Reader

Not sure it really matters that much. Squid Game is a global phenomenon and even though it’s ostensibly a Korean series, it’s pretty clearly funded by the very American corporation Netflix.

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Its a korean show, created by a korean under a korean production company with the rights purchased by Netflix. It matters a lot and is a really weird take to think it is not Korean.

As far as I can tell the show only got made because Netflix specifically developed it and funded it.

Of course it is “Korean” in that the employees and actors are all Korean, but the show seems to be entirely funded by Netflix. Which means Netflix obviously had a say in the content.

Give it up

Everything I read about the show indicates that it was directly a Netflix production that didn’t exist until the writer brought the script to Netflix’s office in Seoul. Do you have information that says otherwise?

I’m just butting in here and I thought you were wrong. However I looked it up and indeed you are right. The creative talent are all Korean but they couldn’t get a studio to fund production for their show. Netflix was approached and liked the script and funded them. It’s all in the wiki and pretty easy to catch up on the info.

I also think you’re right about the global resonance. If this was purely a Korean issue I don’t think it would be as darkly appealing as it is. As an American who is almost done paying off a lot of student debt - I definitely identify with the characters, although their desperation is much worse than mine. I absolutely remember believing that if I didn’t succeed I would have to cut life short. If a few things hadn’t broken my way - I’d probably be in that squid game too.

Saudi Oil finances half the things in your life; it doesn't make any of them Saudi in nature

Netflix obviously wanted a Korean show, otherwise they wouldn't have funded Koreans to make the show in Korea, they would have funded Americans to make the show in Hollywood.

I applaud Netflix for actually embracing diversity of content and having great shows produced outside Hollywood, and the results speak for themselves (not just Squid Game).

Yes netflix funded it but its still a korean written and produced show? It just seems like a weird take that because Netflix is paying it should somehow be Americanized/Globalized.

This is a strange hill to die on, Squid Game is a global phenomenon because it's good, I posit that if Netflix had stamped AMERICA all over it, it may not have been good.

For the other 50% of Netflix's users outside of the US, they can relate to your problems as much or as little as you can relate to those of Koreans in the show.

Netflix might be American, but making Koreans have specifically American problems would ruin the suspension of disbelief.

Netflix is specifically buying local productions. Changing them on fundamental levels just to cater some us-viewer seems pointless.

That is true in some cases, but not Squid Game, which was specially produced by Netflix.

Which is what I meant. They look for promising projects in other countries and finance them partly or even buy them as a whole. But those projects usually already existed before Netflix came in, meaning they are not specifically designed for Netflix and the US-market. Squid Game for example was written 10 years before Netflix started financing them. And this is even more obvious when they finance sequels to old series which were already running decades ago.

I’m not sure how that really is an argument against my point. Thousands of scripts exist, and in the process of them getting made, the funders and producers have influence on the content.

The idea that fully-written scripts are just made without any input or pushback from the funders/producers is not how the film industry works.

No, that's exactly how the Industry (also) works. There are different styles of projects, but scripts being finished before any money flows in, is pretty common. And at those point changes are usually small. And usually they also don't plan ahead to become some global hit.

But the point is that Netflix specifically buys productions from different countries, to cater to the fans of those cultures. If they wanted to have a US-ified script, they wouldn't need to go to such lengths, they could just hire some us-asian writer to get another ethnic US-series.

I think they're making a <valid> claim that funding creates a bias. Netflix funding squid game created a bias to rewrite a potentially-done script for US audiences.

Yes. No one else seems to be able to read the comments up thread.

Netflix funded the production. Netflix has an influence on what the script is.

At no point was I interested in arguing about whether it was a “Korean show” or not.

Netflix wants subscribers in Korea so they have every motivation to create content that Korean people want to watch. If Americans like it as well that is just a bonus.

Please detail some of the specific things that Netflix influenced to make Squid Games less Korean.

Netflix funds and produces lots of local productions targeted at local markets, with zero eye towards the US market[0]. They still get international subtitles because that's cheap enough. If those shows turn out to have a more global appeal than expected, great, but they were still only originally targeted at the local market. It makes no sense if Netflix is trying to gain subscribers in Korea to make a Korean show targeted at US audiences.

[0]Example: https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/asura-trailer-special-art

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