Surviving Squid Game: Designing the Maze of Psychological Terror

You are warmly invited to a special guest lecture hosted by the Sheffield Centre for Korean Studies with Suk-Young Kim, Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Squid Game swept the pandemic-jaded world by storm upon its release and has become the first Asian-language drama to top Netflix’s global ranking. Its gory yet moving dramatic metaverse set social media platforms on fire, with its genre-bending story about desperate contestants playing a series of deadly “winner-take-it-all” children’s games for a multimillion dollar cash prize. This talk explores Squid Game’s phantasmagoric set and costume design as a crucial part of visual storytelling. Straddling the contrasting images of a childhood dreamland and a hyperreal slaughterhouse, the visual design of the show constantly crosses the line between the vital and the morbid, making viewers feel unsettled as they become immersed in a hauntingly beautiful yet nightmarish set. The production team’s partnership with Netflix allowed for an enhanced budget and creative freedom to construct the memorable visual sets indispensable for viral storytelling, and at the same time, Netflix’s monopoly of IP presents a unique challenge for the Korean media industry to enter the global streaming war as a fully empowered player.

About Professor Suk-Young Kim

Professor Kim is an interdisciplinary scholar with doctoral degrees in Interdisciplinary Theatre and Drama (Northwestern University, 2005) and Slavic Language and Literature (Univ. of Illinois at Chicago, 2001). Her work primarily focuses on body politics, transmedia, entertainment industry, and the historical roots of today’s popular culture. She finds writing inspirations in odd anachronisms and illuminating beauty found in dusty archives, live stages, and today’s vertiginous screen cultures. She currently serves as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and External Engagement; and is the Head of the Theater and Performance Studies programme at UCLA.

Her recent book publications include Millennial North Korea: Forbidden Media and Living Creatively with Surveillance (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2024); Surviving Squid Game: A Guide to K-Drama, Netflix and Global Streaming Wars (Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2023); K-Pop Live: Fans, Idols, and Multimedia Performance (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2018); and DMZ Cross: Performing Emotional Citizenship Along the Korean Border (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014).

Image credit: Netflix

Host or Publisher The Centre for Korean Studies