Dr. Jameca CooperForensic Psychology Consultant, Emergence Psychological Services · Board Certified Counseling Psychologist and Forensic Psychology Consultant

Squid Game: Why the fascination?

26 Oct 2021 · 3 min

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2:44

This content was created by Dr. Jameca Cooper. This content was uploaded by Dr. Jameca Cooper. This is a YouTube video titled "Squid Game: Why the fascination?" (posted 2021-10-26) featuring Dr. Jameca Cooper speaking directly to camera. The clip is a short commentary/vlog in which Dr. Cooper offers three theories for the show's popularity—(1) an American (and global) love of competition, (2) engagement because the contestants come from marginalized or disadvantaged backgrounds and viewers respond to fairness/win narratives, and (3) attraction to violence—and asks viewers to comment and subscribe. The format and metadata (thumbnail URL, YouTube content type, and timestamp) indicate a public opinion/analysis video rather than a multi-speaker conversation.

Chapters

Hi, I'm Dr. Jameca Cooper, and today I'm talking about everyone's favorite show— not mine because I haven't seen it yet— The Squid Games. Why we love The Squid Games. So what is it about this show that makes people so engaged? Everyone's talking about it. It's been all over Twitter. They have a million memes about it, and I'm not sure what the fascination with this show is, but I will take a look at it just to find out. So far what I know about it is these individuals compete in these games for some reward, and what I also know is that typically these individuals in the Squid Games come from, let's say, marginalized communities, or they've experienced some some type of inequality or disadvantage in their life. So my question for you is, what is the interest in the Squid Games? I have a couple of ideas. So my first idea is that it's because as Americans, we really, really love competition. So if you think about American Idol, If You Think You Can Dance, all of that is a competition. Someone has to win, and we like seeing people kind of duke it out. To win some title or some money. That's the first idea. The second idea is that mainly in America, really all over the world, inequality is so common. It's everywhere. That because we are used to it in our lives every day, we love to watch a show where we can see people who have come from some marginalized communities or some disadvantage, and we see them compete in games that are considered fair. Right? We like to see people win in certain ways. So that's the second theory. Third theory is because we love violence, not just as Americans but all over the world. Accordingly, if this is one of the top shows all over the world, there has to be a reason why. Is it because we love violence? If you look at the video games that our youth play, they're quite violent. If you look at some of what you see when you watch the news, It's quite violent as well. If you look at some of the levels of PTSD and abuse in this country, it's kind of violent. So you tell me in your comments, I want to know. I would love to do more videos on this. Why do we love the Squid Games? Is it because of the inequality, the competition, or because of the violence? This is Dr. Jameca Cooper Cooper. Think about it a little more. Make sure you subscribe.