Evan-CP#3

    So as most of America knows, Squid Game was cool. I watched it in about three days. Not only am I habitual binge watcher, I will often watch shows I like while doing other things, going to class, riding the bus, waiting for class. I had the unique opportunity of discussing Squid Game with Jihye as I was finishing the series. Being from South Korea I naturally had a thousand questions for her, and I felt in some way rude, but my curiosity was too great so I continued my questions. I felt rude mostly because I was treating another culture as just a source of entertainment and also self gratification. I suppose I am being somewhat harsh on myself, as learning about other cultures is fine, yet I still felt like I was intruding in some regard. What I found most striking about the show was the villains, they are American. Jihye informed me that American villains are common in K-dramas, and this did not really surprise me, it actually made me really happy. I love the British villain trope in American dramas mostly because of how cliche it is. To see Americans become that trope in other media was absolutely wonderful in the worst kind of way. I loved it. As our mutual ground was more on the side of economic and social criticisms, I talked a little bit about the character archetypes in the show, show they reflected the toxic nature of capitalism. We began to talk a bit more about international medias we liked. I found out she was a Studio Ghibli fan. I had to describe the plots in English because she knew the Japanese titles, and I the English ones. Nonetheless it was a fun session where we shared a lot of our common interests in media. I got the unique opportunity to learn more about Korean drama too, which was nice.

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