In 2021, Squid Game became a global sensation. Beyond its shocking plot and unforgettable visuals, the Korean series directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk offers a powerful reflection on our society. Through deadly versions of childhood games, the story shows how desperation and inequality can push people to their limits.
But Squid Game is not just entertainment. It’s also a deep social critique. From a philosophical point of view, it can be compared to the ideas of John Rawls, one of the most important thinkers on justice and fairness. What happens when we look at Squid Game through Rawls’ lens?
A world without fairness
Rawls believed that a just society must guarantee basic freedoms for everyone and allow inequality only if it helps the most disadvantaged. In Squid Game, the exact opposite happens. The players don’t join because they want to — they join because they have no other option. They are trapped by poverty, debt, and social abandonment.
Their choice is not really free. It’s a last resort. For Rawls, real freedom only exists when people have decent opportunities in life. In the series, this kind of justice is completely absent.
Suffering as entertainment
One of the most disturbing parts of Squid Game is how human life becomes entertainment for the rich. This goes directly against Rawls’ idea of justice. He proposed a concept called the “veil of ignorance”, where we imagine choosing the rules of society without knowing what social position we’ll be born into.
If the rich VIPs in the series had to choose those rules without knowing if they'd be players or observers, they would never accept such a cruel system. But they do know — and that’s what keeps inequality in place.
Is it really a fair competition?
In the game, all players wear the same clothes, follow the same rules, and seem to have equal chances. But that’s an illusion. Some players are stronger, smarter, or even have secret advantages. Rawls warned against this false idea of “merit”: not everyone starts life at the same level, and many factors are out of our control.
In Squid Game, only one person wins, and everyone else dies. This isn’t justice. It’s a deadly race that only serves the entertainment of the powerful.
A warning hidden in fiction
Squid Game is fiction — but it feels very real. Around the world, millions face job insecurity, unfair debt, and social pressure. They may not be playing to the death, but they are stuck in systems that don’t give them real options.
John Rawls reminds us that justice is not a luxury. It’s a basic need for any civilized society. His ideas help us imagine a world where everyone has dignity, opportunity, and freedom. Squid Game shows what happens when we forget that goal.
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