#yes i'm on the Gi-hun defense squad

[secretswansong]

Just read through the discussions in the Squid Game subreddit and I don't get how and why many people are shitting on Gi-hun's actions in the season finale? (spoilers ahead)

A lot of them sound exactly like a rich capitalist, Il-nam when he said "You've been sitting on 45.6B ₩ for a year and not using it. Why, is it because you feel guilty?" like, do these people really think Gi-hun is a shitty person specifically for this reason?

Do people really expect him to quickly or immediately pick himself up and spend the money for good causes?

It's not just survivor's guilt. Gi-hun didn't start out as a good or competent character, and even though he treated some other people kindly and was arguably the most humane contestant, the Game extremely traumatized him. Is his trauma supposed to make him a *better* person?

He was just dumped back into his old life, with only a new bank account containing his prize. When he returned home too late to help his mother, he'd never been more alone, not just literally. His background and the Game staff giving no further assistance mean Gi-hun doesn't have the support to process his trauma, or the skills to manage his new wealth. Of course he's not in a good mental state to just get his life together!

And eventually, he does what he can, the way he knows how! He gets Sae-byeok's brother out of the orphanage, he gives a lot of money to Sang-woo's mother, and he tries to visit his daughter. But the show makes it very clear that he can't go on with his life and money while the Game continues to kill more people like him, not after everything he suffered.

In the discussions about Gi-hun's character development, in the arguments whether he changed for the better, we shouldn't ignore what he went through and how that affected him, nor point to these as reasons why Gi-hun is still a shitty person.

Squid Game is not about some underdog overcoming all odds and walking away with a reward and an improved personality. Squid Game shows us how people do bad things and how choices are an illusion in a capitalist society rigged against them at every turn. It shows how people can retain their humanity and treat others kindly even in these same terrible circumstances.

And it shows how trauma can make people worse; it isn't what makes someone a better person. Trauma can take years to recover from, a lifetime to carry. But if anything, Gi-hun's trauma led to his determination to take down the people behind the Game.

#rant #posting here because i'm not confident to say this on reddit #besides other redditors have also pointed this out #yes i'm on the Gi-hun defense squad #squid game #seong gi hun #cw trauma #cw mental illness #cw ptsd #mental health #squid game spoilers #writing #analysis #characterization #criticism #fuck you il-nam #akin

[secretswansong]

"i get that Gi-hun is traumatized but-" no you fucking don't

maybe trauma, mental illness, lack of external support/assistance, etc. make it difficult for people to do the things they want, need, or are expected to do?

#it's soooo clear how Gi-hun responds to the trauma from the Game #plus how he's got no social support or tangible proof (that the Game exists) aside from his new bank account #and some people somehow still miss it #i guess my new hobby is to hate-read shitty takes about how Gi-hun doesn't act how we THINK we would if we won the prize money #so yeah this is my complaint about those complaints #squid game #squid game spoilers #cw trauma #mental health #writing #analysis #akin #i am once again saying: #yes i'm on the Gi-hun defense squad