Spoiler
I think the scene was reinforcing a pretty central point about how Korean society had become so insular and selfish. This had contributed to the Old Man becoming so cynical and apparently hating society on one level. That sort of message was reinforced with watching how many of the contestants (over several years, remember) sacrificed or turned on one another at various stages to ensure their own survival/win the money (which probably helped him lack empathy for the contestants). In the marbles task, I reasoned that part of his reminiscing about his childhood was about how, in his lifetime, Korean society had moved from being more collective in nature, to individualistic and only concerned with the welfare of oneself - his urging for him and Gi-hun to be 'gganbu' part of this reminiscing. When Gi-hun takes advantage of his apparent dementia by cheating to win and condemn him to death, his opinion is reinforced.
Or maybe I'm reading too much into it!
I think one attraction of Squid Game is that it touches on concepts and notions without delving too deep into that hand-holding explanation territory, allowing viewers to ponder their own interpretations
True. I guess I´m expecting a bit much from the show in regards to that.
It is interesting how many of these Korean cultural exports dive so heavily into class.
Spoiler
I like your point about the "gganbu" thing as well
This is a must-read for anyone who was unhappy with the VIPs and their respective actors.
That does explain a few things. There must be countless Western shows with terrible foreign-language dialouge. I wander if they would have made more effort on behalf of the foreign actors knowing it was going to be such an international hit?
Funnily enough while I was in India I was pulled out of a hostel in Mumbai to go act as an extra for a Bollywood film, purely on account of being white (I have no acting experience whatsoever!!).
In the end I spent 13 hours on a set with a few other white extras waiting for our turn to be on camera (it was a night shoot so those 13 hours took us from 5pm - 6am). The moment never came (we were meant to be footy fans). We went home and were probably replaced the next day by another unsuspecting group of white backpackers. Spent about 7 of those hours watching a group of international footballing extras (they were pretty good) kicking a ball around a big empty cricket stadium. Was paid the equivalent of £5 for the 13 hours !
