Squid Game's Genius Manipulation of Tension
Why tension pervades in death games should be quite intuitive. Unlike the tension of a heated argument, there are no do-overs. You can't talk your way out of it, or is there a second chance. One life is all you get. Similarly unlike the tension of a heated battle, the threat to life is much more spontaneous and visceral; In a fight scene someone can land a punch but you expect the other to retaliate. But in death games, a snap of a finger may be all that it takes. Even on the thematic lens, death games are palpable. Not everyone can relate to having your life threaten or to be a threat to other lives, but everyone can understand the significance of those moral dilemmas. After all, the weight of human life is engraved into our bones, biologically and societally. Once you add up the permanence, spontaneity and palpability of death games, what you get is a seemingly perfect story. One whereby your audience can be expected to be at the edge of their seats every second. However, us aud...