No way. You can`t shoot people and then say, « Oh, they told me it was good. » First of all, the first game, the 200 people who were killed, were not aware of the stakes of the game Of course, other examples such as hiring an assassin are also illegal, regardless of the conditions agreed between the tenant and the murderer, because the agreement itself is considered illegal and invalid. Science fiction and fantasy stories often confront us with new situations that force us to think about legal rules from the ground up. Traditional legal rules exist in the realm of reality, and so they didn`t have to deal with things like exchanging ideas in Dollhouse, whether the undead have a right to die, or whether Godzilla should be considered an endangered species. You were not told that they would die in these games, and consent to your murder would not hold up in court. The real question comes later. After deciding to participate in the games, the participants were gassed and transported to a secret island, where it became clear that the « games » in question were of the most « dangerous » type, as more than 200 participants were killed in the first round alone. After the first round, a majority of participants voted to complete the games and were quickly taken home. A few days later, the Game Runners contacted each participant and explained that they could decide to return to the game.
This set the stage for the most difficult question – would it be illegal to participate in the game again? Today, I`m going to look at some of the most interesting legal issues that arise from squid games. My analysis is based on U.S. law, but I don`t expect there to be much difference between U.S. law and South Korean law on these issues. (For example, South Korean law contains similar provisions for conspiracy liability and also allows for asset forfeiture.) Especially in the game Squid, all participants sign the following declaration of consent/contract before the start of the game: A slightly more difficult question is whether participation in the games as a competitor would be illegal. The answer depends on when the decision to join is made. In the show, participants had two points where they could participate in the game. At first, all they knew was that they could sign up to play games and make money. There is nothing illegal about that. No, even in professional sports and game shows like Fear Factor or Ninja Warrior, you can`t just have a blanket « if you die, you can`t sue us » clause and then start putting people with lmao 3 sniper rifles in their heads.
The game can be stopped if more than half of the participants agree. Once the organizers of the game had shot the participants, there was a consent form, or the participants had acknowledged that the elimination amounted to death or not, the organizer was legally responsible for their death. Could the horrible contests of Netflix`s hit game Squid Game ever be legal? The answer may seem obvious, but a fan`s video is studied thoroughly and provides surprising answers. Hayley is a news writer for CBR. In 2021, she received her Ph.D. in Communications and Rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and currently works in the Department of Communications, Humanities and Social Sciences at New Mexico Tech. Her research explores the linguistic structure of storytelling and pop culture. You`ll often find them marathoning horror movies instead of sleeping, playing puzzle games, and reading a probably unhealthy amount of fanfiction. This is different. You are not told in advance that the games are until death, so it would be illegal to kill people, but if you are told in advance that the games are until death and you decide to stay and play the game. Shouldn`t that be legal? I mean free choice, right? So, after the lights go out on the second day of the game and the participants are forced to kill each other, how does the law categorize their actions? This is a gesture – of course, the organizers broke the law. Murder is illegal.
Abduction is illegal. Gassing people is illegal. Detaining people captive and not letting them go is illegal. Let`s go back to Squid Game, since the protagonist agreed to be beaten as a substitute to pay money, and then voluntarily decided to continue the game, the damage caused by the mysterious man was quite right. Squid games offer a convenient payment option. At any time, participants can call for a vote to end the games. If a majority of participants vote for withdrawal, the game ends and the participants are sent home. One could argue that a vote to end the game could be considered a withdrawal from the conspiracy.
Contestants could still be charged with murders committed before the vote, but a withdrawal would eliminate responsibility for murders committed later. And some reduction in liability is better than no reduction. On the one hand, it could be argued that there is no crime here, since risky behaviour itself is not illegal. In fact, people can dive as they please, do base jumping and wingsuit. One person even decided to climb El Capitan without ropes or safety equipment. If these risks are allowed, why not? Here`s a scenario where it would work. First of all, you would have to have a lot of money to organize this game. Forget to bet $1 million on a man to win. It`s a small change for people like Bezos. Think of $100 million on a bet. That is the kind of money you would need.
So there you have it. Here we explained some of the legality behind Squid Game, if it took place in Australia. Murder is not enough? Why not start the illegal sale of organs? Or illegal firearms? But why stop at crime when you can add petty crimes like illegal crematoria or fire code violations? They may even commit violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention. What makes Squid Game interesting is that he doesn`t try to hide or run away from his illegality, but kisses it. The question with games is not whether they are illegal, but whether we, as spectators, are smart enough to realize how illegal they are.