Zhao Yi

　　Among the many discussions sparked by "Squid Game", the "cultural output" of the Korean entertainment industry has once again become the focus of domestic commentary: This suddenly popular Korean web drama is in more than 190 countries covered by the streaming media platform Netflix. The daily broadcast volume in Japan and the region has reached the top, especially its popularity in relatively mature markets in the European and American film and television industries, which has reactivated the discussion about the "Korean Wave" caused by the Oscar-winning "Parasite".

But on the one hand, "Squid Game"’s tendency to excessively pursue sensory stimulation has caused it to encounter cultural resistance in many countries; on the one hand, the simple appropriation of Korean cultural symbols behind its market success can hardly be considered in a cultural sense. The successful "output".

In fact, behind "Squid Game" is the new feature of cultural globalization led by the streaming media industry represented by Netflix.

　　The "Cultural Output" Problem Behind "Game of Squid"

　　Around the new century, Korean pop culture has entered China, Japan and other East Asian countries.

Music idol groups such as HOT and the widespread popularity of film and television works such as "Blue Life and Death" and "My Savage Girlfriend" in China and Japan have jointly formed the impact of the cultural industry "Korean Wave" phenomenon.

After entering the era of mobile Internet technology, the Korean cultural industry once again ushered in a wave of climax: In 2012, the "Divine Comedy" "Gangnam Style" of the Korean Internet celebrity Uncle Bird suddenly became popular in Europe and the United States through YouTube. In 2013, the TV series "From the Stars" You "dominates the Asian region through social media."

In recent years, "BTS" (BTS) went out of the circle, "Parasite" won the prize, and "Squid Game" became a hit. "Korean Wave" has basically completed its entry into the mainstream market of European and American popular culture.

　　Korean popular culture was paid attention to in the 1990s. In the process of "Korean Wave" culture affecting Asia and the world, the gradual maturity of industrialization and the intensive cultivation of local cultural symbols played a key role.

It is precisely because of this that South Korean audio-visual products can continue to enter overseas markets.

However, this understanding ignores a premise: when South Korea established the “cultural nation” policy in the 1990s, it was originally faced with a limited domestic market, which is why when the cultural industry was established as a pillar industry At the same time, it also established its basic market route for "exporting" to Asia.

It should be said that what is “exported” through the “Korean Wave” is not the added value of Korean cultural products, but a more direct market survival demand.

　　When the streaming media giant Netflix began to intervene in the Asian market in 2015, its user growth in North America and Europe has reached saturation, and it is an inevitable choice to move to emerging markets such as Asia; South Korea is facing development bottlenecks in the Asian market around 2017 , Seeking to turn to Europe and America.

The same prerequisite for cooperation is very important, because the fierce competition between Netflix and Hollywood has refocused its focus on North America; and the "export" nature of South Korea's cultural industry makes this path easier.

Behind the popularity of this work, which is not too novel in subject matter and genre, there is a new global market logic at play.

　　The Globalization of Film and Television Industry in the Streaming Media Era

　　Behind the many discussions triggered by "Squid Game" are the changes in demand for the globalization of the film and television industry.

The globalization of Hollywood culture that began in the 1990s usually involves two basic steps.

First of all, it relies on super blockbuster films with a "box office bomb" effect to occupy the overseas market, just as "Titanic" has shown an absolute advantage.

In addition to the technical advantages of the film and television industry, the narrative logic of these films usually conforms to the ideology of cultural globalization, and has no reading barriers for audiences in overseas markets, and therefore appears to be "universal."

As a result, this kind of "universal" promise and market guarantee will "entice" overseas markets and local cultures to participate in this process, and become a key part of Hollywood's cultural globalization-Disney's "Aladdin" in the 1990s "" and "Mulan", and "The Last Samurai" after the new century are all the results of this logical operation.

The cultural differences full of exotic colors have become the source of inspiration for Hollywood. Translating stories from different histories and cultures into popular versions of Hollywood and then selling them to the world has become the basic path of Hollywood-led film and television globalization.

　　The new globalization of film and television that Netflix is ​​leading also has two basic steps.

First of all, it relied on copyright competition to win over pay-TV networks in order to fight for the number of subscribers.

When entering the Korean market, Netflix gradually obtained the qualification to broadcast new episodes synchronously with TV stations through high co-production funds, and grabbed the first batch of users from traditional TV stations.

Secondly, Netflix established an office in the local area to produce original content.

The profit model of the streaming media platform based on user subscriptions determines that Netflix cannot adopt Hollywood-style mass production, but prefers customized services. In Japan, its main business is to participate in the production of animation films and dramas, and become a global player. Users, especially core users in North America, can subscribe to programs.

The new globalization has shifted from radiating the world from North America to the path of "re-selling" North America from the world.

　　Korean film and TV traditions reduced in dimensionality

　　Under the basic framework of this path, the particularity of the "Netflix + Korean drama" model can be revealed.

　　Netflix’s cooperation with Japan started the earliest, and it has developed important IP and mature animation works such as "Godzilla", "Ultraman Mechanical" and "Saint Seiya", but it has never been as explosive as "Squid Game". The most important reason is that Japan itself has a relatively mature animation market culture. Its animation products first meet "domestic demand", so it is less likely to be influenced and dominated by new globalization trends.

As previously analyzed, the “export” nature of Korean cultural products, especially the prominent demand that has shifted to Europe and the United States after 2017, determines that it must first reduce the difficulty of accepting local culture and adapt to the taste of the new market as soon as possible.

　　Therefore, on the one hand, compared to the previous collaboration between Netflix and the Korean drama "The Kingdom", the threshold for viewing "Squid Game" is obviously lower, and the cultural resistance of global popularity is also less-those local history that will cause obstacles to understanding by European and American audiences. And cultural factors have been eliminated.

As for the theme, through the concentrated practice of works such as "Parasite" and "Top Floor", the extreme opposition between the rich and the poor has become a standard conflict in Korean film and television dramas. In the closed game space, the narrative of class opposition gradually deviates from reality and becomes abstract, and the elements that can continue to maintain the conflict of plots have become ubiquitous violence and sensory stimulation.

It is precisely because of the abstract nature of the space that the rich and powerful people wear masks and their faces become blurred, while the conflicts between classes are transferred to the players, and the "evil of human nature" has become the only explanation of intensive violence.

As a result, "Squid Game" completed the traditional "dimensionality reduction" process of Korean movies and TV.

　　On the other hand, if we take a general observation of the Korean film and television products in recent years, violence elements, class problems, and abstract descriptions of human nature have become a standard formula, which is obviously the same as that of Korean dramas around 2000 and 2010. The images are completely different.

It seems that when turning to Europe and the United States, Korean dramas have also decisively completed the "face change".

The new globalization is shaping the new image of Korean film and television dramas.

　　It can be seen that in the cooperation model between "Squid Game" and Netflix, a new path of cultural globalization has been revealed.

Compared with the previous Hollywood model, this path not only relies on cultural markets outside Europe and the United States, but is also more deeply involved in these local film and television industries, and its influence is therefore more concealed.

In fact, if it hadn't been for "Game of Squid" suddenly "out of the circle", the impact of this change would not have been exposed so quickly.

　　(The author is an associate professor at the School of Film and Television Media, Shanghai Normal University)