Death, Controversy, and Capitalism: Empathy and Its Deficit in Netflix’s <i>Squid Game</i>

This chapter analyses empathy and the representation of violent death in <i>Squid Game</i> (2021–2025). While navigating the series’ controversial depictions of violence on screen in response to discourses around empathy, the chapter’s primary consideration is <i>Squid Game</i>’s critique of a broader empathy deficit in contemporary culture. To what extent does the series’ controversial representations of violence highlight the potential challenges of experiencing and developing empathy within capitalist systems?