The irony of this announcement is not lost on anyone who watched Squid Game, which is a narrative that is explicitly against the kind of voyeuristic cash-grab competition show and the kind of systems that would encourage down-on-their-luck individuals to compete for money at the risk of their lives. While I doubt Netflix is going to murder people for entertainment, there’s no way to spin this show as being anything other than completely antithetical to the very ethos of Squid Game. (Let’s not forget when MrBeast, the YouTuber, did the same thing a few months ago, and also missed the point.)
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What part of a show that encourages people to commit incentivized murder for entertainment feels like something that Netflix should seek to emulate via the reality show format? This announcement feels like the embodiment of a horrible, uncaring timeline where art is relegated to content, and IP is only ever in existence to make money, rather than telling any kind of story. If it were any other Netflix show, it might be funny (I wouldn’t mind a Black Mirror reality show, or a Stranger Things D&D actual play, why not?), but there’s something insidious about American capitalists taking this show and making it into something that emphasizes and celebrates exploitative corporate entertainment capitalism.
According to the press release, Challenge is a “co-production between Studio Lambert (The Circle) and The Garden (24 Hours in A&E), part of ITV Studios, and it will be filmed in the UK.” Casting applications may be open, but I’m not going to encourage anyone to submit their bid. Just in case.
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