@@myathepompom7062 I heard... I'm gonna watch the season in Korean... Mind you, I've seen it 3xs in English and was thoroughly entertained. Everyone says I'll love it more in Korean. Thank you!
@@fbw4439 Someone who's grown is toxic environment with abusive people and who've managed to survive/develop coping mechanisms for that type of environment (for example, seducing men in power to remain "unharmed" and receive preferencial treatment) are likely to drift back to abusive people because it feels familiar to them, they know what they're dealing with, and thus feels "safer".
Her facial expressions. Scared, angry, coy, thoughtful, sexual, flitatious, desperate, determined, mocking, sorrowful. Just a FANTASTIC actress and so pretty. And the camera loves her.
Even the way she dies, she used the trick she learned from the rope game, where leaning backwards gives more strength even if opponent is stronger. She's definitely street smart, and knows how to use it.
He is the biggest pussy. He refused to move up when it was his turn. The priest (#6) and glass manufacturer (#13) hesitated too long in between turns, especially the priest, but Deok-Su was completely indecisive when the stakes were high despite being a gang leader alpha on the outside.
I didn't really dislike any character, per se. Everyone chose to play these death games. She even pressed the green button in order to stay once she saw the money. The other players chose to come back to the games. Once u decide to play, its either win or die. U gotta be ruthless.
I actually liked her a fair bit until she was racist to Ali, because there was no actual reason for it. Sure it adds to her character or whatever but it was really unnecessary.
Same. Literally the only outcome I cared about was that she killed ol boy. I didn’t care who else lived or died! When I thought he was going to die playing marbles I was PISSED that she get to kill him!!!
In the first few episodes all she wanted was to leave the game alive but when deuk soo kicked her out the team she decided to plot her revenge even if she could die. Chased what she wanted until the very end.
Imagine her character wasn't there, the story would fall flat tbh without her to spice up the dynamic. The up and down of her character bring so much colours to the show.
Mi-nyeo embodies the aging middle-aged woman who once relied on looks, seduction, and manipulation to get what she wanted in life, but finds herself increasingly less relevant. Combine with that what we know about her: 1. arrested multiple times for fraud, 2. not formally educated but self-described as (street)smart. She was likely born lower class but used her looks/body and cunning to survive. But as the years went on, she probably saw the men she once seduced turn their eyes toward younger women. Her age makes her feel massively insecure. That's why she was insulted by Deok-su guessing her age as 49 (she's probably closer to 40-42) and one of the main characters using a term on her meant for older, married women. Her name means "beauty" in Korean, and Deok-su's cronies snigger that such a name was wasted on her. Lastly, it's never confirmed but I can 100% bet that her claiming to recently give birth is a pure lie; just a spontaneous survival tactic meant to generate sympathy for her. That's her life in a nutshell - saying whatever it took.
Also, I would say that even though she has alot of screen time yet they didn't really show her backstory and I think that plays into her characterization. I think she would have been less entertaining and we will be drawn to her less if we would have known her backstory. The idea of not knowing exactly if what she's telling us is the truth or a lie is part of what makes her appealing to the audience. You can't fully figure out what's up with her
didn't she also say that she felt so powerful while leaning backward in tug of war? Then she killed Deok su in the same fashion which is just another fun little power play
It's weird to me that so many people say she's unattractive. Her hair and facial features are great, and her actress is so beautiful. It just makes me think that the way she's treated by people in the show is too realistic and makes me sad 😂 I probably wouldn't like her as a person in real life either but I LOVE her as a character!
She’s average looking. I don’t understand why people care about a woman’s looks so much. People rarely care about the ugly or average looking men that get roles.
She is, but the thing is, she’s a pretty older woman in the plastic surgery of the world. When it comes to using your looks to get by in life when she has never been given the option to learn any other skill, there will always be someone prettier. And she knows it, she knows it’s a currency quickly depreciating in value
@@greyLeicester I think it’s a rather smart way of introducing yourself. It doesn’t make her seem very charming in my perspective even though that’s her intention but I love that line. It feels iconic
Viewers think that she’s annoying and a nuisance, but you’d be so glad to have someone like her in front of you if you ever had to cross that glass bridge. Would you have challenged Deok-Su? Nah I don’t think so. She might be mad be she’s also BAD af!
yeah i would. as a rugby player my tackles would be devastating against deok su. if it means saving the time for others to cross then its a sacrifice for the greater good.
I think a lot of people thought she was annoying because the English voice-over they used to dub her with had such an annoying tone in her voice. I re-watched it in Korean with English subtitles and it made her character so much more likable and way less annoying. At least to me, the English voice over chosen for her is what made me not like her at first. I definitely view her differently now 🥰
mi-nyeo is a great reminder as to why "good character" is not synonymous with "nice character". sure ali has a heart of gold, but her character is just absolutely intriguing to watch i love it
I just thought of a theory that explains a lot about Han Mi-nyeo. My theory: Han Mi-nyeo has been to prison before. She either just got out of prison or she went in a while long but can't find legitimate work because of her record and that could be way she's in debt. The child thing was a lie just to get the guards to let her go free hence why she voted to stay after her outburst and finding out how much money was on the line. Episode 3 is where she really shows the evidence that she's been to prison before. She seeks out the strongest people immediately to form an alliance, she sneaks contraband in by hiding it in her body, she gives the guards attitude despite them being armed, her willingness to cheat and/or throw people under the bus to get ahead, etc. That's where her fear of being seen as weak/helpless/useless comes from as showing weakness/uselessness is the worst thing you can do in prison. Also explaining her lack of fear of death as she probably had near death experiences in prison. I may be off but I personally think I'm onto something with this.
That actually makes sense, she seems like she’s street smart, and it’s like if you have a baby wouldn’t you want to live and go home to it whether you’re in debt or not, plus I feel she wouldn’t so easily throw her own life away if she had a child-I feel no mother great, good, or even decent would do that. Also she seems fearless while still being scared. Also she seems to be really good as manipulating others and used the baby as a manipulation technique to get what she wanted-to be let go, as I assume manipulation is smth you have to be good at if you want to make it out untouched or alive in prison. But a con in her manipulation technique is that sometimes....a lot of times she can become so desperate to be in a safe and secured place in such a dangerous environment that her manipulation comes on entirely too strong and makes it obvious she’s being manipulative and makes people not fall for her tricks so easily, but it’s like when she’s in a calm and collected mindset than her manipulation is subtle and less obvious and it works.
Apparently her character is completely ruined by the English translation. Her character is much different when you understand Korean. Many Korean speakers have said so. Korean speakers said she’s more gangster than appears.
no it seriously is! I feel bad for the people that watched English dub because the whole cast especially Han Min-nyeo was completely butchered ugh!! I've heard English dub makes her seem like a scary lady but I think she just is crazy hah
i dont understand korean but i watched it in korean first then tried watching it in english and the show as a whole is literally ruined when you watch it in english. idk how people watch it in english dub half the characters voices are annoying.
@@oscareno9052 agree, I didn't know it has English dub. I found Korea first. But I watch original dub first. They put real effort on acting because they literally are part of the whole set. Look into the backsense, it's amazing everyone actually work hard making this film
@@danibrooke818 I watched in Dub first because that was the language and I felt I had a proper understanding of her character. I mean where most people write her off as a nuisance, but she's so much more and is actually my favorite character. Loved her even more once I saw things that were "missed"
She's a survivor. I was most impressed with this actress in the show. She was the most interesting and well-written female character. Man, I hope she gets award recognition. Juxtapositioning her with Sae-byeok was great. Who's to say she didn't start out like Sae-byeok, with her youth, beauty, cleverness, but life just dealt her poor hands and turned her into what we see now 20 years later.
Love that train of thought. I wondered that too... if she'd been more like Sae-byeok in her youth, and though I think there are similarities (clever, opportunistic, underestimated, & probably once attractive), I believe there are a couple differences in their characters that would not lead to Sae-byeok making the same types of choices as her. Mainly Sae-byeok's moral grounding (she is not sociopathic and callous towards the lives of others unlike Min-yeo) and their dispositions towards others; while Sae-byeok is aloof, a loner, and reluctant to trust others in order to protect herself, Min-yeo employs different methods for the same goal. She's "extroverted," loud, and manipulative (especially sexually). So I think they'd still end up in different places in life, and Sae-byeok wouldn't turn into someone like Min-yeo over time... hopefully lol
@@elf15 don’t worry, moral grounds usually change, there is no basis for moral actions…. Well unless you bring religion into the picture, which if someone is devoted enough it should be sufficient to hold someone in place in terms of morality.
maybe thats why she perceives sae-byeok negatively too. she sees her younger self in her, and envies that trait from sae-byeok, longing to be like her in her prime years when she was beautiful and youthful.
It’s funny that a lot of people find her annoying. As someone who grew up in a Korean household and can speak and understand Korean, I loved her character, she did what she had to do to survive
From a Korean speaker: when she says "they said I was the weakest link" in Korean, the term she uses is a little different. She says "they said I was the kkak-du-ghi". Kkak-du-ghi can mean different things but its literal meaning is cubed radish, often found as a basic, common radish kimchi side dish at any Korean restaurant. When used in games, the term means a player who participates in a game but not as an active player. In Korean culture, if someone wants to participate in a group game but they're unable to understand the rules or play effectively (due to age or disabilities or other things), other participants might let them be in the game as a kkak-du-ghi. So they can participate, but can't be an active player: they cannot actively score or eliminate others, be "it", etc. This can be wholesome at times, other times kids may find this extra person annoying and ignore them (esp if the kkak-du-ghi was a little kid your friend had to tag along 😂). You might also have a kkak-du-ghi system if there's an extra person left out of teams just because of the number of people (ie odd number of ppl when it has to be split into two teams). I personally didn't think much of the term, but after seeing your analysis I think maybe it might have had dual meaning, as in she was just an extra person but at the same time the least capable player whose actions didn't matter.
AH! I gotcha. We have a term in Filipino "saling pusa" (rough translation: let the cat join) when a younger kid is said to be part of a game and is never "out" cause they just let him or her join to not hurt his/her feelings of being excluded.
Thank you for this point of view! Here in México we have something similar to “kkak-du-ghi” for when we play games! We say “chocolate”, like “that person it’s made from chocolate” meaning that whatever they do or don’t doesn’t count! i thought it was a cool coincidence
In Brazil we have a word with a very similar meaning. "Café com Leite", that in English would be "Coffe with Milk", is usually a little kid, probably someone's younger sibling that didn't know how to play the game but wanted to. The name is coffe with milk probably because in Brazil most people think that If you drink coffe with milk you're weak, because tough people drinks Black Coffe lol
In India too be have this... am from west bengal of India and here we say it as "dudh-vhat" .. which means to milk and boiled rice , wich is only to full the stomach but is not desirable or extraordinarily healthy..its just simple
I agree with everything here. Her character actually had the most range of them all. We got laughs, annoyance, meanness, sadness and vengeance from her.
It is kinda sad she didnt get much attention and admiration as the main female character because of her her age, I guess. She s not "fresh and youthful". But I personally think she s an amazing actress and a very beautiful woman too.
She did a great job of being crazy and unpredictable without overdoing it. She was amazing! Her performance kind of reminded me of Glenn Close’s in Fatal Attraction.
What was refreshing about her character is that nobody bought her bullshit. So while her character was a bit of a trope, the show ultimately rejected it instead of doing the predictable thing by allowing her to take advantage of a gullible character only for her to backstab them at the opportune moment. The backstabbing came from a character that you wouldn’t have expected if you weren’t paying close attention. The show didn’t treat its characters or audience as stupid and easily manipulated, and I love it for that.
What I also loved about Mi-Neo's act of suicide killing is that it has a strong resemblance of how Nongae lured and killed the Japanese commander hundreds of years ago by the way of hugging "the ass**le", clasping fingers tight and jumping off the cliff. (It carries the meaning of even the most powerless women can find a way to revenge/resist.)
This was fascinating to read about. There's such rich symbolism in this series at every turn, it seems like Mi-Nyeo's final act almost has to be calling to this story.
I noticed that after the tug of war game Mi-Neo said something about feeling the strongest she ever had when she leaned back like that, so I think she remembered that feeling in the moment and used that in her final act of revenge
As a Vietnamese speaker who doesn't actually speak Korean, I actually had to sound it out and from what you're saying, it's finally occurred to me that her name would be from the Chinese character compound "美 女". It's interesting when I watch things like "Parasite" (2019), "Squid Game" (2021), or " Taegukgi" (2004), and being able to hear and recognize some shared words here and there like "birthday", "insurance", "guns", "cadre", etc. My name, although spelled in Vietnamese, is pronounced the same in Korean : Huy = Hwi = 輝 = 휘.
@@Suite_annamite 美女 is exactly right. Many Asian languages share the same words only to be pronounced slightly different in our respective languages. Chinese Characters are kind of like the Latin of Asia.
@@jeffsong5653 Historic Chinese was indeed the Latin of Asia; if you are of Korean background, you might be amused to know that in Vietnamese, your family name becomes : "Tống" (宋), with a "t" instead of an "s". I myself studied Taekwondo for 7 years, and could understand almost every word, command or concept, as Vietnamese has all of those words too. Although of course, by the beginning of the 20th century, standardized Asian vocabulary would've been Sino-Japanese, with all of the words dealing with modern ideas of politics and governance, the military, technology, or science and medicine. I'm just curious about *what would you call a mortal challenge or a "death game" in Korean, like what we've all seen here in "Squid Game"?* In *Vietnamese* , the only term I know is *"thí mạng"* : from the *Chinese character compound "試 命" , literally meaning "test of fate".* Is the also *same term used in Korean?*
beutiful woman is a term used a lot now in china and CRAZY RICH ASIANS gives the best explanation of it when Akwafina asks the masseuse what it means. the DIrector indirectly explaining the term to western audience of not what it really means
SPOILER: I think she wasn’t killed off while seeking a partner in the marbles game because the old man who created the game, didn’t expect anyone to pick him so he waited to not get picked. But then he was picked and she wasn’t. I think the guards were expecting to pull the old man out unharmed, to sneak away from the rest of the game (possibly), but when she didn’t get picked, the guards brought her back into the game. Also, at this time, she was following the rules so maybe they didn’t eliminate her and put her back in the poole to try again
@@kingleo2076 *WARNING SPOILERS* Personally I think you’re right. It had nothing to do with whether or not the old man was picked. Keep in mind had the doctor not been playing unfairly he would’ve been alive still meaning there’d be the exact number of players left that you would need to play marbles. The plan was always for the old man to “die” in the marbles game. It’s the last game he could have done before the VIPs arrived AND there wasn’t a way to have him safely participate in the glass game. Thus she won by default because her default partner was already dead. Eliminating her would’ve been pointless and not much fun for the VIPs so it made sense to keep her around.
Absolutely terrifying, horrible, yet impressively brave. That's how I'd describe her. It was really refreshing to see a female character be allowed to be so unpolished, yet intriguing.
Her relationship with Deok-su was one of the most interesting things actually. He would have never kept her around if he didn't know that she was actually clever/crazy enough to be "useful". Her being unpredictable unsettled him like everyone else, he was just convinced he could abandon her at any moment; well, I guess it backfired. She was the one in control, Deok-su just refused to see it because of his ego
I think Mi-nyeo and Deok-su were two sides of the same coin. The kingpin and his "main bitch", or at least that's what she aspired to be simply because she knew it would mean vicarious power. I doubt she ever "had feelings" for him, I think she was simply regurgitating an old pattern of abusive codependent relationships that are usually characterized by these chaotic ups and downs. I wouldn't be surprised if she was reenacting a past relationship with Deok-su that may or may not have caused her debt. Either way in the end she got her revenge on Deok-su or whomever he represented to her. Both of them were equally bad people, however their power was contingent on unstable alliances: staying on the good side of the leader, or keeping your followers loyal.
She’s probably my second favorite character behind 240. She’s SO misunderstood. I don’t think she’s crazy or unstable, just willing to do anything to win but will prioritize her word and dignity even if it means losing or her death.
@@arianastone4895 didn’t her first scene involve her lying about having a family? You might wanna do a rewatch cuz she is not honest until she dies lol
@@briannaoppong-antwi9702 and she manipulates people the whole show, while never once mentioning her family again. Therefore it’s implied that she doesn’t have a family. Also being manipulative makes her dishonest anyway💀
Han Mi-Nyeo’s character made me actually cry because I have definitely been in her place before. Discarded and disapproved of by one person, which causes you to put up a fake persona of strong and dangerous but since everyone can see right through this you come off as crazy and annoying. Which then makes others discard and disapprove of you too. At the time I didn’t even realise I was preventing myself from making anymore friends and I’m almost sure that Mi-Nyeo doesn’t realise she’s doing it either. It’s a nasty habit that can take years to grow out of (at least in my case). It’s really just the fear and insecurities that consume you that for some reason many people can’t see or chose to ignore.
I am sure that the scene in 21:36 immediately made most Koreans picture the story of Nongae in their mind. She is one of the most iconic women in Korean history. During Japanese invasion of Korea in 1593, she was forced to serve and entertain the Japanese soldiers for celebration of their victory. Nongae led the Japanese general to the cliffside, and embraced him to cast herself along with the general into the river, eventually killing them both. She sacrificed herself not only in revenge for her husband’s murder (by Japanese forces) but also out of love for her country. The way that Mi nyeo embraced Deok su and committed double suicide for her revenge was strongly reminiscent of Nongae.
This is kinda personal, but. Because I was sexually abused as a kid, I learned that acting sexual towards people I'm afraid of gives me some safety. No, they won't respect me, but they probably won't hurt me too much. It's a way to stay safe. (And if they do end up assaulting me, I can tell myself it was my choice.) (I never said it was a healthy coping mechanism, lol.)
Abuse makes us do weird things. I'm impressed with the insight you have to your behavior. That said, I hope you're able to see a professional to help you work through this. Don't try to do it on your own, you need an external critic! Stay strong friend🙂🌈
I think the reason the guards didn't kill her when she didn't find a partner; was because the one left behind was supposed to be Il-Nam. Il-Nam seemed to have every intention of being left out of the marbles game. He made himself look weak and ill, firstly by making it look like he wet his pants, and looking as if he can't even get out of bed. Then he sat away from everyone when they were choosing their partners, he tried to be excluded so that HE would get taken away and pressumably killed. When Gi-Hun chose him, he was genuinely shocked and had to fake a dementia episode so that Gi-Hun wouldn't get killed, and so that he could then sit out the glass bridge, the only game up to that point where he could've easily lost and died in. I guess the rule of 'whomever is the odd one out when it comes to choosing marble partners gets to sit the game out' was already established and had to be followed even when it didn't go exactly to plan.
@@nataliawashington872 I'm sure part of his dementia plan was also to make a bet with himself on Gi-Hun's humanity, as we saw in Il-Nam's last scene before he died; he enjoyed betting on people in the worst ways. But in a game like Squid Game, such a lesson is sorta unnecessary as it IS life or death. But yeah, you could still be right also. It's highly likely that there were a few reasons for Il-Nam's actions. He could also be doing it for fun, messing with people seemed to bring him such sick joy. But I still stand by what I said because the glass bridge game was too unpredictable and required physical precision and exertion - it makes the most sense that he wanted an easy out without arousing suspicion.
@@nataliawashington872 Probably a ruse all along. Il Nam had no idea how good Gi-Hun was at marbles. There was always the chance Il Nam was better, as he said at the start that he was quite good, and as it turned out Il Nam was about to win. So, he set the scene just in case and it turned out his dementia plan was needed which also resulted in a lesson to Gi-Hun which exposed Gi-Hun as well as being someone who would lie and cheat to survive just like then rest of them.
Honestly I think she’s the best written character in the show. She was my favorite (although I did not like her xenophobic comment towards ali. they really ruined her by adding that) I just don’t see a lot of female characters like her. Something that bothers me is that a lot of people call her annoying but I just know she’d be loved by these same people if she were male. There’s so many male characters who have same personality as her. who are assholes and have flaws just like her yet people love them for that but when a female character acts the same way they call her annoying and a bitch. Also she’s so complicated and that’s what makes her so interesting and fun to analyze. Every scene with her got me excited I just wanted to know more about her. I just love terrible unhinged weirdo women they’re my favorite character archetype I literally fell in love with her in the bathroom scene yknow that scene where she took a cigarette out of her 🐱 she’s got the “would have have the craziest beef with azealia banks” energy that im obsessed with
I don’t think she was actually xenophobic. She was probably just trying to intimidate Ali. Generation Ochi does say in the video that she’s also a bully, like Deok-su.
Her xenophobic moments didn't ruin her character in my opinion, it was a genuinely dislikable moment and that adds to the complexity of her character. I dislike her as a person for it but I appreciate that her character is not sugarcoated and easily "redeemable".
Honestly, no 212 was my favourite character, she was so fun to watch. And the moment she fell off that bridge and took no 101 down with her, my respect for her sky rockited. She went out like such a baddie
Its extremely refreshing to find a Squid Game video that ACTUALLY has something to say. Most of these film theory type videos are so bland and are clearly just capitalizing in how popular the show is for a quick milly views. Yet have nothing of substance to offer
This comment means a lot to us, tha k you very much. YT is a hard game, one has to balance quality with timeliness. It's mostly a game of whoever gets their video out first but we really don't want to play that way, we want to try hard and deliver quality content.
Agree, I met this channel for Squid Game and i loved its analysis, funny, emphatetic and smart video, otherwise I recommend "Why SG is unlike anything you´ve seen before" in Movie Morj
I think the moment with Deok-su literally throwing her aside awakened this vengeful side to her that would ultimately come back to bite him later. I can imagine someone like her being tossed aside all her life, especially as she got older and her "appeal" started to wear off. I could feel all that past anger finally breaking through the surface when she looked up at him and once again reminded him of her vow to kill him. I think in that moment, her motivation changed from surviving to WINNING, and I don't just mean the game. Because in her chaotic mind, getting revenge on Deok-su would be just as sweet as winning the game. She craved that power she felt entitled to but never quite got, and finally, when the opportunity presented itself, she took it. Even if it cost her life. That's what I loved so much about her character. A vindictive opportunist. I knew she never had a chance at winning, but I loved to see her go by making sure the person who wronged her didn't either.
I also think the last straw for her (and possibly her sanity and sense of self-preservation) was when she was left without a partner for the marbles game and the guards dubbed her as the weakest link in the group of remaining players. In her mind, it means she's of even less worth than an elderly man who's suffering from dementia, and it broke her will to live. She could have seen the guards letting her live as an act of mockery by implying she's not even worth wasting a bullet on. Hence she may have decided to kill herself to get rid of Deok-su to prove she wasn't worthless after all by giving the remaining players a fighting chance to win the game instead of being the loud, complaining useless person everyone saw her as.
Shes an underdog, the underdog that defeated the strong juggernaught. Shes an icon, a legend and she is our overly crazy aunt we had that one time, oh and she is the moment
She was the only one who could have taken Deok-su out. Eventually glass maker would have folded and went ahead of Deok-su and he would have made it to the end of the bridge. Then he would probably throw that guy off and then prevent anyone else from crossing. Even if they made it to the final game Deok-Su would have had the best odds of winning. Even, if they ganged up on him, his chances of killing them in hand-to-hand are pretty high considering he's probably killed quite a few people before even coming to the games.
wow the first time i only saw her as a crazy comic relief, but in fact she is a pretty tragic character, the way she is rejected by everyone is awful, all the participants look at her as a pariah, a woman who installs the discomfort, because too exuberant but in a way that is not normal, even whitout her backstory I can easily imagine that it is a woman who grew up in misery, without a guide, who was neglected by many people, probably her family first.
I feel like I relate to her desperation to be a part of a friend group, so as not to be perceived as lonely. And its obviously been the main reason why I can’t get any actual friends. I tried to compare her with the other characters and why she failed miserably at being a part of a friend group while the others had it quite easily. The way the main cast became friends is: Gihun and sangwoo previously knew each other, Ali joined bc he saved gihun’s life in the first episode. Old man for a reason I can’t really explain but it wasn’t really sympathy. Sae byeok did purely because gihun felt sympathy for her. And ji-yeon because sae byeok could relate to her. So no one really put in an effort in actively joining a friend group while han min-yeo sized up everyone and went for the strongest group, while demeaning the others. But when she got rejected from that group, she went to the next and next and next until she got rejected by everyone there.
@@megrocks3026 Me too, I honestly feel sorry for her, we can also talk about all the sexist remarks in the show, but the worst thing for me is that she is also rejected by women, when she is desperately trying to find a partner to play with, she goes to see the famous couple, the woman is really afraid of her, and when she turns out to be still alive she says that we call her "the weakest link" she points the finger at another woman saying that she too must knowing what it is to be the weakest link, then you can see that the woman is really embarrassed. Small details but for me that says everything.
It's also worthy to mention her physical strength. Before the tug-of-war game, she says that she's stronger than most women. She's not exaggerating her skills here, she’s actually telling the truth. In the bridge game she grabs Deok-su, a person who has been repeatedly shown to be very physically imposing, he’s visibly surprised at her strength. She manages to hold on to him and lift him without him breaking free. Whatever she did before entering the game, it probably involved lifting some weights
Korea has a massive industry built on maintaining beauty and youthfulness. Your looks are greatly associated with your worth. When I watched the show the first time thorough I quickly realized that her calling everyone 'Oppa' (oppa literally translated to big brother, used in place of 'bae'... something you ONLY do when you REALLY know someone and have a good relationship with) and flirting was something she clearly had done time and time again. Her tactics are pretty commonly used by young pretty girls flirting with 'scary' older guys to get money, a guard dog, or a boost in status. Because she doesn't have cash to do the surgeries that would make her look young longer she's left to age and be judged hardly because of this. If the younger girls had acted in the same way she did they would likely have been given at least a little bit more leeway due to misogyny. She knows the societal game, played the game well, and has been switching her tactics based on how people react. Her character is invaluable critique of the shitty system that makes people into manipulative assholes due to circumstance. She's terrible and I love her.
@Louis Tea Enjoyer ugh. His point was that if the lady had been younger, her same filtrations behavior would be seen differently. Nothing about biology or what men or women prefer.
No. She would have been annoying regardless. Also you kinda have to remember that There's a difference between , Some one with a master degree saying they are smart and someone never went to school saying they are smart. You will find both of these annoying but you will find one less annoying because they have the bragging right.
My fave character. She stayed true to her word and took out the trash. Her crazy antics definatly the most memorable. Whenever she was on screen its like ok what crazy thing she gon say next. Race thing with Ali was something but could be like she was trying to appear dominant like you said as he called her out and mocked her words and him being foreign was easiest thing she could shoot him down with. 🤔
she was literally THE MOST entertaining character on the show and all of the reviews and analysis i've seen always brush her off as "annoying". nah she's a queen i stan her
While most characters tackle some facet of capitalism, she's more of a commentary on patriarchy, which I thought was really smart to include (as these systems often overlap and reinforce eachother). A reminder that the bosses, VIPs, seemingly all the guards, and even leadership among contestants...all men. Watching her navigate, and in her own small way overcome this structure, was a blast. And I never personally found her actions annoying or unjustified. That final line really says it all 🤏😂
I found it interesting she was also chosen to carry the point home on the racism substory. The way she treats Seobyeok and Ali, both immigrants very differently. Until she comes along ''into the group'' we only see Alis experience through his reactions to not being treated like crap.
Please tell me how patriarchy overlaps with an economic system? Patriarchy/Matriarchy and capitalism/communism/socialism are quite different from eachother 😂😂😂😂
Whereas it is an interesting take, I think you also misunderstand her character, perhaps due to overthinking things. The MOST IMPORTANT thing to keep in mind about ALL the characters in Squid game, is that they are ALL failures. Mi-Nyeo is a scam artist who is used to manipulating 'everyday' people, who have no clue they are being manipulated. Mi-yeo is not used to dealing with other criminals. That's why she immediately drops into 'begging' at the beginning. She thinks it is someone she owes the debt to. Once she realizes she's not dealing with a crime boss, her self-confidence starts to return. But by then, her cover has already been blown. The rest of the show is her trying to regain her perceived 'advantage'. Unfortunately, everyone there is pretty much immune to her manipulations, themselves being in a similar position of 'desperate'. Gi-hun, also a manipulator, sees through her efforts, and disdains her poor attempts. She's rude and condescending to the 'guards' because she knows they are NOT goons or muscle for a crime boss, so she doesn't fear them, and is sure they aren't a threat, outside of the game parameters. Her use of 'i'm a genius, but I was never rich enough to study' line is a method she would use to manipulate her targets. Again, nobody participating in the games would fall for that. They know a con artist when they see one. The big mistake Mi-yeo made is underestimating the people there with her. They all have debt close to, if not bigger than, herself. These people returned to the game because of those debts. Which means they ALL have repeated dealings with dangerous crime bosses. They know true intent compared to bravado or manipulations. She is literally a fish-out-of-water, and she doesn't realize it. It shows us how she got in the position she is in. At least, that's how I took it, keeping in mind the differences in culture between Korea and the US, and the universal mindset of a gambler in debt with crime bosses.
This is by far the most well thought out and accurate analysis of her character. Most find her annoying and write her off as a pest. I think the guards did as well. That’s my the let her remain. Freak her out, push her buttons and create more chaotic behaviors!
I think one has to see her from a Korean point of view. In most Asian countries, you're worth "less" after a certain age. One of the unflattering nicknames they give her is "grandma". Her name literally means something like beauty and the team of crooks actually mocks that by saying that's an unfitting name for her. I think she is someone with a very traumatic childhood. Look at the way she behaves. People who are this manipulative and often offer themselves or are easy to do so have learned such behavior from childhood. She probably learned that her parents only gave her attention when she was loud and in your face, so she is that way on the show. She probably doesn't mind lowering herself to offering men to sleep with them if they choose her because she just wants to be acknowledged! There's an interview with the actress and she says she feels very bad for the character. I think that's spot on. I read that unfortunately, MANY (in my opinion stupid) people found her to be annoying and were happy she did. I was not. While I liked the Ali character for example, i didn't feel exactly sad when he died. I did feel sad when she died, because I would have loved to know more about her and her story. Does she actually have a child? Is she actually in debt? Did she only join these games to prove herself (to men or society)? Again, if we consider how highly patriarchal countries like Korea, Japan or China are, she's someone who'd be highly unpopular and looked down in their society by almost everyone. If she lived in the West, her standing would be different for sure. So I think we can't judge her by the same standards. Of course she is manipulative and all, but to me, that's more tragic than upsetting.
Exactly. She did everything she could to survive. She doesn't have the strength, or brains, or really charisma it takes to survive so she's doing the best she can. She's strong in another way. Resilient. She uses her desperation to survive and thrive and do what's in her own best interest.
I loved her character! She wasn't erratic at all. She was calculating. And she only pandered infantilism and sexuality because it's a way that women interact with men so that the men don't feel threatened by her. She was also protecting Sae Byeok by interrupting that conversation with Deok Su because she could recognise his predatory characteristics and Sae Byeok's innocence. I think you miscalled it though saying that she didn't want to be found worthless due to her insecurity. She quickly assessed that she had to try to attach herself to a team to go far. She merely tried to attach herself to the person she saw as the strongest competitor (Deok Su) in order to survive. The doctor was a threat to her rank in the group because it was clear that she was intelligent and clever, the only value to the group that she provided, and the doctor threatened her place in the social order with his own intelligence and cleverness.
i love this lady. she was relentlessly chaotic, and I'm sick of class conflict stories with the poor characters portrayed as saints. I firmly believe that you don't have to be an upstanding citizen to be treated like a human being. i also hated that she was racist but guess what? so are most of the characters in the show and that's the point! class conflict is messy, intersectional and reveals the levels of class among these groups. all poor people don't get along, especially when you see that you have some privilege over others (minyeo making fun of ali for his nationality/foreigner status but also minyeo being left out for being a "sl*t"). older women are treated like leftovers in asian culture (even if they're not that old) and are berated ten fold by others for their actions even tho people are just as bad because they are women. but ultimately, race plays a stronger role in these situations (especially in America and Europe as they were colonizer countries) because in the end, ali was killed first. migrant workers lose their rights as humans when the state decides you are not a person.
i found a really good metaphor. while baking even the sweetest cake, you still need a pinch of salt - otherwise it doesn’t work. squid games horror aspects contradicted by han mi-nyeo’s happy attitude and humor throughout the show was EXACTLY what was needed to complete the episodes with fun and laughter. the thought of her being mass disliked by people never even crossed my mind because of how much i enjoyed her time on-screen and how she expresses herself. han mi-nyeo is definitely a misunderstood character, and extremely well-written. good video :)
An interesting thought is that if Han Mi-Nyeo gained 100 pounds of muscle and Deok Su suddenly got the body of a weak little girl, Han Mi-Nyeo would likely treat him exactly the way he treats her. Possibly more interesting is that Deok Su would probably act just like Han Mi-Nyeo if he was a weak woman. He's surprisingly not dumb.
I felt like I could understand her in the series. She is alone in the game. She is a woman and physically weaker. Her youth is fleeting. And she is trying to team up with the strong. Being a woman in society is a strength as the center of family life and stability. But squid game is about individual survival not holding a collective future.
Crazy. I did know that I liked her as a character before, though it was definitely an unpopular opinion. I remember grimacing when she pulled the cigarettes out of her undies, yet somehow was still proud of her for doing so. The lighter was definitely a big brain move as well, one she didn't get enough credit for. And when the guards had pulled her away, I remember feeling disappointed and cheated, knowing it wasn't an end she truly deserved. So you could imagine my satisfaction to still see her survive not having a partner for that particular game. She's definitely my favorite character and I'm glad this vid exists to help me understand just why I liked her so much. Cheers~
i've really enjoyed her character, the bathroom scene with sae-byeok was hilarious. if it wasn't for her glaringly obvious manipulation and the staff exposing her so early, i could easily imagine her forming her own group apart from deok-su with charisma alone.
I wish we'd seen her backstory. Considering she's basically a swindler it'd be interesting to see what her actual life was like outside the games. We got to see all the other main players outside the game, her and Jiyeong should've had more glimpses into their backstories... real shame and waste of two good female characters development
I have a feeling she definitely grew up poor and abused, physically and sexually. Her behavior as an adult hints towards a very difficult past that she now uses flirtacious strategies and a hardened shell to cope with.
@@faerykaye yes, maybe thats why i like her? i sense she went through some tragedy to become the person she is now and i'm dying to fill those gaps. i like imperfect female characters and though shes a bit exaggerated she is definitely a charming and weird female character with glaring flaws
She was my favorite character. While I love both leading ladies, I liked her more as she really attempted to control her own narrative. She even chose her own death rather than letting the game decide her fate.
I did read a lot people dislike her and consider her as annoying but I actually like her, I find her funny (I found hilarious her scene in bathroom helping Sae Byeok xD) and when I saw her in a scene I was like "what is this lady gonna do now? 😂" my only "problem" was she joining the mafia dude team :/ I was waiting for her revenge to mafia dude which was dope. I had the doubt about her backstory and if the baby thing she mention was true or just a lie to the staff if they would let her go or something
Really? You find that sort of slapstick, simplistic humour funny? All she did was annoyingly shout, being over the top and hyperbolic pretending to be constipated! It was so ridiculous it almost came across as insulting to the viewer. A ti te debe gustar el tipo de humor de 'caca pedo culo pis' 😆
I loved her, she was a much needed comic relief in the otherwise dark show. I couldn't really blame her for joining the thugs, she was trying to survive just like everyone else. The only problem I have with her is how she talked to Ali after the 3rd game. But her revenge moment was epic, Deok su didn't take her seriously when she said she will kill him if he betrays her, but she stayed true to her word and went out with style Edit: she was also the only one that yelled and bossed around the pink guys and got away with it
@@greyLeicester her English dubbed over voice is what made her character annoying and I couldn't stand her but then when I re-watched it in Korean with English subtitles, it made her character more likeable.
@@greyLeicester I find that kind of humor funny. Humor is subjective, hinting to the fact that you are superior cause you have some "pallet" and "taste" for comedy doesn't make you intellectually superior or special. You sound rather petulant, gatekeeping comedy I'd say takes the cake for being annoying. 🤡
She is, to me, the epitomy of someone who is on survival mode and pushes against a world that wants to eat them up. I admire that a lot personally, even though it's very toxic.
"beautiful in the darkest way" - definitely! Thank you for this careful and intelligent in-depth analysis of her character! I liked how you explored every aspect of it and put it into perspective even with society as the bigger picture. It was on point and very enjoyable to watch!
Not only everything in this video, she was also the main comedic relief in a show that would have been super depressing and dark constantly without her.
spoiler. I liked ali and gi-hun and il-nam before it turned out he was the villain... but anyway, minyeo was pretty annoying tbh, but I really liked her in the glass bridge game where she took deok-su with her.
I actually really love her she honestly seemed so human and she quickly adapted and everybody seemed to dislike her but her instability was honestly relatable
She was my favourite character from first watch. She's interesting, funny and honestly a breath of fresh air compared to the death, depression and tense atmosphere of the rest of the show and characters.
She's got more dimensions than string theory. She's my favorite character. I wouldn't necessarily be friends with her IRL, but she's soooooo well-written, and the actress, Kim Joo Ryoung, did such an amazing job.
what an intelligent, thoughtful, and articulate exploration of this character! i can’t say enough how much i appreciate the tact you have when approaching a subject that could be handled with so much insensitivity
Her character is a low-class woman of doubtful origin. In the dalgona game, her lighter is printed with the phrase "Minyeo - her name - rest area," suggesting that she was once, or until just before the game, in the cheap prostitution business. "I'm the Han Mi-na, who slayed it all from Dongducheon to Gangnam," this line of hers strongly supports this idea, too. Both Gangnam and Dongducheon are places where there are large prostitutes in Korea, and in fact, they symbolize the sex markets of the two extremes, for the upper and lower classes each. The inadequacy of maintaining an seductive words and attitude with already aged appearance is to make her more pathetic.
I really love Deok Sun and Min Yeo together. Hahahaha I don’t know why. But it is like watching the jock and the cheerleader backstab each other. And Min Yeo is so attractive idc if people say she’s old, but she’s gorgeous. (Actually, I also like Deok Sun’s actor… afshfjsjdjskkd they are really a handsome/beautiful couple together in their twisted ways)
I don't think she is old. I think her street lifestyle has impacted her. I actually think she is suppose to be younger and the audience is seeing the impact of lifestyle.
Also in S Korea - promiscuous/highly outspoken women are criticized far more harshly than they are here in America, so she probably wasn't popular at all for the Korean audience. They wanted to make her a hated character, but I think American audience are far more accepting of those traits, so most of us liked her, or at the least didn't hate her.
Almost from the moment she was introduced my mom and I had her begged as an “opportunistic bacteria” (it’s a joke term we use after hearing it in the cells at work anime lol, they’re bacteria that normally don’t cause harm but can when the body’s residence is low, and the show portrayed them as bacteria that take the side of whoever’s strongest, infectious bacteria or healthy bacteria) And this pretty much shaped how I saw her character the entire show. Every character had their strengths, like how deok su was physically strong and intimidating which Meade it easy for him to get followers, or sang woo’s intellect, or ji yeong’s street smarts, ali’s friendly disposition that easily got him allies, and gi hun’s naturally caring and friendly nature. It was just that mi nyeo’s strength happened to be being able to wear different masks according to what she needed from people. It wasn’t that she was necessarily lascivious or flirtatious by nature, it was just that she was doing what she needed to do in order to get people on her side. Or at least what she thought she needed to do, or would be easiest to do. To me this was easy to conclude from the way she lied about being a mother only to then vote to stay in the games. At the time, what she wanted was to get out and not die, and she knew claiming to be a mom would easily garner sympathy and might make them go easy on her and let her leave. But as soon as she learned about the money, something she wanted more than leaving, she changed her story. And again later on, when she wanted to go to the bathroom to smoke, she lied about having to pee and said she’d pee on the floor if they didn’t let her out. I don’t think she was planning to actually do it because she bet on them opening the door before that. Basically she was just someone who would do whatever she needed to get what she wanted, and being flirtatious and screwing deok su was just another step of that. She never loved him, she never actually cared about him at all, she just thought that he would protect her and thus give her an advantage in the game if she pretended to love him and made him promise they’d be together. But then when that didn’t work out she got desperate, because she knew people were starting to see through her act, and she was running out of ways to convincingly pretend to be someone they wanted on their team. In the end I think she realized that she had no hope of winning the hop scotch game anyway once she got to the front of the line, and at that point she had a vendetta against deok su because he betrayed their promise and took advantage of her, and humiliated her in front of everyone else on top of that. All her work had been for nothing. That’s why I think she took him down with her, to get her revenge, which ended up being what she decided she wanted more than the money. Anyway, she wasn’t my favourite character but I did like how she was written and found her very interesting. I thought it was very refreshing to see a woman who wasn’t afraid of using what she had to her advantage, especially an older woman, who often aren’t portrayed as very sexually liberated? I think female characters that act very sexual are usually doing it for the benefit of others on some level, either for the other characters in the story or for the viewer. But I don’t think that mi nyeo’s portrayal was meant to be like that, everything she was doing was for her own benefit and no one else’s and I really liked that. Good for her yknow? Good for her.
Her character annoyed the shit outta me... Which meant she understood her assignment... She acted her ass off!!!
Haha yep
For real 😂 If she was a minigame I wouldn't stand a chance
Yes!!!
If you watch in Korean her voice doesn’t sound nearly as annoying.
@@myathepompom7062 I heard... I'm gonna watch the season in Korean... Mind you, I've seen it 3xs in English and was thoroughly entertained. Everyone says I'll love it more in Korean. Thank you!
she was definately abused her entire life, as she lashes out and attaches herself to the most dangerous man out of survival instincts.
Oh shit, I didn't even think about that. I think you're probably right
Can you please further elaborate this? I find this so interesting
Yes please explain more in depth about this!
@@fbw4439 Someone who's grown is toxic environment with abusive people and who've managed to survive/develop coping mechanisms for that type of environment (for example, seducing men in power to remain "unharmed" and receive preferencial treatment) are likely to drift back to abusive people because it feels familiar to them, they know what they're dealing with, and thus feels "safer".
Maybe childhood trauma and emotional abuse…
Her facial expressions. Scared, angry, coy, thoughtful, sexual, flitatious, desperate, determined, mocking, sorrowful. Just a FANTASTIC actress and so pretty. And the camera loves her.
Yes!! So much range. And out of costume the actress is lkke a textbook definition of pretty
right! all throughout the show i couldnt stop staring she's absolutely gorgeous
@@isabellahughes9696 you thought shewaapretty?
You should see her in silenced with gong yoo, she’s a great actress
But mostly UGLY.
Even the way she dies, she used the trick she learned from the rope game, where leaning backwards gives more strength even if opponent is stronger. She's definitely street smart, and knows how to use it.
Wow I didn't even realize this. It's crazy there are sooo many subtle hidden things in the show.
Wow
She’s a legend.
woah, i never thought of this! that’s badass
I think it's obvious Deok-su is the most scared character in the show.
Yeah, textbook bully behavior: hurt them before they can hurt me
I loved how Gi Hun freaked him out before he was gonna attack the second night
@@denverbritto5606 it was such a badass moment
Haha yep
He is the biggest pussy. He refused to move up when it was his turn. The priest (#6) and glass manufacturer (#13) hesitated too long in between turns, especially the priest, but Deok-Su was completely indecisive when the stakes were high despite being a gang leader alpha on the outside.
i know a lot of people hated her character and found her annoying but she was so entertaining to me
she was very entertaining
The three women in the series were the most entertaining to watch indeed
I didn't really dislike any character, per se. Everyone chose to play these death games. She even pressed the green button in order to stay once she saw the money. The other players chose to come back to the games. Once u decide to play, its either win or die. U gotta be ruthless.
SAME
I actually liked her a fair bit until she was racist to Ali, because there was no actual reason for it. Sure it adds to her character or whatever but it was really unnecessary.
The moment she said "If you ever betray me, I'll kill you" I believed her. I never underestimated my girl Mi-Nyeo
Exactly.
Same. Literally the only outcome I cared about was that she killed ol boy. I didn’t care who else lived or died! When I thought he was going to die playing marbles I was PISSED that she get to kill him!!!
I knew that was going to bite him in the ass. 🤣
When she got her revenge, it was an ICONIC moment.
In the first few episodes all she wanted was to leave the game alive but when deuk soo kicked her out the team she decided to plot her revenge even if she could die. Chased what she wanted until the very end.
Imagine her character wasn't there, the story would fall flat tbh without her to spice up the dynamic. The up and down of her character bring so much colours to the show.
@Bill Keen But imagine the show without her though 🤔
@@nino.a6054 ikr, mi-nyeo, the old man and Ali are the only people that feel different!
Yes
@Bill Keen she made the show spicy🌶!
@@rosechan449 exactly
Mi-nyeo embodies the aging middle-aged woman who once relied on looks, seduction, and manipulation to get what she wanted in life, but finds herself increasingly less relevant. Combine with that what we know about her: 1. arrested multiple times for fraud, 2. not formally educated but self-described as (street)smart. She was likely born lower class but used her looks/body and cunning to survive. But as the years went on, she probably saw the men she once seduced turn their eyes toward younger women. Her age makes her feel massively insecure. That's why she was insulted by Deok-su guessing her age as 49 (she's probably closer to 40-42) and one of the main characters using a term on her meant for older, married women. Her name means "beauty" in Korean, and Deok-su's cronies snigger that such a name was wasted on her. Lastly, it's never confirmed but I can 100% bet that her claiming to recently give birth is a pure lie; just a spontaneous survival tactic meant to generate sympathy for her. That's her life in a nutshell - saying whatever it took.
Spot on dude, spot on. These are my exact thoughts. Also, when she is addressed as a 'missus' she quickly corrects them slightly offended/flustered
Great analysis man
Nailed it!
Awesome analysis. 👍
Also, I would say that even though she has alot of screen time yet they didn't really show her backstory and I think that plays into her characterization. I think she would have been less entertaining and we will be drawn to her less if we would have known her backstory. The idea of not knowing exactly if what she's telling us is the truth or a lie is part of what makes her appealing to the audience. You can't fully figure out what's up with her
didn't she also say that she felt so powerful while leaning backward in tug of war? Then she killed Deok su in the same fashion which is just another fun little power play
Good catch!
yes! i noticed that too after rewatching the show multiple times
It was SO cathartic. I loved her power play.
Wow quite amazing
It's weird to me that so many people say she's unattractive. Her hair and facial features are great, and her actress is so beautiful. It just makes me think that the way she's treated by people in the show is too realistic and makes me sad 😂 I probably wouldn't like her as a person in real life either but I LOVE her as a character!
Them calling her old threw me off. She's gorgeous.
She’s average looking. I don’t understand why people care about a woman’s looks so much. People rarely care about the ugly or average looking men that get roles.
She is, but the thing is, she’s a pretty older woman in the plastic surgery of the world. When it comes to using your looks to get by in life when she has never been given the option to learn any other skill, there will always be someone prettier. And she knows it, she knows it’s a currency quickly depreciating in value
@@starchannel123 exactly
It's because she's old
I started to love her the minute made her introduction, ‘Hey I’m good at everything but the things I’m not’ lmao
Which obviously is a well rehearsed line (since she said it a couple of times) as part of her coming across as charming act
@@greyLeicester I think it’s a rather smart way of introducing yourself. It doesn’t make her seem very charming in my perspective even though that’s her intention but I love that line. It feels iconic
That was badly translated, what she rly said was "I'm really smart I just never got a chance to study (due to being poor)"
@@risaverc1217 No, They are different lines in different scenes.
@@risaverc1217 aw I really like the original subbed line. Sucks it's not a direct translation.
Viewers think that she’s annoying and a nuisance, but you’d be so glad to have someone like her in front of you if you ever had to cross that glass bridge. Would you have challenged Deok-Su? Nah I don’t think so. She might be mad be she’s also BAD af!
And racist
yeah i would. as a rugby player my tackles would be devastating against deok su. if it means saving the time for others to cross then its a sacrifice for the greater good.
I think a lot of people thought she was annoying because the English voice-over they used to dub her with had such an annoying tone in her voice. I re-watched it in Korean with English subtitles and it made her character so much more likable and way less annoying. At least to me, the English voice over chosen for her is what made me not like her at first. I definitely view her differently now 🥰
@@dimitrijames00001 You don't gotta like someone as a person to enjoy them as a fictional character.
@@Shamangirl92 Her fictional character is racist and xenophobic...did you forget her rant against Ali?
mi-nyeo is a great reminder as to why "good character" is not synonymous with "nice character". sure ali has a heart of gold, but her character is just absolutely intriguing to watch i love it
I just thought of a theory that explains a lot about Han Mi-nyeo.
My theory:
Han Mi-nyeo has been to prison before.
She either just got out of prison or she went in a while long but can't find legitimate work because of her record and that could be way she's in debt.
The child thing was a lie just to get the guards to let her go free hence why she voted to stay after her outburst and finding out how much money was on the line.
Episode 3 is where she really shows the evidence that she's been to prison before.
She seeks out the strongest people immediately to form an alliance, she sneaks contraband in by hiding it in her body, she gives the guards attitude despite them being armed, her willingness to cheat and/or throw people under the bus to get ahead, etc.
That's where her fear of being seen as weak/helpless/useless comes from as showing weakness/uselessness is the worst thing you can do in prison.
Also explaining her lack of fear of death as she probably had near death experiences in prison.
I may be off but I personally think I'm onto something with this.
Yeah I can see it
I wondered the same thing, perhaps she was a grifter, or escort/prostitute?
Wholly $h*t, I never thought about the contraband thing, I think you may have cracked it 😲
Ouuuu you might be onto something
That actually makes sense, she seems like she’s street smart, and it’s like if you have a baby wouldn’t you want to live and go home to it whether you’re in debt or not, plus I feel she wouldn’t so easily throw her own life away if she had a child-I feel no mother great, good, or even decent would do that. Also she seems fearless while still being scared.
Also she seems to be really good as manipulating others and used the baby as a manipulation technique to get what she wanted-to be let go, as I assume manipulation is smth you have to be good at if you want to make it out untouched or alive in prison. But a con in her manipulation technique is that sometimes....a lot of times she can become so desperate to be in a safe and secured place in such a dangerous environment that her manipulation comes on entirely too strong and makes it obvious she’s being manipulative and makes people not fall for her tricks so easily, but it’s like when she’s in a calm and collected mindset than her manipulation is subtle and less obvious and it works.
Apparently her character is completely ruined by the English translation. Her character is much different when you understand Korean. Many Korean speakers have said so. Korean speakers said she’s more gangster than appears.
no it seriously is! I feel bad for the people that watched English dub because the whole cast especially Han Min-nyeo was completely butchered ugh!! I've heard English dub makes her seem like a scary lady but I think she just is crazy hah
i dont understand korean but i watched it in korean first then tried watching it in english and the show as a whole is literally ruined when you watch it in english. idk how people watch it in english dub half the characters voices are annoying.
@@oscareno9052 agree, I didn't know it has English dub. I found Korea first. But I watch original dub first. They put real effort on acting because they literally are part of the whole set. Look into the backsense, it's amazing everyone actually work hard making this film
Are the subs sufficient to get that more nuanced perception of her character? I hate dubs, anyway.
@@danibrooke818 I watched in Dub first because that was the language and I felt I had a proper understanding of her character. I mean where most people write her off as a nuisance, but she's so much more and is actually my favorite character. Loved her even more once I saw things that were "missed"
She's a survivor. I was most impressed with this actress in the show. She was the most interesting and well-written female character. Man, I hope she gets award recognition. Juxtapositioning her with Sae-byeok was great. Who's to say she didn't start out like Sae-byeok, with her youth, beauty, cleverness, but life just dealt her poor hands and turned her into what we see now 20 years later.
Love that train of thought. I wondered that too... if she'd been more like Sae-byeok in her youth, and though I think there are similarities (clever, opportunistic, underestimated, & probably once attractive), I believe there are a couple differences in their characters that would not lead to Sae-byeok making the same types of choices as her. Mainly Sae-byeok's moral grounding (she is not sociopathic and callous towards the lives of others unlike Min-yeo) and their dispositions towards others; while Sae-byeok is aloof, a loner, and reluctant to trust others in order to protect herself, Min-yeo employs different methods for the same goal. She's "extroverted," loud, and manipulative (especially sexually). So I think they'd still end up in different places in life, and Sae-byeok wouldn't turn into someone like Min-yeo over time... hopefully lol
They both died though.
@@elf15 don’t worry, moral grounds usually change, there is no basis for moral actions…. Well unless you bring religion into the picture, which if someone is devoted enough it should be sufficient to hold someone in place in terms of morality.
@@elf15 but they both died so they die as what they are.
maybe thats why she perceives sae-byeok negatively too. she sees her younger self in her, and envies that trait from sae-byeok, longing to be like her in her prime years when she was beautiful and youthful.
It’s funny that a lot of people find her annoying. As someone who grew up in a Korean household and can speak and understand Korean, I loved her character, she did what she had to do to survive
From a Korean speaker: when she says "they said I was the weakest link" in Korean, the term she uses is a little different. She says "they said I was the kkak-du-ghi". Kkak-du-ghi can mean different things but its literal meaning is cubed radish, often found as a basic, common radish kimchi side dish at any Korean restaurant. When used in games, the term means a player who participates in a game but not as an active player. In Korean culture, if someone wants to participate in a group game but they're unable to understand the rules or play effectively (due to age or disabilities or other things), other participants might let them be in the game as a kkak-du-ghi. So they can participate, but can't be an active player: they cannot actively score or eliminate others, be "it", etc. This can be wholesome at times, other times kids may find this extra person annoying and ignore them (esp if the kkak-du-ghi was a little kid your friend had to tag along 😂). You might also have a kkak-du-ghi system if there's an extra person left out of teams just because of the number of people (ie odd number of ppl when it has to be split into two teams).
I personally didn't think much of the term, but after seeing your analysis I think maybe it might have had dual meaning, as in she was just an extra person but at the same time the least capable player whose actions didn't matter.
AH! I gotcha. We have a term in Filipino "saling pusa" (rough translation: let the cat join) when a younger kid is said to be part of a game and is never "out" cause they just let him or her join to not hurt his/her feelings of being excluded.
Thank you for this point of view! Here in México we have something similar to “kkak-du-ghi” for when we play games! We say “chocolate”, like “that person it’s made from chocolate” meaning that whatever they do or don’t doesn’t count! i thought it was a cool coincidence
In Brazil we have a word with a very similar meaning. "Café com Leite", that in English would be "Coffe with Milk", is usually a little kid, probably someone's younger sibling that didn't know how to play the game but wanted to. The name is coffe with milk probably because in Brazil most people think that If you drink coffe with milk you're weak, because tough people drinks Black Coffe lol
In India too be have this... am from west bengal of India and here we say it as "dudh-vhat" .. which means to milk and boiled rice , wich is only to full the stomach but is not desirable or extraordinarily healthy..its just simple
here in Brazil we call a player like that "café com leite" which means "coffee with milk", and I have no idea why we call it that...
I agree with everything here. Her character actually had the most range of them all. We got laughs, annoyance, meanness, sadness and vengeance from her.
I relate to her so much
@@greenbanana1001 if u relate to her I would not want to be around u
the actress who played her, kim joo-ryeong, is brilliant too, she embodied the character so well. i hope she can get involved in more projects
It is kinda sad she didnt get much attention and admiration as the main female character because of her her age, I guess. She s not "fresh and youthful". But I personally think she s an amazing actress and a very beautiful woman too.
@@Cursedschnitzel i agree!! and shes also a great friend to her co-actors as well
When I started looking at the cast’s Instagram I was so shocked how sweet and quiet she is. She’s a wonderful actress
Man, people HATE her character which means she played it well. She's definitely a bomb actress
She did a great job of being crazy and unpredictable without overdoing it. She was amazing! Her performance kind of reminded me of Glenn Close’s in Fatal Attraction.
What was refreshing about her character is that nobody bought her bullshit. So while her character was a bit of a trope, the show ultimately rejected it instead of doing the predictable thing by allowing her to take advantage of a gullible character only for her to backstab them at the opportune moment. The backstabbing came from a character that you wouldn’t have expected if you weren’t paying close attention.
The show didn’t treat its characters or audience as stupid and easily manipulated, and I love it for that.
What I also loved about Mi-Neo's act of suicide killing is that it has a strong resemblance of how Nongae lured and killed the Japanese commander hundreds of years ago by the way of hugging "the ass**le", clasping fingers tight and jumping off the cliff. (It carries the meaning of even the most powerless women can find a way to revenge/resist.)
Wow thats a very interesting story. it lead me into a Korean history rabbit hole on google😂
This was fascinating to read about. There's such rich symbolism in this series at every turn, it seems like Mi-Nyeo's final act almost has to be calling to this story.
The woman's husband was killed by the commander so she seduced him and took revenge she was loved by her sacrifice saving future victims.
I noticed that after the tug of war game Mi-Neo said something about feeling the strongest she ever had when she leaned back like that, so I think she remembered that feeling in the moment and used that in her final act of revenge
@@strawberrypeppermint4185 was Nongae a real person
A trivia here, her name Mi Nyeo means A Beautiful Woman in Korean which suits her character’s irony quite well.
As a Vietnamese speaker who doesn't actually speak Korean, I actually had to sound it out and from what you're saying, it's finally occurred to me that her name would be from the Chinese character compound "美 女".
It's interesting when I watch things like "Parasite" (2019), "Squid Game" (2021), or " Taegukgi" (2004), and being able to hear and recognize some shared words here and there like "birthday", "insurance", "guns", "cadre", etc.
My name, although spelled in Vietnamese, is pronounced the same in Korean : Huy = Hwi = 輝 = 휘.
@@Suite_annamite 美女 is exactly right. Many Asian languages share the same words only to be pronounced slightly different in our respective languages. Chinese Characters are kind of like the Latin of Asia.
@@jeffsong5653 Historic Chinese was indeed the Latin of Asia; if you are of Korean background, you might be amused to know that in Vietnamese, your family name becomes : "Tống" (宋), with a "t" instead of an "s".
I myself studied Taekwondo for 7 years, and could understand almost every word, command or concept, as Vietnamese has all of those words too.
Although of course, by the beginning of the 20th century, standardized Asian vocabulary would've been Sino-Japanese, with all of the words dealing with modern ideas of politics and governance, the military, technology, or science and medicine.
I'm just curious about *what would you call a mortal challenge or a "death game" in Korean, like what we've all seen here in "Squid Game"?* In *Vietnamese* , the only term I know is *"thí mạng"* : from the *Chinese character compound "試 命" , literally meaning "test of fate".* Is the also *same term used in Korean?*
beutiful woman is a term used a lot now in china and CRAZY RICH ASIANS gives the best explanation of it when Akwafina asks the masseuse what it means. the DIrector indirectly explaining the term to western audience of not what it really means
YES
SPOILER: I think she wasn’t killed off while seeking a partner in the marbles game because the old man who created the game, didn’t expect anyone to pick him so he waited to not get picked. But then he was picked and she wasn’t. I think the guards were expecting to pull the old man out unharmed, to sneak away from the rest of the game (possibly), but when she didn’t get picked, the guards brought her back into the game. Also, at this time, she was following the rules so maybe they didn’t eliminate her and put her back in the poole to try again
Omg yes! That!
They were also big on equality/fairness and eliminating her without fair play would’ve been questionable
@@YellohMelloh yeah but he wasn’t playing fair now was he? He was at an unfair advantage
only one persen can survive and she won by default
@@kingleo2076 *WARNING SPOILERS* Personally I think you’re right. It had nothing to do with whether or not the old man was picked. Keep in mind had the doctor not been playing unfairly he would’ve been alive still meaning there’d be the exact number of players left that you would need to play marbles. The plan was always for the old man to “die” in the marbles game. It’s the last game he could have done before the VIPs arrived AND there wasn’t a way to have him safely participate in the glass game. Thus she won by default because her default partner was already dead. Eliminating her would’ve been pointless and not much fun for the VIPs so it made sense to keep her around.
Absolutely terrifying, horrible, yet impressively brave. That's how I'd describe her. It was really refreshing to see a female character be allowed to be so unpolished, yet intriguing.
Her relationship with Deok-su was one of the most interesting things actually.
He would have never kept her around if he didn't know that she was actually clever/crazy enough to be "useful". Her being unpredictable unsettled him like everyone else, he was just convinced he could abandon her at any moment; well, I guess it backfired. She was the one in control, Deok-su just refused to see it because of his ego
This is the icing on the cake
Finally someone appreciates this character as much as I do, she's truly fascinating and every second she was on screen was an exciting one
u have a good opinion but u was to scared and the the non-sad Ali at a time showed Mi-nyeo is just mixed
She's relatable
I think Mi-nyeo and Deok-su were two sides of the same coin. The kingpin and his "main bitch", or at least that's what she aspired to be simply because she knew it would mean vicarious power. I doubt she ever "had feelings" for him, I think she was simply regurgitating an old pattern of abusive codependent relationships that are usually characterized by these chaotic ups and downs. I wouldn't be surprised if she was reenacting a past relationship with Deok-su that may or may not have caused her debt. Either way in the end she got her revenge on Deok-su or whomever he represented to her. Both of them were equally bad people, however their power was contingent on unstable alliances: staying on the good side of the leader, or keeping your followers loyal.
@@minatonamikaze4276 what??
@@corimoon3360 mi-nyeo duh
She’s probably my second favorite character behind 240. She’s SO misunderstood. I don’t think she’s crazy or unstable, just willing to do anything to win but will prioritize her word and dignity even if it means losing or her death.
that's one thing I like about her.. She honors her word. She doesn't lie.
@@arianastone4895 didn’t her first scene involve her lying about having a family? You might wanna do a rewatch cuz she is not honest until she dies lol
@@Joeysaladslover it was never confirmed if she had a family or not.
She doesn’t preserve dignity. She was on her knees begging to be a part of the tug of war team.
@@briannaoppong-antwi9702 and she manipulates people the whole show, while never once mentioning her family again. Therefore it’s implied that she doesn’t have a family. Also being manipulative makes her dishonest anyway💀
Han Mi-Nyeo’s character made me actually cry because I have definitely been in her place before. Discarded and disapproved of by one person, which causes you to put up a fake persona of strong and dangerous but since everyone can see right through this you come off as crazy and annoying. Which then makes others discard and disapprove of you too. At the time I didn’t even realise I was preventing myself from making anymore friends and I’m almost sure that Mi-Nyeo doesn’t realise she’s doing it either. It’s a nasty habit that can take years to grow out of (at least in my case). It’s really just the fear and insecurities that consume you that for some reason many people can’t see or chose to ignore.
oh whoa, thank you for the insightful comment.
I am sure that the scene in 21:36 immediately made most Koreans picture the story of Nongae in their mind. She is one of the most iconic women in Korean history. During Japanese invasion of Korea in 1593, she was forced to serve and entertain the Japanese soldiers for celebration of their victory. Nongae led the Japanese general to the cliffside, and embraced him to cast herself along with the general into the river, eventually killing them both. She sacrificed herself not only in revenge for her husband’s murder (by Japanese forces) but also out of love for her country. The way that Mi nyeo embraced Deok su and committed double suicide for her revenge was strongly reminiscent of Nongae.
This is kinda personal, but. Because I was sexually abused as a kid, I learned that acting sexual towards people I'm afraid of gives me some safety. No, they won't respect me, but they probably won't hurt me too much. It's a way to stay safe. (And if they do end up assaulting me, I can tell myself it was my choice.) (I never said it was a healthy coping mechanism, lol.)
Abuse makes us do weird things. I'm impressed with the insight you have to your behavior. That said, I hope you're able to see a professional to help you work through this. Don't try to do it on your own, you need an external critic! Stay strong friend🙂🌈
I’m so sorry that this happened to you/g
more strength to you. hope you're doing well.
None of it is your fault. NONE of it
i understand. i hope you're doing okay now.
I think the reason the guards didn't kill her when she didn't find a partner; was because the one left behind was supposed to be Il-Nam. Il-Nam seemed to have every intention of being left out of the marbles game. He made himself look weak and ill, firstly by making it look like he wet his pants, and looking as if he can't even get out of bed. Then he sat away from everyone when they were choosing their partners, he tried to be excluded so that HE would get taken away and pressumably killed. When Gi-Hun chose him, he was genuinely shocked and had to fake a dementia episode so that Gi-Hun wouldn't get killed, and so that he could then sit out the glass bridge, the only game up to that point where he could've easily lost and died in.
I guess the rule of 'whomever is the odd one out when it comes to choosing marble partners gets to sit the game out' was already established and had to be followed even when it didn't go exactly to plan.
Oh... That makes so much sense!
I thought he faked the dementia episode to teach Gi-Hun a lesson about lying and tricking those you call your friends.
@@nataliawashington872 I'm sure part of his dementia plan was also to make a bet with himself on Gi-Hun's humanity, as we saw in Il-Nam's last scene before he died; he enjoyed betting on people in the worst ways. But in a game like Squid Game, such a lesson is sorta unnecessary as it IS life or death. But yeah, you could still be right also. It's highly likely that there were a few reasons for Il-Nam's actions. He could also be doing it for fun, messing with people seemed to bring him such sick joy. But I still stand by what I said because the glass bridge game was too unpredictable and required physical precision and exertion - it makes the most sense that he wanted an easy out without arousing suspicion.
@@nataliawashington872 Probably a ruse all along. Il Nam had no idea how good Gi-Hun was at marbles. There was always the chance Il Nam was better, as he said at the start that he was quite good, and as it turned out Il Nam was about to win. So, he set the scene just in case and it turned out his dementia plan was needed which also resulted in a lesson to Gi-Hun which exposed Gi-Hun as well as being someone who would lie and cheat to survive just like then rest of them.
@@nataliawashington872 Same but I live this version of being the odd one out
Honestly I think she’s the best written character in the show. She was my favorite (although I did not like her xenophobic comment towards ali. they really ruined her by adding that) I just don’t see a lot of female characters like her. Something that bothers me is that a lot of people call her annoying but I just know she’d be loved by these same people if she were male. There’s so many male characters who have same personality as her. who are assholes and have flaws just like her yet people love them for that but when a female character acts the same way they call her annoying and a bitch. Also she’s so complicated and that’s what makes her so interesting and fun to analyze. Every scene with her got me excited I just wanted to know more about her. I just love terrible unhinged weirdo women they’re my favorite character archetype I literally fell in love with her in the bathroom scene yknow that scene where she took a cigarette out of her 🐱 she’s got the “would have have the craziest beef with azealia banks” energy that im obsessed with
Haha I tend to have a soft spot for “terrible unhinged weirdo women” characters too
I don’t think she was actually xenophobic. She was probably just trying to intimidate Ali. Generation Ochi does say in the video that she’s also a bully, like Deok-su.
They didn’t ruin her by giving her a xenophobic line, they made her a socially realistic character
Her xenophobic moments didn't ruin her character in my opinion, it was a genuinely dislikable moment and that adds to the complexity of her character.
I dislike her as a person for it but I appreciate that her character is not sugarcoated and easily "redeemable".
Lol, adding a xenophobic line for a character that was never meant to be liked... Totally ruined, yeah 😂
Honestly, no 212 was my favourite character, she was so fun to watch. And the moment she fell off that bridge and took no 101 down with her, my respect for her sky rockited.
She went out like such a baddie
Its extremely refreshing to find a Squid Game video that ACTUALLY has something to say. Most of these film theory type videos are so bland and are clearly just capitalizing in how popular the show is for a quick milly views. Yet have nothing of substance to offer
This comment means a lot to us, tha k you very much. YT is a hard game, one has to balance quality with timeliness. It's mostly a game of whoever gets their video out first but we really don't want to play that way, we want to try hard and deliver quality content.
They say its a theory video tgan summarise the show in the first video half
LITERALLY omg he*vy spo*lers just parrots stuff they find on reddit and does zero analysis of their own
I totally agree. Excellent analysis of Han Mi-nyeo. Thank-you Generation Ochi. Well done!
Agree, I met this channel for Squid Game and i loved its analysis, funny, emphatetic and smart video, otherwise I recommend "Why SG is unlike anything you´ve seen before" in Movie Morj
Love her or hate her, she’s the moment. She’s the icon. She’s Mi-nyeo.
She’s a necessary character but calling a racist an icon is just yikes
@@bobduncan1407 she still is an icon, racist or not
@@soulofglebb no she’s not you’re telling me you look up to racists?
I see it as she just wanted to get rid of Ali, and found a good reason to, being racist
I literally cheered when she killed Deok-su. All I wanted was for her to make good on her promise to kill him and SHE DID! absolute legend in my eyes.
she was honestly my favourite character. i have a soft spot for unhinged/villainous female characters and she was just so entertaining to me.
Lol! Same🤣🤣
I think the moment with Deok-su literally throwing her aside awakened this vengeful side to her that would ultimately come back to bite him later. I can imagine someone like her being tossed aside all her life, especially as she got older and her "appeal" started to wear off. I could feel all that past anger finally breaking through the surface when she looked up at him and once again reminded him of her vow to kill him. I think in that moment, her motivation changed from surviving to WINNING, and I don't just mean the game. Because in her chaotic mind, getting revenge on Deok-su would be just as sweet as winning the game. She craved that power she felt entitled to but never quite got, and finally, when the opportunity presented itself, she took it. Even if it cost her life. That's what I loved so much about her character. A vindictive opportunist. I knew she never had a chance at winning, but I loved to see her go by making sure the person who wronged her didn't either.
Yep love this and how she went out, I wish more people understood it this way
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I also think the last straw for her (and possibly her sanity and sense of self-preservation) was when she was left without a partner for the marbles game and the guards dubbed her as the weakest link in the group of remaining players. In her mind, it means she's of even less worth than an elderly man who's suffering from dementia, and it broke her will to live. She could have seen the guards letting her live as an act of mockery by implying she's not even worth wasting a bullet on. Hence she may have decided to kill herself to get rid of Deok-su to prove she wasn't worthless after all by giving the remaining players a fighting chance to win the game instead of being the loud, complaining useless person everyone saw her as.
Well said👏👏
Shes an underdog, the underdog that defeated the strong juggernaught. Shes an icon, a legend and she is our overly crazy aunt we had that one time, oh and she is the moment
*Now come on now*
obsessed with the wording of this comment
Her facial expressions and mannerisms during the scene where she lifts Sae-Byeok into the vent is the most amazing acting I've seen in my life.
I actually liked her character, and let’s be real, she was doing what everyone was doing. Trying to survive.
She was the only one who could have taken Deok-su out. Eventually glass maker would have folded and went ahead of Deok-su and he would have made it to the end of the bridge. Then he would probably throw that guy off and then prevent anyone else from crossing. Even if they made it to the final game Deok-Su would have had the best odds of winning. Even, if they ganged up on him, his chances of killing them in hand-to-hand are pretty high considering he's probably killed quite a few people before even coming to the games.
wow the first time i only saw her as a crazy comic relief, but in fact she is a pretty tragic character, the way she is rejected by everyone is awful, all the participants look at her as a pariah, a woman who installs the discomfort, because too exuberant but in a way that is not normal, even whitout her backstory I can easily imagine that it is a woman who grew up in misery, without a guide, who was neglected by many people, probably her family first.
She be relatable
EXACTLY THIS
I feel like I relate to her desperation to be a part of a friend group, so as not to be perceived as lonely. And its obviously been the main reason why I can’t get any actual friends. I tried to compare her with the other characters and why she failed miserably at being a part of a friend group while the others had it quite easily. The way the main cast became friends is: Gihun and sangwoo previously knew each other, Ali joined bc he saved gihun’s life in the first episode. Old man for a reason I can’t really explain but it wasn’t really sympathy. Sae byeok did purely because gihun felt sympathy for her. And ji-yeon because sae byeok could relate to her. So no one really put in an effort in actively joining a friend group while han min-yeo sized up everyone and went for the strongest group, while demeaning the others. But when she got rejected from that group, she went to the next and next and next until she got rejected by everyone there.
@@megrocks3026 Me too, I honestly feel sorry for her, we can also talk about all the sexist remarks in the show, but the worst thing for me is that she is also rejected by women, when she is desperately trying to find a partner to play with, she goes to see the famous couple, the woman is really afraid of her, and when she turns out to be still alive she says that we call her "the weakest link" she points the finger at another woman saying that she too must knowing what it is to be the weakest link, then you can see that the woman is really embarrassed. Small details but for me that says everything.
I love u Cercie
Bro she’s my second favorite character, my first being Sae byeok. The women in squid games absolutely stole the show and my heart ❤️
It's also worthy to mention her physical strength. Before the tug-of-war game, she says that she's stronger than most women. She's not exaggerating her skills here, she’s actually telling the truth. In the bridge game she grabs Deok-su, a person who has been repeatedly shown to be very physically imposing, he’s visibly surprised at her strength. She manages to hold on to him and lift him without him breaking free. Whatever she did before entering the game, it probably involved lifting some weights
Or having to deal with people bigger than her
I love the fact that Mi-nyeo and deok-Su’s numbers correlate as well
101 and 212
A visual representation of how she has one up on him in every aspect…hence why she won. Well, “won”.
@@madam-mint yeah I was gonna she twice the man he is but that wouldn’t make sense lol
Korea has a massive industry built on maintaining beauty and youthfulness. Your looks are greatly associated with your worth. When I watched the show the first time thorough I quickly realized that her calling everyone 'Oppa' (oppa literally translated to big brother, used in place of 'bae'... something you ONLY do when you REALLY know someone and have a good relationship with) and flirting was something she clearly had done time and time again. Her tactics are pretty commonly used by young pretty girls flirting with 'scary' older guys to get money, a guard dog, or a boost in status. Because she doesn't have cash to do the surgeries that would make her look young longer she's left to age and be judged hardly because of this. If the younger girls had acted in the same way she did they would likely have been given at least a little bit more leeway due to misogyny. She knows the societal game, played the game well, and has been switching her tactics based on how people react. Her character is invaluable critique of the shitty system that makes people into manipulative assholes due to circumstance. She's terrible and I love her.
yes
wow. very interesting idea.
@Louis Tea Enjoyer ugh. His point was that if the lady had been younger, her same filtrations behavior would be seen differently. Nothing about biology or what men or women prefer.
@Louis Tea Enjoyer 💀
No. She would have been annoying regardless. Also you kinda have to remember that There's a difference between , Some one with a master degree saying they are smart and someone never went to school saying they are smart. You will find both of these annoying but you will find one less annoying because they have the bragging right.
She was a true wildcard, and that’s why I enjoyed her presence!
My fave character. She stayed true to her word and took out the trash. Her crazy antics definatly the most memorable. Whenever she was on screen its like ok what crazy thing she gon say next. Race thing with Ali was something but could be like she was trying to appear dominant like you said as he called her out and mocked her words and him being foreign was easiest thing she could shoot him down with. 🤔
she was literally THE MOST entertaining character on the show and all of the reviews and analysis i've seen always brush her off as "annoying". nah she's a queen i stan her
Bestie same 😩
Same😍😍 especially when she was being xenophobic to Ali
@@armpits5928 I like her, but not the part when she was being xenophobic to him. :/
exactly she’s a girl boss
@@amethyst4537 boy..
While most characters tackle some facet of capitalism, she's more of a commentary on patriarchy, which I thought was really smart to include (as these systems often overlap and reinforce eachother). A reminder that the bosses, VIPs, seemingly all the guards, and even leadership among contestants...all men. Watching her navigate, and in her own small way overcome this structure, was a blast. And I never personally found her actions annoying or unjustified. That final line really says it all 🤏😂
I found it interesting she was also chosen to carry the point home on the racism substory. The way she treats Seobyeok and Ali, both immigrants very differently. Until she comes along ''into the group'' we only see Alis experience through his reactions to not being treated like crap.
Please tell me how patriarchy overlaps with an economic system? Patriarchy/Matriarchy and capitalism/communism/socialism are quite different from eachother 😂😂😂😂
@@g59tothegrave lol how old are you
@@Chloerowan123 2nd year of college, 20 years old
@@g59tothegrave keep going, it’s all connected fam. Everything. Everyone. Me and you. Peace and love 💖
Jooryung is literally perfect in her role. She acted SO perfectly
Whereas it is an interesting take, I think you also misunderstand her character, perhaps due to overthinking things. The MOST IMPORTANT thing to keep in mind about ALL the characters in Squid game, is that they are ALL failures. Mi-Nyeo is a scam artist who is used to manipulating 'everyday' people, who have no clue they are being manipulated. Mi-yeo is not used to dealing with other criminals. That's why she immediately drops into 'begging' at the beginning. She thinks it is someone she owes the debt to. Once she realizes she's not dealing with a crime boss, her self-confidence starts to return. But by then, her cover has already been blown. The rest of the show is her trying to regain her perceived 'advantage'. Unfortunately, everyone there is pretty much immune to her manipulations, themselves being in a similar position of 'desperate'. Gi-hun, also a manipulator, sees through her efforts, and disdains her poor attempts.
She's rude and condescending to the 'guards' because she knows they are NOT goons or muscle for a crime boss, so she doesn't fear them, and is sure they aren't a threat, outside of the game parameters. Her use of 'i'm a genius, but I was never rich enough to study' line is a method she would use to manipulate her targets. Again, nobody participating in the games would fall for that. They know a con artist when they see one.
The big mistake Mi-yeo made is underestimating the people there with her. They all have debt close to, if not bigger than, herself. These people returned to the game because of those debts. Which means they ALL have repeated dealings with dangerous crime bosses. They know true intent compared to bravado or manipulations. She is literally a fish-out-of-water, and she doesn't realize it. It shows us how she got in the position she is in.
At least, that's how I took it, keeping in mind the differences in culture between Korea and the US, and the universal mindset of a gambler in debt with crime bosses.
This is by far the most well thought out and accurate analysis of her character. Most find her annoying and write her off as a pest. I think the guards did as well. That’s my the let her remain. Freak her out, push her buttons and create more chaotic behaviors!
I absolutely cackled when she was just laying there, alive, waiting for them to come back from marbles. Love her as a character
She's street smart. People can see her as they will, but she knows what to do in survival and cheekiness.
I think one has to see her from a Korean point of view.
In most Asian countries, you're worth "less" after a certain age. One of the unflattering nicknames they give her is "grandma". Her name literally means something like beauty and the team of crooks actually mocks that by saying that's an unfitting name for her.
I think she is someone with a very traumatic childhood. Look at the way she behaves. People who are this manipulative and often offer themselves or are easy to do so have learned such behavior from childhood. She probably learned that her parents only gave her attention when she was loud and in your face, so she is that way on the show. She probably doesn't mind lowering herself to offering men to sleep with them if they choose her because she just wants to be acknowledged!
There's an interview with the actress and she says she feels very bad for the character. I think that's spot on. I read that unfortunately, MANY (in my opinion stupid) people found her to be annoying and were happy she did. I was not. While I liked the Ali character for example, i didn't feel exactly sad when he died. I did feel sad when she died, because I would have loved to know more about her and her story. Does she actually have a child? Is she actually in debt? Did she only join these games to prove herself (to men or society)?
Again, if we consider how highly patriarchal countries like Korea, Japan or China are, she's someone who'd be highly unpopular and looked down in their society by almost everyone. If she lived in the West, her standing would be different for sure. So I think we can't judge her by the same standards. Of course she is manipulative and all, but to me, that's more tragic than upsetting.
The second she pulled the cigarettes out to sneak a smoke, I couldn't NOT like her!
@@lxxsh2093 you are literally a gacha life channel
@@viggy7393 Gachalife= kids???
@@lxxsh2093 girl, you are literally 14
I think you are not getting the context she deleted her comments🤣
Idk what's going on lol but all I know is Gacha kids shouldn't be talking.
Her actions come from the survival instinct. She's not strong nor particularly smart. She's using everything she's got to survive.
Exactly. She did everything she could to survive. She doesn't have the strength, or brains, or really charisma it takes to survive so she's doing the best she can. She's strong in another way. Resilient. She uses her desperation to survive and thrive and do what's in her own best interest.
@@ZeroOhClock Interesting.
I'd say she's smart but yeah, her survival instinct was killer.
I loved her character! She wasn't erratic at all. She was calculating. And she only pandered infantilism and sexuality because it's a way that women interact with men so that the men don't feel threatened by her. She was also protecting Sae Byeok by interrupting that conversation with Deok Su because she could recognise his predatory characteristics and Sae Byeok's innocence. I think you miscalled it though saying that she didn't want to be found worthless due to her insecurity. She quickly assessed that she had to try to attach herself to a team to go far. She merely tried to attach herself to the person she saw as the strongest competitor (Deok Su) in order to survive. The doctor was a threat to her rank in the group because it was clear that she was intelligent and clever, the only value to the group that she provided, and the doctor threatened her place in the social order with his own intelligence and cleverness.
Idk why people hate this character she literally makes the show interesting
i love this lady. she was relentlessly chaotic, and I'm sick of class conflict stories with the poor characters portrayed as saints. I firmly believe that you don't have to be an upstanding citizen to be treated like a human being. i also hated that she was racist but guess what? so are most of the characters in the show and that's the point! class conflict is messy, intersectional and reveals the levels of class among these groups. all poor people don't get along, especially when you see that you have some privilege over others (minyeo making fun of ali for his nationality/foreigner status but also minyeo being left out for being a "sl*t"). older women are treated like leftovers in asian culture (even if they're not that old) and are berated ten fold by others for their actions even tho people are just as bad because they are women. but ultimately, race plays a stronger role in these situations (especially in America and Europe as they were colonizer countries) because in the end, ali was killed first. migrant workers lose their rights as humans when the state decides you are not a person.
i found a really good metaphor. while baking even the sweetest cake, you still need a pinch of salt - otherwise it doesn’t work. squid games horror aspects contradicted by han mi-nyeo’s happy attitude and humor throughout the show was EXACTLY what was needed to complete the episodes with fun and laughter. the thought of her being mass disliked by people never even crossed my mind because of how much i enjoyed her time on-screen and how she expresses herself. han mi-nyeo is definitely a misunderstood character, and extremely well-written. good video :)
y'all put salt in cake
@@khajiity yea even the smallest pinch it makes it taste good
@@fabo.5040 lmao i didnt know that
An interesting thought is that if Han Mi-Nyeo gained 100 pounds of muscle and Deok Su suddenly got the body of a weak little girl, Han Mi-Nyeo would likely treat him exactly the way he treats her. Possibly more interesting is that Deok Su would probably act just like Han Mi-Nyeo if he was a weak woman. He's surprisingly not dumb.
Yeah it's a real dog eat dog world out there
Or simply a weak little boy.
I felt like I could understand her in the series. She is alone in the game. She is a woman and physically weaker. Her youth is fleeting. And she is trying to team up with the strong.
Being a woman in society is a strength as the center of family life and stability. But squid game is about individual survival not holding a collective future.
I never saw an unlikable character so likeable, she's meant to be unlikeable and nailed it but the comedy relief and drama is gold
obsessed with the way she calls everyone babe hahaha
Crazy. I did know that I liked her as a character before, though it was definitely an unpopular opinion. I remember grimacing when she pulled the cigarettes out of her undies, yet somehow was still proud of her for doing so. The lighter was definitely a big brain move as well, one she didn't get enough credit for. And when the guards had pulled her away, I remember feeling disappointed and cheated, knowing it wasn't an end she truly deserved. So you could imagine my satisfaction to still see her survive not having a partner for that particular game. She's definitely my favorite character and I'm glad this vid exists to help me understand just why I liked her so much. Cheers~
i've really enjoyed her character, the bathroom scene with sae-byeok was hilarious. if it wasn't for her glaringly obvious manipulation and the staff exposing her so early, i could easily imagine her forming her own group apart from deok-su with charisma alone.
I was bout to become a youtuber just because nobody was talking about her, so thanks generation ochi for saving me from that
You can still become a TH-camr, but make it a side hustle!
Yup exactly. And they covered my religion rant too! (in another video)
LMAOOO SAME. I had planned a very elaborate slideshow about her.
I would love to see more videos about this character.
I wish we'd seen her backstory. Considering she's basically a swindler it'd be interesting to see what her actual life was like outside the games. We got to see all the other main players outside the game, her and Jiyeong should've had more glimpses into their backstories... real shame and waste of two good female characters development
I have a feeling she definitely grew up poor and abused, physically and sexually. Her behavior as an adult hints towards a very difficult past that she now uses flirtacious strategies and a hardened shell to cope with.
@@faerykaye yes, maybe thats why i like her? i sense she went through some tragedy to become the person she is now and i'm dying to fill those gaps. i like imperfect female characters and though shes a bit exaggerated she is definitely a charming and weird female character with glaring flaws
She represents our instictive desperation to survive
She was my favorite character. While I love both leading ladies, I liked her more as she really attempted to control her own narrative. She even chose her own death rather than letting the game decide her fate.
I did read a lot people dislike her and consider her as annoying but I actually like her, I find her funny (I found hilarious her scene in bathroom helping Sae Byeok xD) and when I saw her in a scene I was like "what is this lady gonna do now? 😂" my only "problem" was she joining the mafia dude team :/ I was waiting for her revenge to mafia dude which was dope.
I had the doubt about her backstory and if the baby thing she mention was true or just a lie to the staff if they would let her go or something
Really? You find that sort of slapstick, simplistic humour funny? All she did was annoyingly shout, being over the top and hyperbolic pretending to be constipated! It was so ridiculous it almost came across as insulting to the viewer.
A ti te debe gustar el tipo de humor de 'caca pedo culo pis' 😆
I loved her, she was a much needed comic relief in the otherwise dark show. I couldn't really blame her for joining the thugs, she was trying to survive just like everyone else. The only problem I have with her is how she talked to Ali after the 3rd game. But her revenge moment was epic, Deok su didn't take her seriously when she said she will kill him if he betrays her, but she stayed true to her word and went out with style
Edit: she was also the only one that yelled and bossed around the pink guys and got away with it
@@greyLeicester her English dubbed over voice is what made her character annoying and I couldn't stand her but then when I re-watched it in Korean with English subtitles, it made her character more likeable.
@@greyLeicester we like who we want
@@greyLeicester I find that kind of humor funny. Humor is subjective, hinting to the fact that you are superior cause you have some "pallet" and "taste" for comedy doesn't make you intellectually superior or special. You sound rather petulant, gatekeeping comedy I'd say takes the cake for being annoying. 🤡
This is such a well-thought-out character analysis. !
Thank you Farheen!
She is, to me, the epitomy of someone who is on survival mode and pushes against a world that wants to eat them up. I admire that a lot personally, even though it's very toxic.
You deserve more subscribers. Wonderful narration.
I actually really liked her. I didn't get all the hate. Written and acted perfectly.
"beautiful in the darkest way" - definitely!
Thank you for this careful and intelligent in-depth analysis of her character! I liked how you explored every aspect of it and put it into perspective even with society as the bigger picture. It was on point and very enjoyable to watch!
Not only everything in this video, she was also the main comedic relief in a show that would have been super depressing and dark constantly without her.
Very well made video, nice job man!
Ah yes my chaotic neutral queen! Her and Ali were my favorite.
Yess samee!!
SAMEEEEE
Me too!
spoiler.
I liked ali and gi-hun and il-nam before it turned out he was the villain... but anyway, minyeo was pretty annoying tbh, but I really liked her in the glass bridge game where she took deok-su with her.
tbh she's one of the best characters, adding comedy relief in this dark show
i would have never thought- I love this. Thanks!!
I actually really love her she honestly seemed so human and she quickly adapted and everybody seemed to dislike her but her instability was honestly relatable
She was my favourite character from first watch. She's interesting, funny and honestly a breath of fresh air compared to the death, depression and tense atmosphere of the rest of the show and characters.
I preferred the "depressed and serious" characters over her actually, wasn't a fan or her personality
@@Thadnill Fair enough
She's got more dimensions than string theory. She's my favorite character. I wouldn't necessarily be friends with her IRL, but she's soooooo well-written, and the actress, Kim Joo Ryoung, did such an amazing job.
'I'm good at everything except for the things I'm not good at' was one of my favourite lines throughout the entire series
I love the way she has zero chill with the guards. Best parts.
she was my FAV character. so entertaining, so expressive. and her last scene in the show::: just yes yes yes
what an intelligent, thoughtful, and articulate exploration of this character! i can’t say enough how much i appreciate the tact you have when approaching a subject that could be handled with so much insensitivity
Her character is a low-class woman of doubtful origin. In the dalgona game, her lighter is printed with the phrase "Minyeo - her name - rest area," suggesting that she was once, or until just before the game, in the cheap prostitution business. "I'm the Han Mi-na, who slayed it all from Dongducheon to Gangnam," this line of hers strongly supports this idea, too. Both Gangnam and Dongducheon are places where there are large prostitutes in Korea, and in fact, they symbolize the sex markets of the two extremes, for the upper and lower classes each. The inadequacy of maintaining an seductive words and attitude with already aged appearance is to make her more pathetic.
Really great video!
I really love Deok Sun and Min Yeo together. Hahahaha I don’t know why. But it is like watching the jock and the cheerleader backstab each other. And Min Yeo is so attractive idc if people say she’s old, but she’s gorgeous. (Actually, I also like Deok Sun’s actor… afshfjsjdjskkd they are really a handsome/beautiful couple together in their twisted ways)
They were toxic asf but also had some of the most entertaining interactions IMO
I don't think she is old. I think her street lifestyle has impacted her. I actually think she is suppose to be younger and the audience is seeing the impact of lifestyle.
Yes she is beautiful mature lady
@@milkhoney4523 the actor is like 45 I think
@@yourlocalarchaeologist1897 she looks good for her age
I thought she was in her late 20s and early 30s
Also in S Korea - promiscuous/highly outspoken women are criticized far more harshly than they are here in America, so she probably wasn't popular at all for the Korean audience. They wanted to make her a hated character, but I think American audience are far more accepting of those traits, so most of us liked her, or at the least didn't hate her.
I'm Swedish, and here we have no problem with promiscuity. Nobody liked her here tho and I can see why tbh.
Nah, she is universally hated and it's not because of her promiscuity.
살기위한 난잡함이기 때문에
즐기기 위한 난잡함과는 다르다고
생각합니다.
@@samtae6217 probably because she gives off an opportunistic vibe and people hate it when women come across as opportunistic or annoying
@@starchannel123 People hate when anyone is overly opportunistic , talkative , annoying or manipulative .
Almost from the moment she was introduced my mom and I had her begged as an “opportunistic bacteria” (it’s a joke term we use after hearing it in the cells at work anime lol, they’re bacteria that normally don’t cause harm but can when the body’s residence is low, and the show portrayed them as bacteria that take the side of whoever’s strongest, infectious bacteria or healthy bacteria)
And this pretty much shaped how I saw her character the entire show. Every character had their strengths, like how deok su was physically strong and intimidating which Meade it easy for him to get followers, or sang woo’s intellect, or ji yeong’s street smarts, ali’s friendly disposition that easily got him allies, and gi hun’s naturally caring and friendly nature. It was just that mi nyeo’s strength happened to be being able to wear different masks according to what she needed from people.
It wasn’t that she was necessarily lascivious or flirtatious by nature, it was just that she was doing what she needed to do in order to get people on her side. Or at least what she thought she needed to do, or would be easiest to do.
To me this was easy to conclude from the way she lied about being a mother only to then vote to stay in the games. At the time, what she wanted was to get out and not die, and she knew claiming to be a mom would easily garner sympathy and might make them go easy on her and let her leave. But as soon as she learned about the money, something she wanted more than leaving, she changed her story. And again later on, when she wanted to go to the bathroom to smoke, she lied about having to pee and said she’d pee on the floor if they didn’t let her out. I don’t think she was planning to actually do it because she bet on them opening the door before that.
Basically she was just someone who would do whatever she needed to get what she wanted, and being flirtatious and screwing deok su was just another step of that. She never loved him, she never actually cared about him at all, she just thought that he would protect her and thus give her an advantage in the game if she pretended to love him and made him promise they’d be together. But then when that didn’t work out she got desperate, because she knew people were starting to see through her act, and she was running out of ways to convincingly pretend to be someone they wanted on their team.
In the end I think she realized that she had no hope of winning the hop scotch game anyway once she got to the front of the line, and at that point she had a vendetta against deok su because he betrayed their promise and took advantage of her, and humiliated her in front of everyone else on top of that. All her work had been for nothing. That’s why I think she took him down with her, to get her revenge, which ended up being what she decided she wanted more than the money.
Anyway, she wasn’t my favourite character but I did like how she was written and found her very interesting. I thought it was very refreshing to see a woman who wasn’t afraid of using what she had to her advantage, especially an older woman, who often aren’t portrayed as very sexually liberated? I think female characters that act very sexual are usually doing it for the benefit of others on some level, either for the other characters in the story or for the viewer. But I don’t think that mi nyeo’s portrayal was meant to be like that, everything she was doing was for her own benefit and no one else’s and I really liked that. Good for her yknow? Good for her.
awesome character depth and analysis!!