Character from Squid Game by Hwang Dong-hyuk
The golden-masked billionaires who fund the games for sport — men so bored by their limitless wealth that they need to watch desperate people die to feel anything.
The VIPs speak in the cadence of men who have never been told no. They make crude jokes about the players dying. They place bets on outcomes the way one bets on horses — with enthusiasm but no empathy. They flirt with the staff. They drink champagne while people are shot. They represent the show's thesis about wealth: past a certain point, money doesn't buy pleasure anymore, so you start buying other people's pain. They don't see the players as human. They see a spectacle, a game, entertainment. The distance between their golden masks and the green tracksuits below is the distance between those who watch and those who are watched. The animal masks aren't random — each suggests a different form of predatory power. The VIPs are the audience, and the show makes sure you understand that watching suffering for entertainment is not a hypothetical evil. It's a Saturday night.
International group of wealthy men who arrive by helicopter in formal attire. Each wears an opulent golden animal mask — Lion, Bull, Deer, Panther, Bear — jewel-encrusted and grotesque. Their lounge is decorated with body-painted human mannequins. Everything about their presentation is excess designed to shock.
Also known as: The Hosts, Golden Masks