Fans aren’t sure what to think about trans characters in Squid Game 2

The highly anticipated second season of Squid game has dropped and fans are seriously divided over the trans character Hyun-Ji, played by cisgender male actor Park Sung-Hoon.

Warning: spoilers for Squid game Season 2 ahead!!!

The popular South Korean thriller, which returned on Thursday (December 26) after three years, came back with a bang as fans saw Seong Gi-hun, played by Lee Jung-Jae, return to the deadly competition.

The new season features many new faces bravely (or perhaps stupidly) competing for the cash prize, including Hyun-Ji (Park Sung-Hoon), a transgender character who wants to win the games in order to have her gender reassignment surgery finance.

The character’s inclusion has drawn mixed reactions from LGBTQ+ fans, with some praising the series for its “well-written” portrayal of a trans woman, while others questioned whether a cisgender man would be suitable for the role.

“Squid game 2 is surprisingly good, but did they have to cast a cis guy to play a (tactable) trans woman,” one user wrote.

“Couldn’t they cast a real transgender woman? This will make me angry,” wrote another.

Aside from the frustration that the role was given to a cisgender actor, others complained that the role itself seemed somewhat lacking and could have been done better.

“The trans character in Squid game There is so little to do lol,” one complainant wrote. “For the first four episodes, she just walks around quietly while other characters give her a dig. It’s the kind of chatty ‘representation’ that doesn’t do anything for anyone other than tick a box.”

THE TRANS CHARACTER IN SQUID GAME IS SURPRISINGLY WELL WRITTEN???

— ꩜🏳️‍⚧️ (@hyxkkimxru) December 26, 2024

However, others completely disagreed, arguing that Hyun-Ji was “surprisingly” well-written.

“It’s the way this show put an old woman, a pregnant woman and a trans woman together and bluntly said they were all valid as women brought me to tears,” one user wrote. “Holy shit.”

Another person agreed and said: “I’m watching the new season Squid game and I absolutely adore the trans character, the writers wrote her with so much love and care.”

beginning of December, Squid game Director and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk defended the controversial decision to cast Park Sung-Hoon as a trans woman in Season 2 of the hit Netflix show.

Speaking to TV Guide, he revealed why it would have been difficult to cast a trans woman in South Korea.

“I expected discussions like this to arise from the moment I started character creation,” he said. “Initially we did research and I thought about doing an authentic casting of a trans actor.

“When we researched Korea, there were almost no actors who were openly transgender, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately the LGBTQ+ community is still marginalized and neglected in Korean society, which is heartbreaking.”

Squid game Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.