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khalidistan · 10 months

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Originally published to Twitter on October 11, 2021. Full piece under the cut.

Much of the Squid Game fandom neuters and infantilizes Abdul Ali, the Pakistani migrant worker who participates in the games as Player 199, and this is part of a larger problem where brown men must be emasculated in order to receive any grace or humanity.

“Gendered identities do not exist independently of other factors, and must be viewed as intertwined with, for example, race or ethnicity if we are to understand the hierarchical organization of identities.” —Maryam Khalid

Ali is polite and formal in his interactions with the other Koreans because he has a power differential with all of them. John Lee writes “Ali’s character is an undocumented migrant worker from Pakistan. What that means is that as far as social hierarchies go, Ali is WAY at the bottom of it. It explains why he’s been unpaid by his employer for months” (1). Ali acts subservient because he’ll get beaten if he doesn’t. He’s supposed to express how “grateful” he is for the assistance.

Ali acts subservient because he’ll get beaten if he doesn’t. He’s supposed to express how “grateful” he is for the assistance.

But Ali has demonstrated multiple times that he can fend for himself. He advocates for his fair pay to his Korean boss, even wrestling his paycheck out of his boss’s hands. During the night fight he fights on his own with a metal beam before reuniting with his team. He even has the courage to mock Mi-nyeo after she spews xenophobic statements at him, defending his honor and calling her out on her hypocrisy and doubt of the team’s strategy.

People want to make Ali out to be naïve but fail to recognize that he immigrated to south Korea from Pakistan. He knows nothing of the language and customs. Heather Chen writes that Ali is “an outsider and knows that the odds would always be stacked against him in the unpredictable competition.” Ali cannot be naïve, because Ali is given no reason to doubt Sang-woo’s kindness from earlier: Sang-woo provides bus fare after the first game, offers bread, and shares companionship with Ali all the way until the marble game.

East Asia has a huge racism and colorism problem. Ali is forced to be submissive. He is docile because if he isn’t, he’s immediately labeled a threat. That is the dichotomy people are missing. Why do brown men walk on eggshells when they have to answer to authority or go through security checks? Brown men can either be cunning, savage, sneaky terrorists, or they can be naïve, dumb, effeminate and castrated. There’s never any middle ground or nuance to understanding them.

“The colonized man is simultaneously a boogeyman incapable of redemption, unworthy of saving/advocating for and excluded from occupying a position of vulnerability—that’s reserved for their ‘women & children’ counterparts—while also in-need of (white/colonial) civilizing, fascinating.” —Joshua Briond

Khalid writes that “Orientalist notions of the masculinity of the ‘Eastern’ male as uncivilized also inherently ascribe primitiveness, ineptness and a certain amount of weakness to the barbarized ‘other.’” Those doomed to the mythical Orient are automatically placed lower in masculinity than their white and colonial counterparts.

However, this reduced masculinity co-exists, paradoxically, with the idea that men from the Orient are simultaneously aggressive, belligerent, and violent. Elgin Brunner writes: “Such a framing—the association of the enemy with barbarism, as opposed to the self, which is civilized—includes two, often simultaneous, moves, that is: the ‘hypermasculinization’ of the enemy on the one hand, and his ‘effeminization’ on the other… The very same opponent is, by virtue of being categorized as a cowardly barbarian, rendered effeminate.”

It’s true that Ali is compassionate, looking out for others and not expecting things in return. But the woobification of Ali into a bumbling fool is more than gross misinterpretation—it’s character assassination and fails to recognize how race influences his reception by the community.

Works Cited:

Brunner, E. M. (2008). Consoling display of strength or emotional overstrain? the gendered framing of the early “War on terrorism” in transatlantic comparison. Global Society, 22(2), 217–251. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600820801887223

Khalid, M. (2011). Gender, orientalism and representations of the ‘other’ in the War on Terror. Global Change, Peace & Security, 23(1), 15–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/14781158.2011.540092

VICE MEDIA GROUP. (2021, October 6). A shout-out to Ali, a character too pure for the dark humanity in 'squid game'. VICE. Retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en/article/5db74b/ali-netflix-squid-game-character-interview-anupam-tripathi

Link to original Twitter thread

#squid game #abdul ali #critical race theory #meta analysis #khalid text

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vex91 · 9 months

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Squid Game Masterlist

(f) - fluff, (a) - angst, (af) - angst + fluff (s) - smut

Seong Gihun:

Nothing yet...

Cho Sangwoo:

Nothing yet...

Kang Saebyeok:

Nothing yet...

Jiyeong:

Nothing yet...

Hwang Junho:

Nothing yet...

Abdul Ali:

Nothing yet...

#squid game x reader #seong gihun x reader #cho sangwoo x reader #kang saebyeok x reader #jiyeong x reader #hwang junho x reader #abdul ali x reader #seong gihun #cho sangwoo #kang saebyeok #jiyeong #hwang junho #abdul ali

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the-anxiety-academy · 2 years

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Still not over this

#ali abdul #squid games #squid game #abdul ali #pain

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rainbowangelcastiel · 2 years

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Best character in squid game. He didn’t deserve to die

#abdul ali #squid game #i miss and love him #his death caused me to quit the show

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moonlitmmarie · 21 days

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ART DUMP: GRUVIA (FT)

My first ever OTP I think. I’ll always love them until the end of time.

(oh yeah and I did a Fairy Tail x Squid Game crossover at the time it was trending)

Timeline for the pieces:

1+2. 29/09/2021

3+4. 30/09/2021

5. 05/01/2022

6. 03/07/2019

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dollopheadposts · 7 months

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youtube

Squid Game + MCR???? Yes please 😌

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vrtlworld · 2 months

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Polaroids by Andy Warhol

Instagram @vrtlworld

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readyforevolution · 1 month

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3 legendary figures in 1 frame.

Muhammad Ali Dwarfed by basketball players on the left Bill Russell 6ft 11inch player coach of the Boston Celtics and 7ft 3inch college star Kareem Abdul Jabbar (Lew Alcindor).

Ali then known by his birth name Cassius Clay strains his neck as he talks to them.

#bill russell #muhammad ali #kareem abdul jabbar #blacktumblr #black history #black liberation #african history

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hostilecityshowdown · 6 months

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adeel alam (mustafa ali) and mansoor are selling gear to benefit palestine and gaza. posted by adeel alam on twitter:

"world is divided over who is in the right and who is wrong. Shouting at each other drowns out the voice of innocent children left w/o homes, food, water and medical help.

I am putting ALL of my previously worn gear for sale. 100% of the money will go to @HelpingHandUSA (twitter)

Please email a picture of the gear you are interested in purchasing along with your bid to [email protected]. Payments will be there through paypal. Serious inquiries only please.

If you would like to donate to @HelpingHandUSA directly: https://t.co/PVsYA0L1gJ "

posted by mansoor to twitter:

"Yesterday the US vetoed a UN resolution that would allow desperately needed medicine, food, and water into blockaded Gaza.

I’ve donated $4,000 to MECA and will be auctioning memorabilia from my time in WWE so I can provide more. Please help if you can.

https://secure.everyaction.com/b00t33wD-EOVJ1cNTyHixg2

MECA is providing humanitarian aid right now in Gaza. Although the borders are closed, they have partners on the ground making a difference and they need our support.

Please DM with offers. 100% of proceeds will go to the Middle East Children’s Alliance."

please consider donating to Helping Hand USA and/or the Middle East Children's Alliance. if you have an excess of spare funds or know someone who does that would be interested in purchasing gear to benefit palestine, please email adeel alam at [email protected] or directly message mansoor through his twitter account

#[ colour commentary ]#aid for palestine #wwe #adeel alam #mustafa ali #mansoor #mansoor abdul aziz al-shehail

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miyuhpapayuh · 10 months

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The faces of Mocha.