Justifying the “hate” towards Min-Su.

“How can you like someone as horrible Thanos but dislike Min Su, who just acted out of fear in a life or death scenario?”

I recently made a post jokingly comparing Min Su to Billy from the Polar Express, outlining their similarities and my slightly exaggerated distain for them, and received many comments with the sentiment quoted above.

Min Su’s betrayal was a split second decision in a life threatening scenario, and he is someone who throughout the whole show as been shown to be timid and quiet. His actions were understandable, and frankly I might act the same way when put in this situation.

BUT

That doesn’t change the fact the betrayal was just that. A betrayal. A betrayal of his only really TRUE friend in the games.

That’s the point. I very seriously doubt the audience was supposed to watch that scene and think “oh dang poor guy, he acted out of instinct.” You see Se-Mis face, you see them after the game look at each other, it’s a bad thing that Min Su did.

One of the big parts of the show is showing the lengths people will go to rise to the top and survive when placed in such a system.

Look at a character like Sang Woo. His betrayal of Ali, stabbing Kang Sae Byeok, all incredibly horrible actions. But that was the situation he was placed into. He acted out of fear and a need to survive. The difference between Sang Woo and Min Su is that we had more time to empathize with Sang Woo. We learned about him, his past, got to see the inner workings of his mind and motivation. His actions were also realistic (which is sad to say), and that’s the point.

MIN SU HOWEVER

Spent the whole season quietly sulking, only to betray Se-Mi and leave her for dead. We didn’t have any time with him, and his big emotional anchor was Se-Mi. The biggest impact his character had on the audience was their relationship, so yes I believe the betrayal was supposed to illicit negative feelings.

He’s understandable in his actions, but not necessarily fun to watch, compelling, or sympathetic (in the way he was portrayed IN THE SHOW.) So I get him, I might very well act like him in his shoes, and he on his own isn’t unlikable.

But, his actions are. That I think is the point.

On the notion of loving Thanos but disliking Min Su, (even though I never said that in the original post) Thanos is fun to watch. He dances around like a cartoon character while everyone is scared for their lives, he raps like a douche bag, he’s entertaining. Would I like him in real life? No. Are his actions appalling? Yes. But is he damn fun to watch? Hell yes.