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‘Dystopian’ video of teachers fighting for dollar bills sparks Squid Game and Hunger Games comparisons

‘Dystopian’ video of teachers fighting for dollar bills sparks Squid Game and Hunger Games comparisons

Viral footage of teachers making a “dash for cash” in a South Dakota hockey stadium, with the money used to fund classroom equipment, has been branded “disgusting” on social media.

The game, which took place at the Denny Sanford Premier Center on Saturday, saw the tutors grabbing as much of the $5,000 sum – which had been dumped onto the floor – and shoving it into their shirts.

The money was donated by CU Mortgage Direct, who told Argus Leader reporter Annie Todd that “the teachers in this area, and any teacher, they deserve whatever the heck they get”.

“With everything that has gone on for the last couple of years with teachers and everything, we thought it was an awesome group thing to do for the teachers,” said Ryan Knudson, director of business development and marketing at the firm.

Despite the ‘game’ being described as “grotesque” online, one participant – a fifth grade elementary school teacher – seemed positive about the idea.

Alexandria Kuyper, from Discovery Elementary, said: “I think it’s really cool when the community offers an opportunity like this for things that educations a lot of times pay out of pocket for.”

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Looking at Twitter, however, many people weren’t keen on the idea of those in desperate need of money clawing for cash for entertainment purposes:

And it wasn’t long before people pointed out how similar it was to certain things from pop culture – like The Hunger Games:

It’s also been compared to popular Korean productions, such as the Oscar-winning Parasite and the hit Netflix series, Squid Game:

According to the Argus Leader, teachers pocketed more than $370, with one individual taking home $616.

Yes, we hate it too.

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