Harmful Myths on “Squid Game” Can Cost Real Lives and Do Long-lasting Damage, Says Donate Life Hollywood

Television’s Squid Game’s portrayal of a black market for organ donations and transplants is not only false but “can cost lives and do long-lasting damage,” says the industry’s foremost watchdog on entertainment’s portrayal of a very serious healthcare topic.

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“Myth-based storylines may be dramatic, but they do irrevocable damage because many people tend to believe what they see on TV,” says Tenaya Wallace, founder and director of Donate Life Hollywood, a project of the OneLegacy Foundation. “This is especially true with organ donation because unlike many other things people see on TV most people don’t have a personal experience with donation or transplants to counter the falsehoods being spread.”

The most recent example is Netflix’s Squid Game, a Korean-production that is number one in 90 countries. A subplot depicts a black market for organs organized by the guards. “The kind of black market Hollywood has invented, and that we see played out in Squid Game, is pure fiction,” says Wallace. “The process of matching donated organs to waiting recipients is so complex that it takes 57 organ procurement organizations working with hundreds of transplant centers nationwide and coordinated through a vast database of medical identifiers, including height, weight, blood type and genetic code. You can’t put any kidney into another person and expect them to survive, which is what make these Hollywood storylines so absurd.”

Not only do the myth-based storylines not bear any resemblance to truth, but they have also been shown to cost lives. Research shows that when Hollywood makes donation and transplant seem scary and perpetuates long-standing myths, it keeps non-donors from signing up, which ultimately costs lives. Currently more than 107,000 Americans are waiting for a donor and the need for transplants is growing far faster than potential donors as less than 1% of all deaths qualify for donation. That makes accurate storytelling more important than ever.

Fortunately, says Wallace, there are times that Hollywood gets it right. Hospital Playlist, another Korean production also airing on Netflix, had two positive and realistic organ donation storylines in 2021. The Sanggi Organ Donation Movement credits the show with increasing the number of people registering as a donor by 11 times the normal rate after the episodes aired and articles have dubbed this “The Hospital Playlist Effect.”

So too, there are other shows that have also made a positive impact on donation. During National Kidney Month in March 2021 the CBS primetime show B Positive aired a 10 second PSA about living kidney donation. This led to 21,000 people looking for more information about living donation and four people starting the process of becoming a living donor. In 2009 DLH served as a formal advisor to the CBS transplant drama Three Rivers steering them away from inaccuracies and myths, which led to a 6% increase in the public’s willingness to register as a donor in a single year. The film 2Hearts airing on Netflix is based on a real-life donation and transplant story and has inspired thousands of TikTok videos reacting to the heartfelt storyline.

“Hollywood loves to put our cause in the horror and sci-fi genre, but we really belong in any storyline that needs a dose of hope and inspiration,” says Tom Mone, CEO of the OneLegacy Foundation, which oversees the Donate Life Hollywood project. “Looking at the difference between Squid Game and Hospital Playlist we can see that Hollywood has a clear choice: keep scaring people with fictional plots or actually show people how donation works. The second choice clearly saves lives and since there is a shortage, we really need Hollywood’s help to save lives.”

Donate Life Hollywood serves as a liaison between the organ donation community and the entertainment industry to encourage more authentic and empowering stories on this important topic. It is an initiative of the OneLegacy Foundation, the education, research and support arm of OneLegacy, the nonprofit federally designated organ procurement organization based in the heart of Hollywood and serving seven counties in Southern California. DLH is further supported by OPOs, transplant centers and patient groups around the country.

Throughout the year DLH provides film companies, television programs, entertainment studios, producers and writers easy access to a network of experts—from renowned transplant surgeons to families whose loved ones became an organ donor—for free consultations on all aspects of organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation. DLH also assists with casting, production and publicity support. All services, and a DLH Review of Squid Game, are on AccessDLH.org.

You can follow Donate Life Hollywood on Twitter at @DL_Hollywood, on Instagram at @DL_Hollywood or on Facebook at @DLHCampaign.

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