10 TV Shows That Actually Benefited From Bad Acting

Netflix's Squid Game was the undeniable surprise TV hit of last year, becoming the streamer's most-watched series ever and going on to win Golden Globe and SAG awards for the performances of its cast.

Yet as wonderful as the ensemble's performances are, there is one aspect of the show that made a lot of fans turn their noses up - those damn VIPs.

In the show's seventh episode, we're introduced to a group of American VIPs who are wagering on the games, and many viewers noted the strangely stilted quality of the masked actors' performances, some even citing it as an example of distractingly bad acting.

And while it was suggested that this was simply a result of the language barrier between the American cast members and Korean crew, it's also been claimed that the disjointed performances were entirely intentional, to create an intentional disconnect between them and the rest of the cast.

Whether intended or not, the off-base performances are certainly effective in portraying the VIPs as stereotypically coarse, bone-headed American "tourists" - an amusing reversal of American media's tendency to portray Asian characters amid broad stereotypes.

If the hammy acting makes the gross VIPs more offputting, then all the better.