Shari Vaidya Q2 Blog 8 - The Perfect American Satire
Three kids, one spot.
This is the basis of the HBO dramedy “Succession,” which follows the lives of the three (and sometimes four) Roy siblings: Kendall, Shiv, and Roman. All of these children are vying for the coveted spot: CEO of Waystar Royco, a media conglomerate that their present, but abusive father, Logan Roy, has founded and built from the ground up.
The entire show is based on the real-life Murdoch family, who own multiple reputable news companies like Fox and The New York Post.
The main character is Kendall, who is a recovering drug addict trying to gain both Logan’s love and respect; the two things that the patriarch doesn’t give out for free.
Succession is perfect for a multitude of reasons: an ensemble of terrific actors, great writers, and the hilarious Will Ferrell as an executive producer. But the real crown jewel is how
the showmaker Jessie Armstrong captured the depravity and dysfunction of both American business and politics in just thirty-nine episodes. Family ties, betrayal, loss, and despicable views describe the show. The fourth and final season showcases the Roys' involvement in the upcoming presidential election, which eerily parallels the fateful night of November sixth 2024, but one whole year early.
The fake blazé attitude of the Roy children being broken by their father’s actions almost makes you feel bad for them, until you realize that they are all billionaires who have nothing better to do than to influence elections for their own personal gain.
I believe that we are more aware of how our media and these corporations influence us and our views. The ultra-rich get to influence how our nation thinks and runs, with absolutely no consequences; we are left to pick up the pieces of our crumbling nation, all while people like Bezos and Musk play king. Because at this point, they are.
Succession points out how the elite aren’t actually that powerful. Jeremy Strong, the actor for the insecure and childish Kendall, claimed that he drew inspiration from Elon Musk, and if that is not embarrassing, then I don't know what is.
Hi Shari, I found your blog incredibly powerful. Multiple times whilst reading your blog my eyebrows shot up, and I thought to myself Wow. To be honest and mostly due to my lack of knowledge regarding TV culture I wasn't aware of the dramady Succession, but reading your blog has convinced me to take a look at it (after finals obviously). I enjoyed how you utilized the show as an entry way to introduce your argument about media corruption. I believe that those who buy the media can buy the entire country. Media outlets control and contribute to our overall knowledge regarding global society. This sort of reminds me about what we covered in class regarding 9/11 and how harmful media stereotypes and propaganda only worsened the global state of disarray. However, I enjoyed reading your blog I think it was one of your best yet.
ReplyDeleteHey Shari! I loved your blog and your take on the Succession series. While I personally haven’t watched it, it seems really interesting and I’ll definitely give it a try. On the topic of your blog, I really like how you called Musk and Bezos “kings”: I don’t know if it was a reference from the “No Kings” protests going on, but I think that opens up a whole new line of thought into how the real kings might actually be the billionaires, that Trump and some politicians in Congress are essentially serving through tax policies. This is likely why you see multi-billion dollar Super PACs, which “have nothing better to do” than to try to “influence elections for their own personal gain,” which I think leads into another discussion into their effect on elections and whether the SCOTUS decision in Citizens United vs. FEC really had the best interests of citizens of the United States at heart. On your writing, I think that use of charged diction like “depravity,” “dysfunction” and “crumbling nation” is not only warranted but also extremely effective as you really got the emphasis that is required for your topic through to the reader, and I also love your use of a very (very) short paragraph to build up suspense at the start of the blog. Thank you for a thought-provoking piece!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, one of the millionaire children is named Shiv? Isn’t that a kind of knife? I don’t doubt that there is some sort of symbolism in the show which has to do with their names; there’s no way the names Shiv and Roman have no significance.
ReplyDeleteEither way, what I gathered from your explanation of the show is that, at its core, Succession seems to be a dramatized showcase of nepotism. With how hard it would be to feel bad for these people, I am surprised at how well the show seems to have done in terms of public reception. Although, I do wonder if some of the people who watch this show misinterpret it like people do to American Psycho or The Great Gatsby (as in, glorifying the main character instead of seeing the book/show as a criticism of the upper-class people depicted) at no fault of the media itself. I am always confused at people who root for the rich characters even though they tend to be the loud minority, their priorities are clearly in the wrong places!
Your comment of “Bezos and Musk play[ing] king” reminded me of the article I had prepared for the Gatsby Socratic seminar we had last week; the speaker in that article was criticizing Trump’s and his cronies’ fashion and likened their over-the-top style to that of royalty, which was a little concerning. But I digress, good job with your blog!