(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
F*&$k the Succession Kids [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2023-05-27
Note: Succession Spoilers through Season 4 Episode 9 (and various earlier series)
On streaming TV, the 21st Century has been the era of anti-heroes like Tony Soprano, Don Draper, Walter White, Saul Goodman, Marty Byrde, and others. The shows are so well written, acted and directed, we empathize with sleazy or even sociopathic characters for most or even all of the show’s run.
In many of the shows, the characters test the limits of our sympathy until they do something so heinous, evil and/or murderous that they finally lose us. Again, because of the skill of the creators, this happens at different points for different viewers. In Mad Men, it may have been when Don Draper has an affair with his friend’s wife downstairs in the same building. In Breaking Bad, it may have been when Walter White poisons a young boy with Lily of the Valley, or employs Nazis to wipe out a bunch of inmates. In Better Call Saul, it may have been when Saul gaslights his brother to suicide or tortures Howard, ultimately causing his death.
Succession is similar. Though I’m not sure many people ever sympathized with Logan Roy, his kids, spoiled, pathetic, ruthless and ambitious as they are, have appealed to many, leading to “Team Kendall,” “Team Shiv,” and “Team Roman.” There’s also “Team Tom” and even “Team (Cousin) Greg.”
All these people are trying to control Waystar, the media giant Logan created, and its TV network ATN — the fictional versions of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Fox News.
And that’s where Succession differs from the other shows. Its grasping characters are trying to control a fascist enterprise, which like Fox, poisons the minds of tens of millions, and risks the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions. It’s one thing to ally, like Walter White, with a small gang of New Mexico Nazis. It’s another to ally with Nazi Presidential candidate Mencken, which all the Succession kids (including Greg) ultimately do.
A brilliant move by Jesse Armstrong, Succession’s creator, has been to keep the Fox News poisons of ATN relatively in the background. Yes, it surfaces from time to time, but not too much, lest we lose sympathy with the “kids” who aspire to control it. There’s even hope (perhaps naive) that Shiv, who had a career working for Democrats, or even Swedish tech bro investor Mattson, would change ATN out of it’s pro-fascist model. Or that Kendall would at least try to protect his daughter from abuse based on her Dad’s business.
All that dissipated in the last few episodes. Roman, desperate to validate his manhood to his dead Dad, goes all in for the fascist candidate. Kendall passively joins him, choosing pique at his sister over protecting his daughter. And now, the “liberal” sister Shiv sucks up to the evil Mencken, as, of course, does “goofy as a fox,” Cousin Greg.
None of them (except maybe Greg) needs the money. As Kendall says to Mattson, “Already rich.” It’s power, or validation to their abusive dad (and mom).
Maybe I have this perspective because I see almost everything through an intensely political lens, but for me, only Logan’s brother Ewan, the show’s conscience, gets to the heart of it:
But I can’t help but say [Logan] has wrought some of the most terrible things. He was a man who has here and there drawn in the edges of the world. Now and then darkened the skies a little. Closed men’s hearts. Fed that dark flame in men, the hard mean hard-relenting flame that keeps their heart warm while another grows cold. Their grain stashed while another goes hungry.
Nothing better sums up the fictional Logan Roy and the all too real Rupert Murdoch.
*For a great interview with James Cromwell, who plays Ewan Roy, listen to this Podcast. Cromwell fervently identifies with his character and speaks of Murdoch through him.)
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/27/2171773/-F-k-the-Succession-Kids
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
