Emaan Irfan Week 10 - Heavy Is the Head That Wants the Crown
It is a cold afternoon. You’ve just rushed home to put on your TV before you can get your shoes off. The haunting Succession theme song chimes in. It feels like Christmas.
Halfway between a dark comedy and prestige drama, Succession on HBO is the most terrifyingly accurate depiction of how power corrupts. Logan Roy is the tyrannical creator of Waystar-Royco, an ethically questionable media and theme-park conglomerate. He lives in denial about his health conditions and needs to name a successor.
Each of the Roys plays to get on top of a different hierarchy while Logan pulls the strings.
Kendall wants the title because his father has raised him as the heir, the eldest boy. He wants to make his father proud and become his favorite. Shiv, the only girl, is the favorite. She wants to be taken seriously and lead the company, she wants to be the heir. Roman unknowingly yearns for purpose. He understands he is a bit of an outsider, and writes himself in the roles of many Greek heroes he will never match up to.
Each character is so believable as a main protagonist and potential successor, that the show keeps you guessing till the end who will take the seat.
I have heard people say, “What is so special about it? It’s just some guys in gray rooms.” Which is exactly what makes it so compelling. The stakes are Shakespearean, but it’s quite literally, some guys in gray rooms! It emphasizes that power is detachment.
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| Succession promos, from season 1-4. emphasizing the idea of a power imbalance. |
At its core, Succession is a show about a family and a world orbiting a drain. As a media conglomerate, they control and twist narratives as swiftly as they twist knives into each other’s backs. The cynical worldviews it takes on make it somewhat relatable, making you sympathize with the characters without ever liking them.
As the series moves from character to character like pieces on a chess board, Succession displays how our cultural obsession with wealth and power brings out the worst in all of us. Throughout their constant power struggles, the Roys, and even the side characters, not only set fire to the world around them, but they also fail to improve their own lives. We watch them plot Machiavellian strategies to betray each other and change every aspect of their moral code to find some purpose, to satisfy the need for more. In the end, plenty of them are much wealthier than they started, but not a single one of them is any happier.
Hello Emaan. I enjoyed how you grabbed the audience’s attention with an entertaining HBO series and then tied it back to the theme of power. I admit being told to read blogs is not my way of having fun, but since you opened with a self-insertible story, it made it attractive to read. I love your ending sentence which states how wealth and power do not make one happier. Many people want power thinking that happiness comes with it, like a buy one get one free exchange. However, if one can not enjoy the journey then they will never enjoy the result. This is evident in how we approach school. We are all striving to get a 4.0 GPA, but the ones that manage to work towards that goal are never fully satisfied nor do they feel long-lasting happiness for their achievements. I know people who have parents who criticize how happy their child is and limit the amount of time they get with their friends. If we are all striving for a high-paying job to be happy thirty years later, what is the point? It is like Succession, where these people are all betraying their family and themselves to reach a goal that will never make them truly content with life. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and the ideas your blog gave me. Thank you for writing Emaan.
ReplyDeleteHey Emaan, the parallels you made regarding power in Succession and in real life gave me a new perspective on power. Based on your description of the show, it seems like power is displayed as something that people desperately chase, and I think there is some truth to that. Having a lot of power is, well, powerful. So people like to blindly chase it with no regard for others or the consequences. This is a big problem in our society. People are so caught up in being and becoming powerful that they are often blinded with it, and often go to great lengths to achieve high power. Which is seemingly perfectly displayed in the show because the characters, as you said, "set fire to the world around them". This also shows how dangerous power can be. It is obvious that the wrong person having power can be bad. But power can also be dangerous in the way people can try to achieve high power. Like using the show for example, the characters betrayed even their own family members to get high power, bringing other people down while bringing themselves up, showing the dangers of chasing power. Overall, your blog on the show Succession and power helped me see power in a different way.
ReplyDeleteHello Emaan. Right off the bat I would like to say that your piece was written in a very captivating manner. It is interesting to note how a television show could be so accurate in detailing how corporate America--and in some cases, society as a whole--is reaching a point where emotions are becoming nonexistent in favor of ego and power gains. This show clearly demonstrates this, showing how family and blood mean little to nothing in front of power. However, just as you mentioned, there is always some underlying reason as to why someone wants to gain power. In some cases, it is to prove one's self worth. In other cases, it is merely to push other people down in a race to become "the best." However, your post makes me wonder what happens once people gain everything they had ever wanted or if things end up not working in their favor. There surely must be some limit to what someone can attain, and if karma really does exist, the backstabbers will likely end up being hurt themselves. Does this mean that no one will ever truly be happy? Who, then, is the real winner of this madness? It seems to me that power is therefore, unattainable, and one can only hope to achieve some aspect of it, leaving them in a state of constant disappointment.
ReplyDeleteHi Emaan! Your writing style and presentation of the show really captivated me. I an yet to watch Succession, however your blog has truly convinced me to do so. As a society, the way power and wealth have been equated is really interesting because the wealthiest 1% of society tends to have the most power, whether it's policies, influence, or comfort. I think you make an interesting point in being able to sympathize with characters without liking them, this often parallels real life because you do not need to know someone in order to help them or to understand their situation. Similar to John Ray, the way you parallel the show to real life in multiple aspects truly gave me a new view on the role of power in society. As you established, humans' inherent greed stops them from ever truly attaining happiness, thus creating the toxic work cycle that capitalism thrives on. Additionally, the idea of grass always being greener on the other side creates a sense of never ending fulfillment. Thank you for sharing, this was a really eye-opening blog!
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