Let’s face it: the television industry has a lot of work to do. Controversial police procedurals such as Law and Order: SVU are still on the air, LGBTQ+ representation is still lacking and sometimes portrayed in a harmful light, and it is considered a miracle when a BIPOC actor gets any sort of significant awards recognition for their work.
Many outspoken critics of the state of television talk about representation, both in front of and behind the camera, as being nowhere near where it should or needs to be. It is still an industry that is populated mainly by white, straight, cisgender people who either pretend to be more inclusive than they are or do not even bother.
So, why exactly is a show centered around the lives of white billionaires one of the most celebrated shows in these same critical circles?
As you could probably gather from the title, I am talking about Succession, the HBO show currently approaching its third season. On July 28th, the show about the lives of a family in charge of a conservative media conglomerate received a startling eighteen Primetime Emmy nominations including nine for lead, supporting, and guest acting.
However, only three of the nominees (Andrij Parekh for Outstanding Directing and both Carmen Cardenas and Ana Buljan for Outstanding Production Design) are people of color. With this in mind, one can easily understand how the lack of diversity on such a lauded show is a bit strange. The vast majority of the show’s cast are white. There is very little official LGBTQ+ representation, even if some fans strictly believe Greg (Zola’s Nicholas Braun) and Tom (Pride and Prejudice’s Matthew Macfadyen) will eventually hook up. If that certainly wasn’t enough, the premise of the show revolves around the rich and wealthy proprietors of a Fox-like media conglomerate that, according to the youngest Roy sibling Roman Roy (played by Igby Goes Down’s Kieran Culkin), “[does] hate speech and roller coasters.”
It’s no surprise that a television program with such low levels of diversity would be lauded by institutions like the Television Academy. In fact, this was not even the first year that Succession has received awards recognition; during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards in 2019, the show received an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, as well as one for its now-iconic theme song. However, the show has attracted a diverse fanbase, attracting the likes of comedian Jaboukie Young-White and writer Demi Adejuyigbe, the latter of which nearly broke the Internet with his take on the theme.
Perhaps no one is more responsible for this increase of the show’s interest amongst Stan Twitter than the user behind the popular account No Context Succession, or @nocontextroyco. The admin of the account, who requested to be referred to as simply the account’s administrator, posts stills from the show without the proper build-up to understand the point of the scenes, resulting in some hilarious and popular reaction images. Some new viewers have directly attributed these images to their newfound interest in the show.
“When I made the account last July, there were very few people talking about Succession,” says the admin through direct messages. This has certainly changed, as the account has now surpassed over 71,000 followers and normally receives at least 300 to 1,000 likes and beyond on each post.
When asked about their feelings toward the show’s increasing fanbase, the account’s admin says, “People have certain assumptions about the show, which I attribute to HBO’s marketing choices. I’m glad so many people are giving it a chance.”
Although you are more prone to seeing debates over which fan-made “ship” is more healthy on the HBO show’s newfound spot in Stan Twitter, it is nearly impossible to separate the shady politics of the show’s characters from what we see on other television shows that depict the lives of the rich and wealthy.
So what exactly makes Succession stand out amongst the numerous other television shows focused on the rich and powerful that are currently on the air?
“For me, Succession stands out because it doesn’t take itself too seriously and isn’t afraid to poke fun at what we all know to be a completely absurd class of people,” says writer Mimi Stringfield during a discussion of the show. She draws comparisons between the HBO show and its ongoing predecessor, Showtime’s Billions, saying that the latter carries the “sense that we’re supposed to take these characters really seriously and to root for one or the other in what is ultimately a no-win battle for power and money.”
On the other end of the spectrum falls Succession, which Stringfield says benefits from the complexity and black-and-gray morality of the characters. “The writers manage to balance the obvious power struggles with just the right amount of absurdity to not only humanize the characters, and to give them dimension,” Stringfield says, “but to make the show genuinely fun and fascinating to watch.”
This is a compelling point to understand about Succession; unlike many shows featuring the rich and powerful, the audience immediately knows that these are people you should not be rooting for. From faulty rocket explosions to criminal conspiracies, the Roy family and their cohorts consistently find themselves in deep shit. There are few characters that can be seen as redeemable, even when they claim to somehow be above their peers.
Perhaps there is no character more strikingly stuck in this state of narcissism than Siobhan “Shiv” Roy, played by the absolutely incredible Sarah Snook. She talks frequently about how she is somehow above her brothers because of her so-called independence from her father, Logan (Manhunter’s Brian Cox), yet she is just as desperate for his approval as her siblings. Throughout season two, she is seen playing a bizarre mind game with her father that involves her potentially becoming the titular successor to Waystar Royco.
However, watching her slowly lose her already-loose morals throughout the season is both infuriating and depressing; seeing her persuade a victim of sexual assault not to testify against her former employer in the penultimate season two episode “DC” is arguably the moment where she hit the point of no return. She succumbed to the same egocentrism that she claimed she was against until this moment, becoming the epitome of a rich, white, so-called feminist who puts her wealth above all else.
The Roy children have both the victim and the savior complex ingrained within them. Instead of trying to make things better, however, their greed and self-interest prevail, resulting in their personal struggles mounting. It is not until the shocking season two finale “This is Not for Tears” — in which troubled COO Kendall Roy (played with vigor by The Trial of the Chicago 7’s Jeremy Strong) defies his father’s orders for perhaps the first time and publicly vows to bring down his father’s empire — that things truly seem to be seeping out from their personal lives into the public.
“As the audience, we know that things are not going to end up well for them,” says writer Haaniyah Angus through FaceTime, who was introduced to the show during the ongoing pandemic much like many other new fans. “In a way, it is cathartic to see rich people, who have been worsening our world’s current state, get the shit kicked out of them and to be humiliated.”
This is arguably the show’s biggest strength. While some other shows tend to glamorize the rich and wealthy, Succession forces you to watch their personal downfalls and as a result actively root for them to fail. Take, for example, Jeff Bezos whose company Amazon has been consistently called out for employee mistreatment, tax evasion, and other gross exploitations that come from being a trillionaire. He has been “exposed” so many times now, but nothing has led him to be seriously investigated or even regulated for his and Amazon’s actions.
However, putting corrupt billionaires that pervade our everyday lives as stand-ins for Succession’s comedy of errors can be exciting for viewers who feel as if they are being abused by the institutions seen on the show. Witnessing what should happen to people like Bezos or News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch, people who want to control the way our day-to-day lives operate by seeping their way into as much media as possible, is entertaining at least and cathartic at most.
So, what about the other glaring aspect of Succession, which is their predominantly white cast? Those I have talked to have attributed this to the reality that the show is trying to depict.
“I’ve seen people say that centering white people is fitting for this show, because some shows don’t really serve the purpose of representing those minorities,” says a Twitter user that has requested to stay anonymous, “seeing nonwhite people [mainly] in subservient roles is uncomfortable, but that reality itself is uncomfortable.”
Angus brought forth a similar viewpoint. “Since the Roys and their real-life counterparts are so defined by their whiteness and wealth,” she argues, “you don’t necessarily expect diversity. The truth of the matter is that the world of billionaires is predominantly rich white people. Just look at the way the kids treat Marcia [Logan’s third wife played by Hiam Abbass]. Despite her being the relative voice of reason, Logan’s children see her as a sort of temptress that only wants to gain citizenship when this is the furthest from the case.”
The anonymous Twitter user, however, suggested furthering an idea already briefly presented on the show to further the on-screen diversity. “Maybe if they expanded into the very real issue of BIPOC still holding very high positions in corporate,” they said, “but being just as exploitative as their white counterparts, it would be the move that could fit into the show.”
The characters of Stewy Hosseini and Lawrence Yee, portrayed by Arian Moayed and Rob Yang respectively, are two of the show’s most recognizable POC. Both are portrayed as corrupt in their own ways, with one being a large shareholder in Waystar Royco and another being the head of a Buzzfeed-like news outlet who agrees to be bought by the aforementioned company. Although both are promoted as main characters in season two, they could definitely go for some further character development.
All of this brings us to this current moment. On July 31st, only three days after Succession contributed to HBO’s Emmys sweep, James Murdoch resigned from his position at News Corp. Of course, the comparisons between the fourth Murdoch child and Kendall’s own defiance in the season two finale spread far and wide across the internet. However, this new development in the Murdoch family business only shows how important the show truly is in this current climate, and how necessary it is for these establishments to fall.
When talking about his father’s egregious misgivings, the second Roy child once said, “This is the day his reign ends.” Perhaps that same sentiment can be said for a number of different billionaires who control the very institutions that keep us informed, educated, and alive. Until then, however, we can only dream of such downfalls.
