The show Succession seems to have caught the attention of all popular culture leading me to investigate what captured us as a society. Potential spoilers ahead from a contextual evaluation of the show/characters.
After consuming all four seasons of the aristocratic drama, I was frustrated at the lack of vision and coherence for our “protagonists”. The show was expertly crafted to dissect the chaos of this dysfunctional family. But I found it challenging to enjoy the second hand embarrassment as each character in the show arbitrarily maneuvered themselves moment to moment based purely on their emotional state and the whims of their egos.
Basically every one of the main cast have the prosperity, opportunity, and privilege that most pedestrians strive to acquire their whole lives. The quest for these attributes can provide a person with considerable drive and determination which can lead towards discovery of a more fundamental purpose. Absent that contextual drive, the cast of siblings are left to compete instead for the only scarce resource they know of, the validation of their father.
What ensues is an emotionally driven quest to fulfill individual egos following whatever impulsive flavor of self-interest suits the situation. As a result, the cast arbitrarily assign priority and value on decisions based on their current mood and the quest to improve their esteem especially in comparison to each other. When self-interest is the top value, no other person is safe and each sibling is easily manipulated by appealing to that self-interest.
Due to this top value, each sibling loosely acknowledges each other as independent people who matter to them until the point where those siblings challenge their ego. At this point even those closest to them are quickly sacrificed. Any people outside of the siblings are treated as objects and are only acknowledged in the event they might prove useful. The result is that these damaged people are destined to harm each other and anyone else they interact with.
The incredible wealth and power of the cast mean that they have tremendous capacity to do harm to individuals, their own companies, and society as a whole. The show clearly highlights the power dynamic of a capitalist society who’s oligarchs have risen to power via the prioritization of maximizing their own wealth. It then paints a dystopian picture of second generation oligarchs who lack even that somewhat rational foundation.
In a quest to derive some value from this horror show of emotional trauma and capitalist dystopia, I figured it useful to try to analyze lessons from the story. Here are some conclusions I’ve drawn which would be things to reflect on for our own lives.
- External Validation – The cast are obsessed with how they are perceived by the world, friends, each other, and most importantly their father. Each lack a consistent vision of self-identity that can anchor their actions and self-esteem.
- Sense of Purpose – Each sibling has unique skills and talents which occasionally present themselves showing how each have incredible potential to serve others and add value. Unfortunately, owing to their massive egos and pursuit of external validation, they fail to anchor themselves to that skill and the sense of purpose it could offer their lives.
- Hierarchy of Values – The cast demonstrate one value and that’s personal interest which is a fickle anchor for long term progress. Absent some more reliable and altruistic values like family, service, or financial responsibility leads each character to bulldoze through people and organizations on their mission of self-enrichment.
In summary, reflect on your values, your purpose, and how you derive satisfaction. A stable foundation of values beyond ourselves, a sense of purpose on how we can serve others, and source of intrinsic motivation to find happiness without it being conditional on others can prove to be a powerful combination.
Lastly, I’ve found the show The Bear to be a tremendous palate cleanser showing a cast who are questing towards a common vision, calibrating on their values, obsessed with serving others, and constantly reflecting on their own motivations in pursuit of personal growth. If Succession is a cautionary tale of the destruction wrought by ego, then The Bear offers a compelling contrast showing how we can triumph when we set ego aside.
