- This video is brought to you by Raid Shadow Legends.
(funky music)
What's up guys?
Michael here.
Succession's long-awaited return is one
of this year's banner events for TV fans.
Promising another round
of Roy-on-Roy action set amidst the lush surroundings
of the economic elites.
There are lots of obviously appealing things
about this show.
It's got a killer cast.
- They're dead to me.
No one goes sniffing around my (beep) panties.
- {Michael} To viciously funny dialogue.
- Like could you maybe get a little experience at like a CVS
or something first?
- I don't know or just like nickel hand jobs under a bridge.
- {Michael} And the constant source
of excessively tall entertainment that is Cousin Greg.
- A person can fit through there.
A person can definitely fit through that window.
A small person.
An attack child.
- {Michael} It's not surprising that we're drawn
to the life and times of this ultra-rich snake pit
of a family.
After all, Hollywood has cut its teeth making shows
and movies that celebrate how freaking great
it is to be rich.
And at first glance, it might seem easy
to lump Succession in with them.
But if you look closely at how it depicts the world
of the 1%, you'll find it's doing something very different.
We'll explain in this Wisecrack Edition on Succession:
Does money make you miserable?
And the spoiler alert for the first two seasons
of Succession.
And before we dive in, I want to give a shout out
to this week's sponsor, Raid Shadow Legends.
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And now back to the show.
It's impossible to talk about Succession without talking
about money because every scene is basically drowning
in dollar signs.
The Roy family are media moguls styled
after the Murdochs who Lord
over a vast empire anchored by amusement parks
and a reactionary right-wing news channel.
- You know Waystar, Waystar Roy Co.?
We do hate speech and rollercoasters.
- {Michael} As a result, they live in a world that
is totally defined by wealth.
They wear the finest suits, can take private jets
from luxurious penthouses to countryside mansions.
They eat the fanciest food.
- That's so, that's so good.
- {Michael} They drink the fanciest wine.
- Hey Greg, what are you drinking?
- Oh, this is, I'm not sure it's a, it's a, rosé.
It's not my favorite.
- {Michael} They have extravagant leisure activities.
- Might as well just throw a grenade at the pigs.
- {Michael} Every single centimeter
of their lives has been tailor-made
to ensure they get only the best
of the best.
Taken as a whole, the show paints a picture
of what it looks like to live with all the money
in the world.
Conceptually, it's a fantasy we've seen, played out
on screen lots of times before.
From popular TV series,
like Dynasty, Dallas, Gossip Girl, Billions,
and Big Little Lies,
to hit movies like Crazy Rich Asians
and the Wolf of Wall Street.
How the top 1% lives is a major part of our media diet.
Some offer a pure celebration of excess
while some cast a more critical eye.
But pretty much all of them give us the vicarious thrill
of watching the filthy rich play with their money.
It's pretty straightforward wish fulfillment.
Most of us live the majority of our lives penned
in by bank balances that are never as high as we'd like.
So it's no wonder we lust after the idea
of a life where all those limitations just melt away
and we can do whatever we want all the time.
- Look, here's the thing about being rich.
Okay.
It's (bleep) great.
Okay, it's like being a superhero only better.
You get to do what you want.
The authorities can't really touch you.
You get to wear a costume, but it's designed by Armani.
- {Michael} There's a term for this, wealth porn,
which describes a media that exists primarily
so we can salivate over designer clothes
and luxe apartments.
Apologies if you thought wealth porn
is when a dude (bleep) a bag of money.
The term was coined by journalist Gary Pool
in the year 2000.
It describes the fawning news coverage
of the uber wealthy in publications like Fortune and Forbes.
The term caught on,
which makes sense considering shows
like Cribs were at their peak.
Never forget that Tommy Lee had a Starbucks in his house.
- Tommy Lee has a Starbucks in his house?
- Cribs baby, watch it.
- Like a whole Starbucks with workers and everything?
- {Michael} Shows like Entourage and Gossip Girl
were also pretty brazen about their desire
to provide exactly this sort
of economic escapism.
Happily framing every angle
of their characters, material wealth.
But the term of wealth porn becomes more loaded when
it's applied to media
that's ostensibly lampooning this excess
while arguably just indulging in it.
The Wolf of Wall street and Billions,
for instance, have both continually divided critics as
to where they fall on the spectrum.
So why are we so attracted to stories set
within societies upper-crust?
Most obviously, wealth looks really good on screen.
From lush apartments to designer clothes,
to exotic locales.
And the cinematography typically luxuriates in it.
Cameras whirl to capture the madcap excess
or glides serenely across each perfectly manicured set,
but that's not quite what we get in Succession.
Their apartments might be huge
and their dinners might cost more
than any car I've ever owned,
but the world of the Roys rarely looks all that desirable.
Visually, this comes from the guerrilla style
of the cinematography.
The show uses free roaming cameraman to create a voyeuristic
and low-fi aesthetic.
This adds a DIY clumsiness to a designer world.
It also avoids the indulgent poise style
of most media about the 1%.
One of the shows directors, Mark Mylod, told IndieWire
that when filming the Roys in any opulent location,
he always makes sure the character
is leading the cinematography rather
than having a camera pan lovingly across a fancy set.
It's almost an anti-aesthetic in terms of the craft.
He says the show purposely avoids depicting wealth
as synonymous with beauty.
The frequently unflattering lighting shows
every dark under eye circle and wrinkle to perfection.
And the beige color palette becomes overwhelming
in its blandness.
As series creator, Jesse Armstrong describes, their lives
are somewhat denuded of color.
In short, for once being filthy rich
doesn't look filthy sexy,
which to be clear, isn't the name
for a type of porn where a guy grinds up on a
big pile of dirt and twigs.
And importantly, the series used on-set wealth advisors
to help the cast fully inhabit the world
of the 1%.
Grounding it in the day-to-day realism
of life as a rich person, the show is able
to effectively de-eroticize the whole thing.
Well, almost the whole thing.
Brian Cox can still get it anytime, anywhere.
For example, one piece of advice the cast received
was about how they made their way
in and out of the helicopters,
which the Roys used like Ubers.
You'll notice that none of them ever duck
the way we would expect most people to.
That's because when you've been traveling
that way since childhood it's as natural as stepping
onto a train or climbing into a car.
Which is maybe why Kendall is so comfortable inside
a helicopter, that he occasionally tries
to drunkenly pilot one.
Because here's the thing,
if you've been rich your whole life, the idea
of being rich just isn't all that interesting.
Cinderella stories like Crazy Rich Asians
and rise and fall tales like Wolf of Wall Street
are so effective because they give the audience
an avatar who enters the world of the wealthy
with the same doe-eyed wonder as we would.
Because wealth porn is really
for those of us who will never experience
that kind of opulence or unfettered freedom in real life.
In contrast, Succession demystifies wealth.
The show pulls back the curtain to reveal the drudgery
and degradation required to create this seamless luxury.
Like when the Roys are getting ready
to have a decadent feast.
Rather than simply having their tasty treats appear
on screen fully formed, the show depicts every bit
of the painstaking work their staff takes
to prepare and serve it.
And then Logan gets mad about a bad smell
and orders the whole thing destroyed before
a single bite has been eaten.
- And I don't want all this (bleep)!
It's sat around in the stink!
Pizza, we'll have pizza!
- {Michael} And so we get to watch that same army
of service employees clear away a few rent checks worth
of haute cuisine.
And when Succession does show a Cinderella story,
it's not quite such a whirlwind romance.
Connor, whose best friend is Ferris Bueller,
is initially paying Willa to spend time with him
as an escort before the two of them decide to go steady.
But even after the relationship remains transactional.
Willa shacks up with a delusional rich guy twice her age
because it's the only realistic hope she has
of funding her own creative ambitions.
No matter how ill-advised they might be.
- I mean I don't need to see the reviews, you know?
I don't care.
- Exactly the place is brilliant.
Who cares with some old white dude
from the New York Times says?
- {Michael} It's easy to write Willa off
as a sly opportunist,
but Connor is equally complicit, lording his money
over her to get what he wants.
And that brings us to the second part
of wealth porn's appeal.
Because it's never just about the pretty things
that money can buy, but the power that comes with it.
- Enough of this (bleep) will make you invincible.
Able to conquer the world and eviscerate your enemies.
- {Michael} Yet another rich guy
who thinks money makes you a defacto superhero,
which recent comic book cinema has confirmed.
- What are your super powers again?
- I'm rich.
- {Michael} But even if you aren't building Batmobiles
or bulletproof armor, wealth gives you immunity
from the rules, which govern most people's lives.
Any problem you encounter can be whisked away in a flurry
of dollar bills.
Even mess ups, like, you know,
coke-fueled vehicular homicide.
- You'd have to buy out the entire cabin.
And the first class flight attendant.
- I bought the airline.
(indistinct)
- {Michael} There is a somewhat dangerous appeal
in the idea of being so strong
that we can bend the world around us to our whims.
And the Roys are all high on this particular power fantasy.
One of the great joys of watching Succession
is the stiletto sharp dialogue,
which turns each conversation into a knife fight.
- He's sure you'll understand,
but he's going to need to offer an alternative face
for this discussion.
- Alternative face. What the (bleep) does that mean?
If I drop my pants, I can show you an alternative face.
How does that sound?
- {Michael} And every meeting
into a series of vicious insults
and perfectly delivered put downs.
- Patrons, appearances, bargaining rights,
just nasty tangly (bleep)
and it's not a body pit.
Whatever the (bleep) a body pit is.
It's a (bleep) muesli pit.
- {Michael} But these scenes are never just there
for us to enjoy the punchlines.
Well, okay maybe occasionally they are.
- Tom it's tough to have to tell you like this,
but I'm in a sexual relationship with your mother.
She talks in her sleep.
- {Michael} But these moments also give us an insight
into what life at the top is like.
The Roys brutal way of talking to one another
is a manner of establishing dominance.
Generally bored of their extreme wealth,
the power it gives them is the real high.
And it's a vital part of their identity too.
They all have to believe that they
are corporate warriors battering their way
to the top of the food chain through cunning resilience
and ruthlessness.
In reality, the Roys are rarely as impressive
as they think they are.
They like to imagine themselves playing
four dimensional chess as they plot
and scheme their way towards world domination.
But the truth is that the Roys are constantly bumping up
against their own shortcomings.
- She thinks she's smarter than she is.
Roman could actually be good,
but um, but nowhere near right now.
Kendall's, I don't know,
it's like you put him in a big diaper
and now he can (bleep) himself whenever he likes.
He has all the shots, but he doesn't know when to play them.
- {Michael} Kendall is an insecure mess
and torn between a desperation for his father's approval
and a furious desire to take revenge upon him.
- You have a hard time finding a happy medium
between worshiping him and wanting to kill him.
- {Michael} He's vaguely pathetic.
Even needing a personal driver for his bad-ass motorcycle.
His anxiety leads him to bungle two separate coup attempts.
And it takes nearly losing everything
for him to finally take decisive action.
Roman has his own inadequacy issues,
which have left him emotionally detached
and sexually incapacitated.
- We never (bleep).
- Oh yeah, we do.
- No we don't.
- {Michael} He covers this with an air of abrasive bravado,
but when push comes to shove, he is still
a little boy terrified of his father.
- (Bleep) I swear to God that
if you bring him back I am walking.
Back to my office to sulk.
- Siobhan often seems like the smartest
and most confident sibling,
but even she continually overplays her hand
and finds herself caught up in Logan's games.
- Oh for (bleep) sake, dad, just tell him it's gonna be me.
- {Michael} And then there's Connor, who is so insulated
by wealth that he has effectively lost touch with reality.
He's a grown man living out quixotic fantasies
until the money runs out.
- But you have to quit your campaign.
- {Michael} And at the end of the day, every one
of these kids just wants a kiss from daddy.
(singing)
- {Michael} The truth is that none of the Roys
are the machiavellian geniuses
that they think they are.
When their plans succeed
it's rarely because they intellectually outmaneuvered
their opponents or executed some daring scheme.
It's just because they are really, really, rich.
- Because I'm going to stuff your mouth with
so much money you're going to (bleep) gold figurines.
Non-disclosure agreement, non-voting shares, non-compete.
I'm going to lock you in a golden cage (bleep) you
with a silver dildo and pay you
so much you sing whatever song I want.
- {Michael} Clearly Kendall imagines himself
as the unstoppable boardroom warrior, laying waste
to his enemies and seizing what he wants.
In reality, he's just a rich kid playing
with his dad's money.
He wasn't able to persuade, seduce,
or intimidate his opponent into a deal.
So he's just throwing money at him until he agrees.
There's no merit to his victory.
No proof of talent or character.
He wins, as the Roys always do, simply because
of how rich he is.
- Yeah, money wins.
- {Michael} And that's ultimately who the Roy's are.
And that's why the show's able
to avoid the wealth porn trap.
Which is what it's called
when you think you're just going to hump some money,
but then it turns out it's a trap set
by the host of To Catch a Predator, Chris Hanson.
Everything in the Roys life looks expensive,
and yet practically none of it seems desirable.
It's clear that we aren't watching the masters
of the universe go about their godly business.
Instead, they're just a bunch
of egocentric, insecure assholes, lording their power
so that they can feel important.
- Really good effort, really, quite tremendous.
So take this back to your life. It's a quarter-million.
- {Michael} And even their most extravagant moments tend
to be kind of pathetic.
They'll buy out an entire theme park
to win back their children's love.
- Thank you for closing down the park for us.
Sophie is having a great birthday.
She get to meet snow Joe.
- {Michael} Or barter holidays with their mother
to save their dad a piece of real estate.
Ultimately, all of their adventures boil down
to greedy squabbles over extra dollars.
- You can threaten to stuff, a million severed dicks
into my ball bag,
but the actual fact is we're persuading more
and more shareholders everyday
that we offer them just a slightly better chance
for them to make a little bit more money
on their (bleep) dollar.
And that's all that this is.
- {Michael} Their world, for all it's luxurious furnishings
is cold, empty, and relentlessly petty.
And so are they,
which is kind of what makes them so compelling.
We get to see the broken humanity that they've tried
to paint over in gold leaf.
The parts of them that are desperate
for acceptance, terrified of failure
and haunted by childhood demons.
And this is actually pretty fitting.
While a lot of us might equate massive wealth
with happiness, a number of studies suggest things
are more complicated.
There's conflicting data,
but one influential study actually found
that money stops, quote unquote, buying happiness,
once you've reached a $75,000 salary.
What's more, a striking number of billionaires
become clinically depressed upon hitting it big.
Some researchers think that this is because material wealth
can isolate you from other people, leading you
to value independence over human connection.
And that's possibly because owning lots
of fancy (bleep) makes you feel more competitive
with those around you.
This kind of isolation and lack of human connection
is rife throughout Succession.
We see it in the jumpy, dislocated camera moves
and sterile environments.
And in the way the characters treat each other.
When a recently sort of kidnapped Roman tries
to share his feelings with the siblings,
he's roundly mocked
for showing even a trace of vulnerability.
- I've got feelings.
(laughter)
- How am I the mature one here?
- We don't have any feelings.
What are you talking about?
- {Michael} In this way, rather than gawking
at their lavish lifestyles or brilliant power moves,
the show reveals the characters' deeply damaged cores.
Their pettiness.
Their jealousy.
Their constant self-sabotage.
And there's nothing pornographic about it.
However much we enjoy watching them screw each other.
- I was (bleep) from every direction.
- But what do you guys think?
Does the life of the Roys still look pretty good to you?
Or does Succession have you thinking that maybe life
in the 1%, ain't all it's cracked up to be?
Let us know in the comments.
Huge thanks to all of our patrons
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And as always, thanks for watching.
Later.
(upbeat music)