My friends who have never seen “Succession,” the hit HBO show that will soon come to an end, say that they have no interest in watching rich peopl

How ‘Succession’ Busts One of America’s Most Cherished Myths

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2023-05-22 11:00:03

My friends who have never seen “Succession,” the hit HBO show that will soon come to an end, say that they have no interest in watching rich people behaving badly. The darkly comic series certainly fits that bill: It follows the travails of the Roy family, the patriarch of which, Logan Roy, is an avatar of Rupert Murdoch, and whose children, Shiv, Kendall and Roman, jockey endlessly, and haplessly, to inherit his throne.

The characters are immersed in an insular world where the accouterments of obscene wealth — private planes, luxury wardrobes, multiple homes in expensive locales — are deployed casually, as a constant backdrop, and the broader consequences of what happens in this world are visible only occasionally. (Most recently, childish squabbling among the Roy offspring may have pushed a far-right presidential candidate to victory.) It’s understandable that, in the real world, amid talk of a recession and at the tail of a global pandemic, the concerns of the Roy family might seem … unrelatable.

But “Succession” is not just about rich people and the drama they manufacture. Its resonances with current events are not the point, though they helpfully illustrate the stakes of sacrificing integrity, relationships and the public interest to attain one’s own selfish goals.