Succession (HBO), The Son (AMC), Yellowstone (Paramount Network). In different ways, these new shows are all relatively successful for their networks. They're all certified "prestige" and Son and Yellowstone are certainly epic in scope. They're part of the flagship of their home networks -- Yellowstone especially which is their first big release since Waco. They come after a string of failed shows in their vein like Blood and Oil (ABC).
It's a bit odd, no? They're all founded on classic white patriarchal clans who have risen on the strengths of their sins (monopolization and oppression, violence and backstabbing, disregard for the common man). I get that the creators behind these shows are trying to undermine the various forces and stereotypes -- The Son and Yellowstone both feature rebellious older sons who dare to be with a woman of "the other race" and that makes things tough for them, as well as for their harsh yet caring fathers. Well, boo hoo I guess?
I say it's odd that these are in resurgence right now because they come at a time when transgressive and format-bending shows are on the rise (Atlanta, Random Acts of Flyness, Vida, and so many others). But these C.W.P. shows aren't some reflexive, way-of-the-Dodo rejoinder to what's happening in society now. In fact, they're trying to stay relevant. As I said, they want to undermine their own stories. We don't admire the family in Succession, we're supposed to laugh at them. I'm not sure about The Son but we can safely assumed the patriarch's brutal and ancient values will ultimately lead to his destruction. Yellowstone I've barely watched any of, so I'm not the authority, but it feels like we're supposed to be equal parts in admiration and judgment of Costner's head of the ranching clan. They're all bad guys, for sure. But we're still all in, watching them up-close for 10-12 hours a season. So, what's the takeaway?
Personally, I think the creators of these shows want to frame these stories as "lessons on America" or "historical learning" but that is problematic. Yes, Succession could be teaching us the ways of the .00001% of our corpocracy -- how they behave, their flaws, their detachment from humanity. The Son can illustrate through a historical lens, the barbaric nature of American expansionism, jingoism, and evolution of white power. Yellowstone may indeed show us a mixture of the two other shows; how does lingering white landed power maintain itself in the face of racial empowerment and a rising corpocracy? Is that relevant to America today? Sure. But the flipside is that we are only into these stories so much as we are empathetic to these characters. Is whatever lessons they're trying to teach us worth us learning to root for these nasty vestiges that we're so desperately trying to shed in reality?
It's intoxicating to watch carefully constructed power -- and these shows do a convincing job of making classic white patriarchal families with the history of America behind them... well, seem like the most powerful thing in existence. They are their own worst enemy, sort of thing. Externally, these families' internal "flaws" only contribute to its power. And I'm not sure that's a healthy lesson. What's more, the creators of these shows claim these stories are still relevant and progressive because they're asserting the death of these families in their shows. They're comedic, cathartic tragedies! I get it, but the way these storytellers are writing this tragedy -- the C.W.P. is like a great, cornered, wounded beast. It's never been so dangerous, so powerful, never been more potentially awe-inspiring in its anger and ability to destroy to defend itself. As a result, there's a heavy smell of admiration in the air. We know they're bad, we know they're doomed and therefore we're tricked into being comfortable rooting for them -- and not just rooting for them to fight, but to fight dirty. Because we know that's in their nature and so what's the harm if we're just rooting for the bad guy before they die? I think there is harm though. Hopefully the beast doesn't live much longer.
