Rolling Stones - a name that once resonated with peace, anti-war, coolness, hip, anti-government. A name that today - Memorial Day - reminds my family, neighborhood and fellow veterans of our relatives, friends and fellow military members of those that past this life in and from combat. Rolling Stone who now is more closely aligned with pro-war, FBI, CIA and endless war makes our Fallen cry in their graves.
Succession was satisfying because it was written by British writers - IMHO - they are far better educated in the English language than are Americans. We lived in London in the mid-1990's for a few years where my kids started school. I admired how they taught very young children language. My eldest, age of 5 at the time, was required to memorize a poem to recite in class. She chose the 'Owl and the Pussycat'. So our entire family learned it to help her - it was loads of fun. We rewarded her superlative 'performance' with a silver pin depicting the owl and the pussy cat in the boat which she sometimes wears to this day.
Later on back in the States, my youngest, who was about 8 years old, adored 'Buffy the Vampire' - she would recite scenes from it after dinner was done. We wondered where her obsession came from and it was an obsession. There were lots of literary and historical references in the drama. She loved the dialogue - it was rather sophisticated stuff for one so young. She kept a notebook with verbiage from various scenes. Turns out, that too was written by a Brit.
The British are also fabulous at character development....Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy - one really 'feels' their characters jump off the page.
The British have a lot to offer regarding the the ENGLISH language....they'd be little I'd want to watch otherwise. (The WSJ has a nice article about the 'language of Succession' this weekend)
Anyone with an IQ higher than a carrot should recognize that reportage on NPR has reached a new bottom when it features a story on Morning Edition about the finale of a cable television program.
I couldn't believe I saw that on a Gov't website. I had to re-read the part about "structural racism" to believe it was real. Are we back in the 1950's? Isn't Equity a Marxist term? wtf?
What was most depressing about the leftwing political bias baked into the structure of Succession, most blatantly in the election night episode (which posits a distorted version of reality in the service of an ideological narrative), is how good the show is otherwise—the character depth, the writing, the wit, the accurately observed world of the super rich and its oblivious billionaires, the tension between comedy and genuine human sadness, the acting. I watched it every Sunday with a mix of admiration and annoyance. So I think you basically nailed it, Sasha. My only disagreement is that I don’t think there was any acknowledgement at all that “the Left owns everything” now. They do pretend otherwise.
I haven’t watched to show. I lumped it in there with all the other ones that become mainstream popular which to me means “woke” and I just can’t stomach them. I’ve felt for a long time the Democratic Party was hyping up race issues to gin up more voters. It’s nauseating and so evil. I remember “ when everyone was a racist who voted for Trump” time period. It was all over Facebook coming from everyone. It was October 2020 when I had had enough and snapped at my cousin on Facebook for her post. It caused a lot of drama and we had family weddings coming both of which I was paying for and creating the guest lists. Needless to say she was not invited but her parents and siblings were. That caused more drama. I’ve just gotten to a point where I’m done with these types. I have nothing in common with them. No grudges, just not interested in having a relationship. Tired of being nice so everyone else can feel good about being assholes.
I'm so glad you made a post about Succession. I feel like the right or critics of the left often ignore modern stories too much and only engage to be critical; and it's ok to be critical but my point is that someone can be ridiculous politically and still make a good story. You did that here which I appreciate, criticizing the show while still allowing that it is good. I feel the same way.
Succession really makes me want to write an essay, and I feel like it is ripe for that from a conservative perspective. Because yes of course they are writing it as a critique of Fox News, Trump, GOP, the usual suspects. That is obvious. But as viewers we don't have to accept that framing. To me it is much more interesting as a window into the left wing psyche and their fever dreams.
I mean how can you not laugh when they're trying to act like the REPUBLICANS are behind the scenes picking the next President? After what we saw happen to Bernie Sanders twice, or the intelligence agencies putting their feet on the scales to try and swing the last 2 elections against Trump? I mean give me a break, it's laughable how out of touch these people are.
But even within that ridiculous framing you can still appreciate the drama that is happening. It is a fictional story after all, so if they want to write all these things out they can do it. My point is that we don't have to accept the framing at all.
Anyway there is so much more to be said about this show, it touches on our culture in so many interesting ways. I hope more conservatives and woke critics engage with and talk about it, because there is so much to be said.
I never watched the show. We don't have cable and I'm not going to pay for HBO. However, the real issue is fantasy and Hollywood is a fantasy world, just like Disney. It's not real.
So, did Succession, displace The Handmaid's Tale as required viewing for #theresistance?
Having unplugged from virtually all Hollywood-produced entertainment - ESPECIALLY network television programming (AppleTV, Paramount, et al.) ever since the Seinfeld finale, I've not paid much attention except that which comes to my attention via the internet...
The James Spader-like character chracterization is spot-on in numerous ways. Too many to mention, but it's been thus for decades - the media, the congressional Democrats, the left (but I repeat myself) have successfully represented themselves as the "cool kids" in the high school that is our society, and everyone else as the great unwashed, the uncool kids. Eventually though, graduation day comes and everyone has to operate in the real world - perhaps graduation day is coming.
"To be a thriving industry, Hollywood will have to divorce the Democratic Party so they can produce subversive content again."
I don't see that happening any time soon.
"I don’t know about you, but I've overdosed on sanctimony, GOODNESS, on self-righteousness..."
As have I. Especially that as defined and served up by the left.
Thank you, Sasha, for another great dispatch - especially from the great state of Texas!
I saw a video of Vivek Ramaswamy yesterday at a Townhall meeting where he was asked what he would do on his first day as president. He said he would issue an Executive Order banning race based affirmative action. That’s exactly the opposite of what Biden did on his first day in office which was to issue an Executive Order to replace meritocracy wherever it can be found with Equity aka Equal Outcomes. We’re in a reality war of the Woke vs the nonWoke. Compare a nonWoke public intellectual like Vivek Ramaswamy to a Woke public intellectual like Ibram X. Kendi and the difference is like the difference between day and night or sanity vs insanity yet our ruling class, their media and their many useful idiot followers in the general public prefer Kendi! Watch what Saagar has to say about our ruling class war on merit for the sake of Equity. This is just not working at all.
“Exposed: Med Schools Drop Merit For Racial Admissions.” (6 min)
I agree with your take but as a conservative I loved Succession for its exquisite writing, acting, directing etc. Also don't forget the Left came in for its share of satire along the way. Review the "Ternhaven" episode from Season 2 to see how the liberal Pierces were portrayed as hypocrites undernath their santimonious facade. Also, remember the flaws in the Democrat candidates Shiv worked for: the vulgar postings from Joyce's husband; the dark hints behind the personal life of Gil Eavis and how he overcompensated his lofty position to resonate with the men he met on the street; and how he ultimately cut a deal with Logan for better ATN news coverage. The show's creators hit the right more than the left, but it was a greaat show. I just wished more of the reviewers from the mainstream press (Rolling Stone, et al) would have suspended their own political biases when reviewing the episodes.
Amarillo? Be sure to go eat at The Big Texan, which has these monster steaks, as big as your leg, for free, If you can finish it. Then get your name up on the wall. There are plenty of names of women and childen. Probably thousands by now.
Rolling Stones - a name that once resonated with peace, anti-war, coolness, hip, anti-government. A name that today - Memorial Day - reminds my family, neighborhood and fellow veterans of our relatives, friends and fellow military members of those that past this life in and from combat. Rolling Stone who now is more closely aligned with pro-war, FBI, CIA and endless war makes our Fallen cry in their graves.
Sasha, you have become crap intolerant. You are helping more people to become crap intolerant. Thanks. Please keep it up.
Succession was satisfying because it was written by British writers - IMHO - they are far better educated in the English language than are Americans. We lived in London in the mid-1990's for a few years where my kids started school. I admired how they taught very young children language. My eldest, age of 5 at the time, was required to memorize a poem to recite in class. She chose the 'Owl and the Pussycat'. So our entire family learned it to help her - it was loads of fun. We rewarded her superlative 'performance' with a silver pin depicting the owl and the pussy cat in the boat which she sometimes wears to this day.
Later on back in the States, my youngest, who was about 8 years old, adored 'Buffy the Vampire' - she would recite scenes from it after dinner was done. We wondered where her obsession came from and it was an obsession. There were lots of literary and historical references in the drama. She loved the dialogue - it was rather sophisticated stuff for one so young. She kept a notebook with verbiage from various scenes. Turns out, that too was written by a Brit.
The British are also fabulous at character development....Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy - one really 'feels' their characters jump off the page.
The British have a lot to offer regarding the the ENGLISH language....they'd be little I'd want to watch otherwise. (The WSJ has a nice article about the 'language of Succession' this weekend)
Anyone with an IQ higher than a carrot should recognize that reportage on NPR has reached a new bottom when it features a story on Morning Edition about the finale of a cable television program.
I have to read the WaPo article about the Trump women....because the Racism thing is out of control.
I was looking on the Cali DMV site the other day about getting some Car records and found this:
"COVID-19 has highlighted existing inequities in health. Many of these inequities are the result of structural racism..."
https://covid19.ca.gov/equity
I couldn't believe I saw that on a Gov't website. I had to re-read the part about "structural racism" to believe it was real. Are we back in the 1950's? Isn't Equity a Marxist term? wtf?
How does this end?
What was most depressing about the leftwing political bias baked into the structure of Succession, most blatantly in the election night episode (which posits a distorted version of reality in the service of an ideological narrative), is how good the show is otherwise—the character depth, the writing, the wit, the accurately observed world of the super rich and its oblivious billionaires, the tension between comedy and genuine human sadness, the acting. I watched it every Sunday with a mix of admiration and annoyance. So I think you basically nailed it, Sasha. My only disagreement is that I don’t think there was any acknowledgement at all that “the Left owns everything” now. They do pretend otherwise.
I haven’t watched to show. I lumped it in there with all the other ones that become mainstream popular which to me means “woke” and I just can’t stomach them. I’ve felt for a long time the Democratic Party was hyping up race issues to gin up more voters. It’s nauseating and so evil. I remember “ when everyone was a racist who voted for Trump” time period. It was all over Facebook coming from everyone. It was October 2020 when I had had enough and snapped at my cousin on Facebook for her post. It caused a lot of drama and we had family weddings coming both of which I was paying for and creating the guest lists. Needless to say she was not invited but her parents and siblings were. That caused more drama. I’ve just gotten to a point where I’m done with these types. I have nothing in common with them. No grudges, just not interested in having a relationship. Tired of being nice so everyone else can feel good about being assholes.
I'm so glad you made a post about Succession. I feel like the right or critics of the left often ignore modern stories too much and only engage to be critical; and it's ok to be critical but my point is that someone can be ridiculous politically and still make a good story. You did that here which I appreciate, criticizing the show while still allowing that it is good. I feel the same way.
Succession really makes me want to write an essay, and I feel like it is ripe for that from a conservative perspective. Because yes of course they are writing it as a critique of Fox News, Trump, GOP, the usual suspects. That is obvious. But as viewers we don't have to accept that framing. To me it is much more interesting as a window into the left wing psyche and their fever dreams.
I mean how can you not laugh when they're trying to act like the REPUBLICANS are behind the scenes picking the next President? After what we saw happen to Bernie Sanders twice, or the intelligence agencies putting their feet on the scales to try and swing the last 2 elections against Trump? I mean give me a break, it's laughable how out of touch these people are.
But even within that ridiculous framing you can still appreciate the drama that is happening. It is a fictional story after all, so if they want to write all these things out they can do it. My point is that we don't have to accept the framing at all.
Anyway there is so much more to be said about this show, it touches on our culture in so many interesting ways. I hope more conservatives and woke critics engage with and talk about it, because there is so much to be said.
I never watched the show. We don't have cable and I'm not going to pay for HBO. However, the real issue is fantasy and Hollywood is a fantasy world, just like Disney. It's not real.
Glad to see that you made, "Amarillo by Morning!"
So, did Succession, displace The Handmaid's Tale as required viewing for #theresistance?
Having unplugged from virtually all Hollywood-produced entertainment - ESPECIALLY network television programming (AppleTV, Paramount, et al.) ever since the Seinfeld finale, I've not paid much attention except that which comes to my attention via the internet...
The James Spader-like character chracterization is spot-on in numerous ways. Too many to mention, but it's been thus for decades - the media, the congressional Democrats, the left (but I repeat myself) have successfully represented themselves as the "cool kids" in the high school that is our society, and everyone else as the great unwashed, the uncool kids. Eventually though, graduation day comes and everyone has to operate in the real world - perhaps graduation day is coming.
"To be a thriving industry, Hollywood will have to divorce the Democratic Party so they can produce subversive content again."
I don't see that happening any time soon.
"I don’t know about you, but I've overdosed on sanctimony, GOODNESS, on self-righteousness..."
As have I. Especially that as defined and served up by the left.
Thank you, Sasha, for another great dispatch - especially from the great state of Texas!
I saw a video of Vivek Ramaswamy yesterday at a Townhall meeting where he was asked what he would do on his first day as president. He said he would issue an Executive Order banning race based affirmative action. That’s exactly the opposite of what Biden did on his first day in office which was to issue an Executive Order to replace meritocracy wherever it can be found with Equity aka Equal Outcomes. We’re in a reality war of the Woke vs the nonWoke. Compare a nonWoke public intellectual like Vivek Ramaswamy to a Woke public intellectual like Ibram X. Kendi and the difference is like the difference between day and night or sanity vs insanity yet our ruling class, their media and their many useful idiot followers in the general public prefer Kendi! Watch what Saagar has to say about our ruling class war on merit for the sake of Equity. This is just not working at all.
“Exposed: Med Schools Drop Merit For Racial Admissions.” (6 min)
Breaking Points. Saagar Enjeti. Jan 30, 2023
https://youtu.be/xpH6jTMApW4
Thanks. Another show I will never watch.
I agree with your take but as a conservative I loved Succession for its exquisite writing, acting, directing etc. Also don't forget the Left came in for its share of satire along the way. Review the "Ternhaven" episode from Season 2 to see how the liberal Pierces were portrayed as hypocrites undernath their santimonious facade. Also, remember the flaws in the Democrat candidates Shiv worked for: the vulgar postings from Joyce's husband; the dark hints behind the personal life of Gil Eavis and how he overcompensated his lofty position to resonate with the men he met on the street; and how he ultimately cut a deal with Logan for better ATN news coverage. The show's creators hit the right more than the left, but it was a greaat show. I just wished more of the reviewers from the mainstream press (Rolling Stone, et al) would have suspended their own political biases when reviewing the episodes.
Nail on the head.
Perfectly said. Beware when you fight monsters that you don't become one yourself.
Sasha,
Great piece. Again.
Amarillo? Be sure to go eat at The Big Texan, which has these monster steaks, as big as your leg, for free, If you can finish it. Then get your name up on the wall. There are plenty of names of women and childen. Probably thousands by now.