Succession is about Climate Change. Kind of.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ส.ค. 2024
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//Nerdwriter's video on language: • Succession: Say What Y...
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It's true! Succession is about a lot of things, from family to money to power to the best way to enjoy a glass of wine. But at its core, Succession is about the end of the American Century, about an impending collapse, and-well-climate change.
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00:00 - Intro
03:14 - Money Wins
08:11 - Existential Dread, Health, and Climate
13:49 - Why We Relate
17:05 - TV Class Consciousness in 2021
#succession #capitalism #climatechange
You say climate change, I say: Connor Roy was interested in politics at a very young age.
It is every fuken top comment in succession video.
Well, i say “Connor roy is the eldest son”.
@@bagathmanish8876 q😊😊
@@anikultra2525 its important to remind people of this fact
@@anikultra2525 well, that's because he is the eldest son
"Gender fluid illegals maybe entering the country 'twice' " and "Should we really be worried about Robots being body shamed?" by ATN news is some of the best background humor i have ever seen👏👏👏
I was wondering if anyone else noticed
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
"I talked to her at the copy machine--now I'm being chemically castrated"
First time I saw it needed a double take rewind and pause
👀say whatttt
I love the ATN ticker headline in the opening credits - "WHY ARE SO MANY OLDER CELEBRITIES DYING???" It took a few watches before it struck me how asinine that headline is lol
This show is great because the suspense and betrayals don’t come from violence or action scenes they come from simply trusting another person.
Poo po
P pp ppl
Or NOT trusting them.
You said it perfectly. Also i think we as audience are kinda numb now to vioelent scene since GoT and Handmaids Tale.
If you like that kind of betrayal watch Survivor.
It’s crazy how Logan never acknowledged that twice his kids saved the company when his body broke down. Kendall by bringing in Stewie and Shiv saving the bear hug settlement when Logan had UTI.
It's not that crazy -- if you've had a narcissistic parent or narcissistic boss, you'll know that's how they roll
Yeah, my boss definitely whispered to me, while hugging: "You're my boy, you're my number 1 boy...", to convince me to work overtime
The show acknowledged you were correct “I guess I’m a climate denier”
Scrolled down looking for this comment before I made it lol
the way they're constantly taking private flights everywhere gave me climate anxiety
i know they gotta have pretty looking sets but i feel like this was totally intentional
brooo me too hahahahh
I think that it matters that Greg's ills also increase as the show goes on - by the end of season 2 he has the sand mites and a toe fungus.
Lol
Also a tummy ache from the gold flakes in the alcohol at the club. And someone texted him asking about him “burning”.
Is this all leading to something? Lol
@@Tadaia when we first met greg he was high as a kite in a mascot costume, this is who he is
The theme song is going to be a number 1 single once hip hop starts sampling it.
For real!
Don't know if this has been mentioned before, but one other element that seems to refer to how the roys are limited by their mortality and/or their body is the fact that kendall is an addict. Kendall's body is working against him because he constantly has this addiction looming over him, which prevents him from actually bettering his life and breaking the toxic cycle.
just as a good number of us are addicted to the unhealthy things capitalism enables us to consume at greater rates than the globally unlucky. an unrelenting torrent of media, data, dopamine hits, and fear from our little black mirrors. why do better when the world is a terrifying place, and staying inside hanging out with your friends Jim Halpert and Captain America feels safe and kinda good anyway? click away on your laptop, have some Zoom chats during the day to earn a few bucks, and spend them at night on overpriced fast-food and weed delivery so you can bliss out watching people have adventures doing stuff you'll never do in your entire life. don't even need to leave your couch; in fact, it can become very difficult to. fortunately for us, for now the world is still a beautiful place if you do.
This is a good point. I've read comments that some suspect Kendall has bipolar (which could fit). I also think Roman has rampant unmedicated ADHD as well, which similarly works against him too
@@stvn1405 I think Kendall has borderline personality disorder. "Borderline Personality Disorder is characterized by a persistent pattern of emotional instability, which alters mood, self-image, and behavior.
The person experiences strong emotions and impulsive outbursts that generate uncertainty, they may present extremist thinking and their affections are organized in this way. One day it can refer to admiring a person and later to despise them. His type of thinking is dichotomous, "Everything is bad or good."
When experiencing turbulent sensations and having changing feelings, their relationships are often intense and chaotic.
Other significant symptoms include: Intense fear of being abandoned, intolerance towards feelings of loneliness, frequently having feelings of emptiness or boredom, presence of inappropriate outbursts of anger, appearance of consumption behaviors, impulsive sexual relations or self-harm behaviors."
Agreed- Roman's body betrays him after years of abuse to himself and those who get too close (like lookin in a mirror)
Cause and effect of parenthood in terms of child development, and shiv is a sadist like her daddy @@stvn1405
There’s no-one to root for but I’m still Team Gregg.
This is the way to be sure.
Can't help but root for that beautiful Ichabod Crane!
He may be horrible, but Tom is definitely my favorite character. There's a lot to unpack hahaha
The part of you that likes greg is the part of you that wishes to be this stupid rich even though you hate billionaires
I love greg but he is also quite evil himself
I'm reading Jason Hickel's book "Less is More" and he points out that the numbers on CO2 emissions (like the ones at 13:20) don't take into account that a lot of the goods produced by the global south are for the benefit of the global north. So we (in the global north) are responsible for a good portion of those emissions too. It sounds obvious once someone says it, but I honestly had never considered it before.
I mention the book because I figured you might enjoy it, too. Also I wanted to come back now that I've seen a handful of episodes of Succession to say that Logan and capitalism are 100% abusive parents. It's really rough to watch him be such a bully and not be able to reach through the screen to punch him.
Mom Collingwood was the far worse parent though. Her narcissism (perfectly acted by Harriet Walker btw) is so beyond that even Livia Soprano looks like Mom of the Year by comparison.
The fact that you managed to unironically work in "we live in a society" makes this breakdown a 10/10 for me
How did I miss Kendall literally shitting the bed??? I DO NOT REMEMBER THIS
The balance of humiliation and empathy is so addicting !
Empathy?
**insert Logan's catchphrase here**
Maybe this is hte poverty speaking, but the part that makes my head spin the most realizing how terrible these people are is "the banquet followed by throwing away the leftovers"
That one shot you showed of what was thrown away could have been three days of food.
What makes it worse was that it wasn't leftovers - they threw the entire banquet's worth of food away because there was a bad smell in the house so Logan didn't feel like eating and was worried the smell would get into the food.
It’s also clearly a critique on modern capitalism / politics, the role of the media, the nepotism involved in business (none of the kids are up to the task of managing a multinational, but they’re entitled so they believe they’re the only ones capable) and politics. Its also highlighting the costs of capitalism on the family, where money drives everything but it doesn’t make the children or the families happy (they’re all dysfunctional individuals and they all clamour for time with there absentee father).
Not once do they think about the implications of their actions on society, It’s a Shakespearian tragedy of epic proportions and we’re seeing this in our society today. We all know disaster is looming, but we’re pretending we can somehow control what’s about to happen (we can’t).
Succession always gives me Shakespeare vibes too. King Lear especially.
Watching Logan reminds me of entitled maniac trump. (With higher intelligence) and Tom seeking the limelight purely for status and is money hungry like jared....I love the natural flow of throwing cheap shots at each other
@@lauramarshall2072 I would equate Logan to Murdoch TBH, which I assume the entire show has been based on. Murdochs family is dysfunctional, his kids are arseholes who have failed in the corporate world but got those opportunities precisely because of who their father was. The phone hacking scandal is similar to the cruise line debacle in the show in that they clearly new but publicly denied all knowledge and culpability for there employees actions.
Parallels could be made for Trump (his father was actually a successful self made man, Donald certainly isn’t self made despite trying to give that impression). His kids are certainly devoid of talent and in there own rights have achieved nothing of note.
This would be played out the same way in a communist country as well.... The only difference being the media would be owned by the government.
2:06 Critique? I’d say parody. I’ve seen these personalities from the rich to the poor. And it’s not capitalism. It’s corruption. Because you can be a Logan Roy and be communist. Unless you consider the fact that communist leaders end up killing anyone who dares go against the established status quo.
I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I weirdly never considered Succession a comedy. I think there's comedic moments, but at the end of the day, I think the show is strictly a dramatic satire. There's comedy sprinkled in, but at the end of the day, the feelings I have watching Succession never make me think it's funny, I always just feel a sort of dread by the end, that same dread we get when we talk about climate change.
Weirdly, and again-- unpopular opinion-- in the same way, I don't consider Scream a horror comedy. I think there's comedic moments, "I'm gettin' woozy here!" "Everyone is a suspect!" "There are rules!" but at the end of the day, I always feel like what I watched was a pair of serial killers murdering their friends for fun, and it gives me that same dread. They are satire for the world we live in, sure, and there's definitely moments I loved and found hilarious. The water bottle fight scene in Succession is easily one of my favorites, but when I reflect on it, the show is humorous but bleak.
Loved the video, the algorithm showed me the channel so I'm glad to be here and like/comment/subscribe/it's ya boy, etc.
I find the darkest moments of the show to be the “comedy” as well!
I mean....satire is a subgenre of comedy. The point is using humor to bring up a (usually) political/ethical point and as such is often in a fairly dramatic environment. Theatre even has a specific genre called tragicomedy that's often linked to satire.
I wasn’t aware anyone considered it a comedy. There’s definitely dark comedy in it but it’s absolutely a drama
It's hard not to feel dread with the constant reprisal of the somber theme all the time
It’s a borderline dark comedy imo. Meanwhile, a great example of a full-fledged dark comedy is Barry. I’d say Succession is more like The Sopranos in that the drama is technically in the front seat leading the show along, but the accompanying dialogue is oftentimes so witty, peculiar, poetic, ridiculous, etc that you end up laughing a lot too.
Its style is very similar to "The Thick of It". Dramatic satire. The situations are so absurd that it is obvious you should not take it serious as a real drama, but it is played straight by the actors as a drama, which just puts it such a nice dark place with its humor. I love it.
Fun fact: One of the writers of The Thick of It, Jesse Armstrong, is actually the writer and creator of Succession.
It reminded me a lot of veep.
@@EJD339 Guess who wrote Veep?
@@dog-ez2nu that’s very cool. Didn’t know what. Just actually started watching the show 3 months ago.
I am so sorry to inform you that The Thick of It is based on real events
This is a really good essay. Even beyond the climate change metaphor, your technical insight on how the character dynamics work in Succession really enriched my understanding of the show. Nice work!
The essay sucks.
His argument about Logan's wealth not meaning anything when he's sick is BS since he can afford the best medical care.
Which is ironic cause fossil fuels are the reason we have so much medicine, clean water, heat, and food.
If you turned off the power tomorrow, these climate change morons would change their tune really quickly once they see how much they took for granted.
Just telling them that they'll only be able to charge their phone every other day would immediately end the discussion.
I'm just glad Sarah Snooke is getting some recognition and good material to work with.
Her character us a sadist's dreams come true
Shiv got Tom strung off the Snu Snu
“If it is to be said- so be it. So it is.” - Greg (the sturdy birdie).
The elevator pitch of this show that got me to watch it (and I got my dad to watch it with this pitch) is that the show centers on a family that is heavily inspired by, if not a fictional proxy for, the Murdoch family. It’s a dramatic and comedic psychological study of a fictionalized Murdoch family.
Murdoch trump family hybrid
Following along as their storylines mirror current events exposing the wealthy n powerful chaos agents
I hadn't thought about the gross bodily horrors in the show before. Really interesting observations :) Gonna go read that piece you mentioned
This video is SO good. It made my brain do that sparkling thing when an idea somehow suddenly improbably makes ALL the sense
Roy's abrupt dead and The "Living+" thing becoming a main focus in the final season definitely brings to the forefront a lot of the talking points from this video...
The season 4 concludes with Logan naming Vin diesel as his successor. He loves the family as much as Logan.
"Logan Roy's body is a liability" LOL
1:51 on my way to Gary's house to steal everything he owns to make him happy and protect his kids 😂
Good idea
I wasn't aware of this show, this was really interesting. It relates to a theme touched on in Squid Game that I haven't really heard anyone talk about, namely that the capitalist system doesn't produce happiness or fulfilment for ANYONE, even for its ostensible winners.
You can buy the $2,500 gold leaf pizza or your favorite shops pepperoni. Ones never going to live up to its promise
Oh please DO NOT compare this gem to Squid Games
@@justatroll4282 Ok
what do you mean you havent really heard anybody talk about it? thats literally the main theme of both shows lmfao
Squid game is better ! 🐙
I always saw Ewan's assessment of Logan as a parody. That self righteous aspect of "I'm against capitalism and I hate that they are ruining the environment, but I still profit from it". When Ewan says that Logan's worse than Hitler, the show doesn't mean it. I means that Ewan simply wants to feel as if he's making a grand stand against evil while simply saying forgettable words.
Words, fucking words.
I still don't know what to make of Ewan. On the one hand, I thought that maybe he should have deposed Logan, and that it was self-indulgent hypocrisy to not do that.
On the other hand, if Ewan's goal is to see Royco damaged as much as possible, maybe allowing Kendall to take over instead from Logan wouldn't have seemed like a good idea. Maybe he thought Kendall would have been a good enough leader to keep the company afloat and that Logan would crash it or die off soon enough.
If that's the case, it's not a particularly good assessment of the facts, given the merger that Royco is about to get.
I somewhat agree that he's extremely self righteous but the profit he makes from it is used to donate to greenpeace , he's not just using it for homes and clothes. it's better to use the profit that way instead of not profiting at all and allowing another shareholder to get that money. therefore , it's not just words ,
although , if he really did care he would have donated the 150mil MUCH earlier rather than just when he's reaching death, seems like he still was proud of the amount of money he could say he had by old age
He is definitely performatic.
I just love how everyone seems to be corruptable no matter how well intentioned they come into things.
I appreciate this as an outline of the show on behalf of people who can’t afford HBO. Honestly the only exposure I’ve had to it has been inscrutable smug references by twitterers who can. Thanks for both letting everyone else in on what goes on in Succession and why it might be worthwhile.
this video inspired me to go and grab my long dead plasma donation card and scam a free month off it lol. this works with visa gift cards and such too if you can find like a 5$ one you can get lots of free trials off shit. at least that's how it was 7ish years ago when I had somehow less money than I do now
Dude, just pirate stuff
Aye just pirate it
It's not true that the show doesn't have anyone to root for. What the show does brilliantly is that it keeps shifting the likability around. Doesn't everyone has a soft spot for Tom this season? Wasn't everyone rooting for Kendall the previous season when is beyond broken, and this season everyone sees him as an asshole completely inappropriate, cringey, and out of touch? And isn't he slowly going back to that same Kendall we were rooting for?
All of your insights about this wonderful television show are GOLD!!
Thank you for including the clip about not making any tomlettes without breaking some greggs. Best line in the series.
It's funny cos I suggested this show to my 15 year old niece, and about 20 minutes into the pilot she turned to me and said, "so this show is basically a dramatic Arrested Development?"
Three days ago I watched this video and it convinced me to watch I'm already completely caught up and can't wait for what's next!
Oh you clearly made this in the last few days with those clips from season 3. Great stuff.
Thank you! I now know that I don't need to watch the show. It looks great, but there's so much content out there and I have to see some of this IRL. Great video!
This is such a great show. Are there any books dealing with the same issues mentioned in the video?
I'm obsessed with this show and love analysis of the themes. Awesome video!
This show is second to none in my view. Excellent work with this video essay and your interpretation!
glad to know i wasnt the only one who noticed such a strong Arrested Development parallel
What a great skip intro guy! Really enjoyed it
This was a phenomenal video essay. Thank you!
When you appeared at the end I thought "Holy fuck he's gorgeous" then when you said "I usually appear in the videos" I got very happy. Good quality essays PLUS your breathtaking face? instant sub
Oh hell yeah Jackson. Keep it coming
Linking this great show to the decline of the American Empire and climate change was nothing short of brilliant. Great observations, notably how the only thing the Roys can't control is nature.
The problem with this narrative is that the American Empire is not in decline, at least in terms of power, and is certainly not going to end anytime soon. it's really just getting into its corrupt middle age.
This vid earned you a subscriber. Good shit- you know how to lay out a well paced and knowledgeable video essay
I lmaod with the arrested development bit. You’re 100% spot on
If you want to make a Tomlellete you have to crack a couple of Greggshells.
Amazing breakdown. Liked your take on this
And last week's episode perfectly encapsulates this idea too!
The existential threat (referred to as climate change) is apparent in Game of Thrones (night king), Sopranos (the FBI) (plus other A+ shows I can’t name off the top of my head). They show how those in power and power adjacent places feel 1. the biggest threat to them is losing their seat on the throne than the existential threat and 2. the hardest challenge in an interregnum is just uniting people and getting them to be facing the right way in battle.
Oh man videos that cater to my specific interests….. I keep describing Succession as “if King Lear was a comedy”
Man do I have a video for you! “Why everyone says Succession is Shakespearean” th-cam.com/video/PhGjvlufT1Y/w-d-xo.html
What you mentioned about how money loses its value and everything is reduced to a game of power reminded me to a moment were Greg comments on how his grandfather has disinhereted him and when he mentions the sum of money he "lost" Tom and i think Roman tell him how it's not really that bad, as if he became a billionaire but with a smaller pile of money than that of his piers he would just me the "shortest giant".
Looks really good. I will definitely watch this
I wonder if cousin Greg was being super smart during his testimony and deliberately drawing it out and wasting seconds by feigning nervousness.
This was such an incredible analysis
another great show that parallells our relationship to capitalism to a parental relationship, but one in much smaller scale and thus easier to compare, is Sharp Objects
In season 1, Connor jokes about water becoming a luxury
you had me cracking up with this
Excellent video! Subscribed :)
isn't it just about the murdochs? if you watch the HBO doc, it's pretty close to the real story of that family.
What's the name of the HBO doc, I've seen the BBC one but not HBO's
Hey, do you have a source for the clip that starts at 12:48 ? I’m really curious what this is from and who is being talked about.
I haven’t seen the show, but I still found your analysis interesting. Though not sure I could stomach this kind of show at the moment.
It makes me want to find a show or movie where people overcome a big challenge / climate change without destroying their relationships or others. I can’t think of one, though. Except maybe Pacific Rim.
The clip is from Succession, I can't remember which episode. That's Ewan, Logan Roy's brother, talking about Logan himself
@@Lis-oh1sq Thanks! I honestly thought it might be a clip on a Reagan documentary or something 😅
Maid is EXCELLENT. It's so many things but it's a very sharp critique of how our society treats people, especially primary caregivers, who are trying to survive. How we have built an impossible system for people to actually use public assistance programs.
this video was great, your analysis was excellent. Also you should watch maid, it’s a great series
Great insights. Thank you.
Connor is Gob, Roman is Buster. Everyone else is spot on
great video as usual
woa…lain…….
The best way I have to explain the show is “The Thick of It” meets King Lear meets the Murdochs.
Lol. Just made another comment where I brought up "The Thick of It", and yeah, its the closest thing I can think of to Succession. Notice how Succession use the same camera moves as TToI to create the same vibe.
@@hfztt succession is created by a head writer on the thick of it
I'm gonna make an unsolicited recommendation but you should watch Black Sails (if you didn't already). I think you'd like it.
Great video, great show 😁
Well done! Thank you. 👌👍
brilliant essay!
Excellent analysis of this show
Brilliant analysis!
LMFAOOOOOOOO the jokes you included-took me out. excellent work.
My job is being a fly on the wall, so i always thought it was so interesting that we get shots of the working people in this show
The message you're trying to convey is summed up perfectly by the speech in The Green Knight about the colour green:
LADY: But green is the color of earth, of living things, of life.
GAWAIN: And of rot.
LADY: Yes.
Yes
We deck our halls with it and dye our linens.
But should it come creeping up the cobbles, we scrub it out, fast as we can.
When it blooms beneath our skin, we bleed it out.
And when we, together all, find that our reach has exceeded our grasp, we cut it down, we stamp it out, we spread ourselves atop it and smother it beneath our bellies, but it comes back.
It does not dally, nor does it wait to plot or conspire.
Pull it out by the roots one day and then next, there it is, creeping in around the edges.
Whilst we’re off looking for red, in comes green.
Red is the color of lust, but green is what lust leaves behind, in heart, in womb.
Green is what is left when ardor fades, when passion dies, when we die, too.
When you go, your footprints will fill with grass.
Moss shall cover your tombstone, and as the sun rises, green shall spread over all, in all its shades and hues.
This verdigris will overtake your swords and your coins and your battlements and, try as you might, all you hold dear will succumb to it.
Your skin, your bones.
Your virtue.
Me before watching this video:
“Yeah okay, no chance but let’s hear it.”
Me after this video:
“Succession is 100% about climate change.”
this video made me watch the show and I will be forever grateful for it
The latest ep Logan calls himself a climate denier. I am dead.😂
This made me really want to watch Succession
Great commentary
Can you do a follow up on this now that the season has ended? The moment Logan said something like "Guess I'm a climate denier" I thought of this video. You were right on the money
I’d say it relates to “the body politic” making it even more relevant to Shakespeare - especially King Lear
Another video about Succession with very similar talking points, but a wildly different use of it, is this one by Overthinking It! (link below)
th-cam.com/video/PhGjvlufT1Y/w-d-xo.html
In her video, she compares Succession to King Lear and other Shakespearean works, and I find it so fascinating that these two videos have such different arguments, but ultimately circle back to the same core: that Succession is about the decline of capitalism by refusing to demonize or glorify the extremely wealthy that have benefited from the system the most. The biggest parallel between these two shows is the presence of human mortality and the breaking down of language as something that tells the truth, rather than confound it.
this is spot on
I'm rooting for Greg, the only nice one
@Motor City Nerds does really good recaps and great comparisons to Don Corleone even tho they are very different characters they're good breakdowns
3:11 i was waiting for this
this is good stuff
This is one of those series which may be brilliant but I also have no interest in seeing. I already spend way too much of my time on real rich assholes, I don't need more of that in my life.
You've made the right decision.
Ooh I looove this analysis, Logan Roy's boy is the earth & his wealth is the cancer is the climate change is the climate collapse is the death. *chef's kiss*
this is phenomenal
holy shit I love this so much
AMAZING video
“Humor me” is exactly what I said when I clicked on this video but it’s well done.
So interesting... wonder what living+ is in this context