Core Post: Week 6

     While reading Henry Jenkins’ article, “Star Trek Rerun, Reread, Rewritten: Fan Writing as Textual Poaching,” I became immediately interested in considering the ways in which fanfiction has altered mainstream media. As forward thinking as this 1988 article is, I am not sure that Jenkins at the time could have predicted a piece of fan fiction a là 50 Shades of Gray becoming such an international, mainstream success. However, reading Jenkins’ descriptions of the core tenants of fanfiction at the time- “the format of a continuous serial” (481), their tendency to be “relationship-driven stories” (482)- I couldn’t help but ponder how certain shows which, perhaps in another time might have been more focused on the larger socio-political driving plots, have centered themselves more closely around the intrarelationships between the characters. One of these shows, I will argue, is Succession.

     What makes a show like Succession so interesting, as we have discussed in class, are the ways in which these characters selfishly interact, betraying each other at the drop of a hat if they perceive it to be in their own benefit. As Professor Seiter mentions in her own chapter, “Qualitative Audience Research,” a definite part of Succession’s draw is, according to Lipsitz, that it focuses not on “working-class characters and, instead . . . with upper-middle-class professionals” (467). In the case of this show, most of the characters occupy a much higher status than merely “upper-middle-class,” but the result remains the same- their professional and personal problems are vastly different than a most of the American population’s.

     However, this show- as large as the bigger questions regarding the global media and hospitality empire Waystar Royco are- has a hyper-focused and keen eye toward the minute. And it is this focus that colors every other part of the show. Jenkins relates that fanfiction, in particular women fanfiction writers, would make their work “less . . . about the Enterprise’s struggles against the Klingon-Romulan Alliance and more an examination of a character’s efforts to come to grips with conflicting emotional needs and professional responsibilities” (482). In this same vein, Succession is less a show about the professional workings of a mega conglomerate, but about the dysfunctional family at the top of it, and how their supposedly logical decisions and plans can be undermined and destroyed with the slightest pointed gaze. Logan Roy is more than a boss- he is the emotionless and manipulative patriarch, lifting up and crushing his children with a mere disapproving frown (and, most likely, a very lewd and profane outburst). These board room discussions and shareholder meetings mean much less without an understanding of the most recent argument between Logan and Shiv, or knowing about whatever-it-is that Gerri and Roman do.

     While one could argue that this show has probably been mostly inspired by the soap opera (just as fanfiction was), and not necessarily fanfiction, I would argue that fanfiction- with its unprecedented popularity and increasing use as a source of feedback (as seen in Mark Andrejeciv’s article, “Watching Television Without Pity”)- has definitely contributed to television’s current landscape. Succession- with its serialized format, concentration on characters’ inner emotions, and critique of familial bonds and traditional masculinity- is a biting comedy-drama that perhaps owes much to fanfiction, and the female authors who, with great success, drilled deep into the characters they adored for personal and emotional depth.