It seems to me "Succession" should acknowledge a debt to the Patrick Melrose novels, by Edward St. Aubyn. Maybe this has happened.
Patrick Melrose: A boy born to fabulous wealth is brutalized by his father. His mother does nothing to intervene. Eventually, the mother gets away. The boy grows up to be a drug addict. The mother--when she drifts back into the picture--paints herself as a co-victim, as if there is no difference, in status, between spouse-of-monster and child-of-monster.
"Succession," with reference to Kendall: All of the above is also true.
I'm halfway through the series, at least the episodes that exist right now. My heart is with Kendall, although (spoiler alert) the Chappaquidick event that I just saw makes sympathy challenging.
When I watch Jeremy Strong's performance, I think of a recent piece in the Times about Hoffa. There are two notable Hoffa impersonations: Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino. Nicholson made many cosmetic changes, but, according to the Times, he didn't find Hoffa's soul; he made Hoffa into a cartoon character.
Pacino, by contrast, looks nothing like Hoffa--but still makes you believe you are seeing Hoffa. That's because Pacino did deep character work; he found Hoffa within himself; he came to understand how his script captured universal truths about humanity; he lays out, for us, each and every truth. (Pacino now has his first new Oscar nomination in twenty-seven--twenty-seven!--years.)
Jeremy Strong--in "Succession"--seems like Pacino at his best; Strong will not allow you to believe you're watching a caricature. Some kind of strange melding has occurred--a melding of actor and script. It was especially fun, and creepy, to see Strong's Kendall pretending to be stable after the Chappaquiddick moment. ("Ohhh......I wanna dance with somebody.....")
I look forward to meeting Cherry Jones in Season Two.
Patrick Melrose: A boy born to fabulous wealth is brutalized by his father. His mother does nothing to intervene. Eventually, the mother gets away. The boy grows up to be a drug addict. The mother--when she drifts back into the picture--paints herself as a co-victim, as if there is no difference, in status, between spouse-of-monster and child-of-monster.
"Succession," with reference to Kendall: All of the above is also true.
I'm halfway through the series, at least the episodes that exist right now. My heart is with Kendall, although (spoiler alert) the Chappaquidick event that I just saw makes sympathy challenging.
When I watch Jeremy Strong's performance, I think of a recent piece in the Times about Hoffa. There are two notable Hoffa impersonations: Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino. Nicholson made many cosmetic changes, but, according to the Times, he didn't find Hoffa's soul; he made Hoffa into a cartoon character.
Pacino, by contrast, looks nothing like Hoffa--but still makes you believe you are seeing Hoffa. That's because Pacino did deep character work; he found Hoffa within himself; he came to understand how his script captured universal truths about humanity; he lays out, for us, each and every truth. (Pacino now has his first new Oscar nomination in twenty-seven--twenty-seven!--years.)
Jeremy Strong--in "Succession"--seems like Pacino at his best; Strong will not allow you to believe you're watching a caricature. Some kind of strange melding has occurred--a melding of actor and script. It was especially fun, and creepy, to see Strong's Kendall pretending to be stable after the Chappaquiddick moment. ("Ohhh......I wanna dance with somebody.....")
I look forward to meeting Cherry Jones in Season Two.
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