From a Marxist perspective, what could be more frightening than not even knowing what you do for work, or what injustices are perpetrated on you there? What more villainous than an owning class who can’t be held accountable because they’re never seen or spoken to directly? What more ominous than an organization that refuses you all knowledge of the means and ends of production? Lumon is not just a Marxist nightmare, but a perfect one, one that refuses to be interpreted any other way.
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I’m sure this is an interesting analysis and all but I do find this thing the western left has about trying to analyze all media by how “leftist” it is a bit tiring sometimes. Sometimes a good show is just a good show.
I think it’s fun to do, but ultimately a worthless endeavor. There isn’t a left in English-speaking media. If a story’s writers aren’t explicitly leftist saying their product is explicitly leftist, then it’s more likely some liberals accidentally stumbling their way around. Most media in English, even when it’s “progressive,” is anti-communist. How many shows and movies do the “villain is right but takes things too far and it’s just as bad,” bait-and-switch?
It’s okay to enjoy things (or not enjoy things). Just realize everything is going to have liberal brainworms.
Quite honestly, the main flaw of the severance workplace is that it’s nicer and the work is more fulfilling than the 2 places I’ve hade to work >80 hour weeks in.
2 places I’ve hade to work >80 hour weeks in.
Holy moly, I’m sorry to hear that!
One other thing I wanted to mention about this show (I wish I had thought to make this comment as soon as I posted the link): I occasionally visit the Severance subreddit, and I thought it was remarkable how some of the show’s storylines have set off deep emotional reactions in some people by reminding them of of their own work experiences. In particular, there was one thread about how some women have reacted to Cobel’s story and how it reflects their own experiences as women in the corporate world (credit being stolen from them, glass ceiling, etc) and another thread was about black people reacting Milchick and Natalie and how it reflected their own experiences (being talked down to, bullied, having to put on a happy face, etc). People have had some strong reactions, I would even say they were triggered. I think it’s a credit to the writing that it touched on these real-world work issues.
I really don’t think Severance is in any way about labor, the people behind it are just too Hollywood to have any interest in that. It’s a mystery box show, the severance procedure is a plot device and the office setting is just the only setting they could think within.
to be fair, the creator/writer has said that he formulated the plot while he was working in an office - they might not have set out to strictly write a show purely critiquing labour from a marxist perspective, but at the same time it does seem like a natural conclusion that the show arrives at based on how the show tries to tie so many threads back to the alienation at the base of the concept
Season 1 I agree that those themes and grievances largely bore out, but season 2 was straight up mystery box with a damsel in distress. I’ve essentially lost interest in the show as holding any critique on [stand in monopoly corporation]. It’s on the same trajectory as black mirror and all pseudo dark scifi on streaming platform that came before it.
After reading this thought piece, I can see where Severance has some horror elements in it. But the most horrific element of Severance is that it’s marketed as a comedy.
A few of the people behind it have worked in comedy, most notably, Ben Stiller, who has producing and directing credits on Severance, and Adam Scott, the show’s lead, known from Parks & Recreation, and Step Brothers.
Even though as someone here pointed out, that this is ultimately a mystery box show, the weirdness is what we’re supposed to be making fun of (although in S2, the weirdness stops being fun and becomes scary). Also, it’s a comedy because most people don’t know what satire is. But really, this leads me to think of how comedy is used as a coping mechanism for dealing with the horrors of life, the pain, and esp. the fear and isolation the think piece talks about.
