Girlbosses, Malewives and the Tom Wambsgans Problem
“Succession” and “The Great” both tell stories about men eclipsed by more powerful wives. Only one show thinks that’s a bad thing.
At least once per week, I feel an overwhelming sense of personal and spiritual unity with Tom Wambsgans, a fictional character on the TV show Succession. I’m starting to wonder if this is good for me, or for men in general.
The viewer is not meant to identify with any of the characters on Succession, a show about the corrupt family vying to take control of a right-wing media company. Everyone on the show is a terrible person. Still, each Roy sibling is a specific brand of awful: Kendall, the middle son, is a doofy corporate bro who appropriates AAVE to talk about mergers. Roman, the youngest, is an “ironic” alt-right troll in the Milo Yiannopolous mole. (“Fascism is cool, but, like, not really, right?” he asks one aspiring politician; the politician professes his admiration for Hitler, and Roman decides to make him the next President of the United States.) Siobhan, the only daughter, inhabits the 21st-century archetype of the Girlboss; she’s an Ivanka-Trump-esque handmaiden to her evil father who can weaponize feminist sentiment toward her own ends.
