On Succession, Flannery O’Connor, and the Thrall of Rotten Characters
I am currently in the thrall of Succession, the HBO series that recently ended (and recently swept Emmy nominations). Yet I wasn’t an instant fan. After watching a few episodes, I gave up, finding the main characters too unbearably, uniformly despicable. “I don’t like a single one of them,” I told my husband. “How can I get into it when I don’t care?” But then I encountered thoughtful commentators who lauded the show. Almost immediately upon giving it a second chance, I was hooked. This turnaround regarding Succession is, I understand, quite common.
Incidentally, I was earlier this year studying the biography of Flannery O’Connor and dipping back into her stories. My reaction to Succession was almost identical to my reaction upon first reading O’Connor. Her characters are defined by their despicableness, their arrogance—specifically a kind of pride interlaced with bigotry and fear… {Read remainder of article on Patheos HERE.}