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This is why Tom is such an interesting character. He embodies the outsider, the social climber who has not lived amongst the rich and powerful all his life, and knows he has to dig his spot to stay there. It gives him real purpose. Greg is an interesting character as well, because he is in the early stages of adaptation and shows cunningness even if he is more often than not an awkward presence. He also has at least some level of ambition - or survival instinct. The three main character who were not born into wealth and power are the most interesting ones - Logan, Tom and Greg.

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It's funny you bring up Succession because I would be curious to hear what the actors thought their *characters'* goals were for each scene, or for the season, or even for the whole series. They probably had to identify those subconscious wants (like, "get my Dad to love me") and play them consciously. The behavior reads on screen.

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It's pretty obvious what's going on with the Roy children – their goal is the love and approval of their father, which they don't know how to get and was always unobtainable. The best they can do is try to be a ruthless asshole like him now and then, but they don't have the ability to really pull it off, and it doesn't actually address the goal (as you noted) so they can't stick to it.

What makes the show work is that this is very relatable, many ordinary people have the exact same problem without the money and helicopters. Goals like "I want my father to love me" are unconscious for good reasons, you actually can't just make that a conscious goal and go after it, that doesn't work (even if you could make it happen, the real goal would remain unsatisfied).

The ego's job is to try to make plausible, respectable, daytime goals that serve the unconscious goals without acknowledging them. This is an inherently difficult and absurd task, what makes Succession funny is that this very ordinary absurdity is amplified to ridiculous proportions and made public.

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May 11, 2023·edited May 11, 2023

great post! your discussion reminds me of the gods in the book Circe. In a sense they have no goals, either. maybe being immortal (or financially immortal) makes it really hard to have agency.

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It sounds like this is connected to having things outside your self that are real and meaningful - that you have faith in

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Lovely read. Same here, Sis! 😍❤️

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