Have you ever watched a show centered around self-absorbed, self-centered people and found yourself enjoying the terrible things they do? You find yourself wondering ‘why am I watching this?’, ‘why am I obsessed with these characters?’, or ‘am I a bad person because of how much fun I’m having watching these people ruin their own and other people’s lives?’ Well, get in line.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
I am a huge fan of this series and the podcast hosted by Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob McElhenney. But as I continue to watch new episodes of the series on Hulu, I have come to the realization that these people aren’t really but they’re just negligent idiots. Don’t get me wrong they are self-absorbed jerks, but they’re major flaw is that they’re all stupid. But that’s what makes the show amazing!
The show takes place in a Philadelphia bar run by McElhenney and Howerton’s characters (I think they’re the main owners, honestly I don’t really know). Kaitlin Olson and Charlie Day play the bartender and custodial worker, respectively (again, a little fuzzy with the details as Day’s character’s job is defined as ‘Charlie work’ but it generally includes getting rid of dead things in the bar). Danny DeVito plays the gangs ‘father figure’ however I use that term loosely as he’s not someone you’d want to look up to.
The gang (as they are so fondly referred to as) is constantly doing . . . well horrible, terrible, no good very bad things to each other or to people outside of their social circle. But for some reason, I can’t get enough of their antics.
The Boys
Who is more righteous, more noble as a superhero? According to The Boys, anyone is. This Amazon Prime Video series takes place in New York City where super-humans are all around us. The Seven is kind of like the Avengers or the Justice League, if they were rapists and/or psychopaths. But the ‘good guys’ aren’t any better. The Boys are a rag-tag group of a**wholes that are trying to take down the Seven one gory step at a time. Each episode includes blood, guts, extreme violence, and extreme language.
The main characters/leaders of the Seven and the Boys are Homelander and Billy Butcher, respectively. Homelander sexually assaulted Butcher’s wife who later disappeared without a word. Butcher then made it his life’s mission to destroy Homelander and everything that he stands for. However, that doesn’t mean that Butcher is the hero of this story either. He is ruthless and apathetic to his subordinates. He couldn’t care less if they don’t like him because to him they are his weapons.
Succession
Oh, boy. What is there to say about the most powerful, dysfunctional, toxic family in the television universe? First of all, an amazing finale! I, honestly, didn’t want anyone to get the job. But that isn’t the point of this post. These people are AWFUL! They are constantly stabbing each other in the back, ruining each other’s careers, and just being genuinely awful to humanity as a whole.
One of the major episodes from its last season was an episode revolving around the new President of the United States of America. Every member of the cast’s characters were making deals and deciding who was going to win the election. They decided when the polls closed which essentially would announce the winner without even counting the votes. They didn’t care about the repercussions of this new political giant. They didn’t care about what they would do for the country, they cared about what they could do for the company and themselves.
Writing all of this out made me realize that maybe we love these kinds of shows because we kind of wish that we could act like they do. I don’t know if I’m the only one who does this but I find myself swearing when I’m in private (like in my car or when I’m watching television or movies). I think we watch these shows because we want to see what our lives would be like if one day we were to say ‘f*ck this!’
Anyway, I’m a terrible person and I’m done!
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