From 'Annihilation' to 'Succession': Two Portraits of Cynicocracy

2023-06-02T10:45:23.666Z

Highlights: In Houellebecq's novel and in the HBO series there is the same disbelief, the idea that in politics nothing matters except self-interest. The plot puts its finger on the sore by pointing out that the partisanship of certain media responds to very specific interests. Succession is not inconceivable, because there has already been an insurrection there. Trumpist and formerly Lepenian ways have been present here for some time. There is room for the Cainite struggle, the demonization of the other, the lie. Not even a legitimate victory validates the irresponsible.

In Houellebecq's novel and in the HBO series there is the same disbelief, the idea that in politics nothing matters except self-interest. That what was inconceivable is no longer inconceivable

In Annihilation, Michel Houellebecq's latest novel, an election night is narrated in France in 2027, very close between the candidate of the outgoing president (dolphin who is not said to be Macron) and that of the extreme right (relay of who is not said to be Le Pen). The author – a reactionary widely read by progressives – says that the victory of the ultranationalists "was inconceivable, but it has been fifty years since it was, and sometimes inconceivable things happen."

One of the last chapters of Succession, the acclaimed HBO series about the family of an unscrupulous tycoon (it is not said that they are the Murdochs), takes place on an election night in the United States followed from an all-news television channel (it is not said to be Fox) with a tight result, incidents in the scrutiny and a candidate feared as extremist (it is not said to be Trump).

The episode is frenetic, although some scene squeaks to anyone who knows a newsroom, however sectarian it may be. The plot puts its finger on the sore by pointing out that the partisanship of certain media responds to very specific interests. And he denounces the risk of destabilization of the system when it is the TV that proclaims a winner or discusses the one who really won. Succession is not inconceivable, because there has already been an insurrection there.

There is as much cynicism in Annihilation as in Succession. The same disbelief, the idea that deep down everything does not matter, because you only have to look at your own interest. A twilight look at democracy. Trumpist and formerly Lepenian ways have been present here for some time. You can talk about pouts, play the xenophobic card, appropriate the nation and the dead. There is room for the Cainite struggle, the demonization of the other, the lie. No, none of that doesn't matter. Not even a legitimate victory validates the irresponsible.

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