Unraveling the Ludicrously Capacious Networks of the Power Elite

The poster for Season 2 of "Succession" depicts the Roy family, who own and operate a global media and entertainment conglomerate, gathered around a dinner table. The head of the family, Logan, is standing at the head of the table over everyone else. The children below him stand to inherit his company, and the show focuses on their struggle to gain power (along with working out their daddy issues, but that’s a whole different post). By using Mills’ three major keys to analyze the power elite, we can unpack this image as a representation of the modern-day power elite. The first key is looking at psychology. In the case of the Roy family at the dinner table, the fact that they have all chosen to take a seat at the table and continue to vie for power shows the extent to which their fight for power first comes down to their individual desires for it. Despite the toxic nature of the industry, every character keeps coming back in an attempt to gain power. The next key is to look at structures. We can see how the structure of the family plays a role in keeping the Roys in power, but we can also look to the symbols of wealth around them. The marble table and art behind them (which fittingly depicts a scene from Dante’s Inferno the eighth circle of Hell in which Dante and Virgil fight for power) illustrate that they did not simply rise to power from nothing– their money and connections allowed them to do so. Finally, the last key factor is understanding the cooperation of the power elite. The fact that they are all seated at the same table symbolizes the close-knit and insular nature of their family, emphasizing that their power is based on personal connections, relationships, and cooperation, rather than merit, achievement, or any other kind of superiority. In addition, the image of them sitting around the dinner table can also be seen as a reminder of that humanity. Despite their immense wealth and power, the Roy family members sit around the dinner table engaging in ordinary activities just like us. Mills argues that the power elite are not necessarily extraordinary people, but rather individuals who occupy positions of power and influence within a particular social structure. As a whole, the poster is a fitting reflection of Mills' discussion of how power is embedded within social structures and how those in positions of privilege can leverage their connections and relationships to maintain and further expand their power.