The Red Light Rules: Succession
We have finally reached our first 4 out of 4 rating for a television series! Succession centers on the Roy family, the owners of global media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo, and their fight for control of the company amidst uncertainty about the health of the family's patriarch. Notably, Connor, the eldest and perhaps the most eccentric of the Roy children has a sugaring relationship with a woman much younger than him named Willa. Throughout the entirety of Season 1 every time Willa enters the scene someone in the family is making a comment about what she is doing there. She is called a variety of things from every member of the family: Call Girl, Hooker, Prostitute, etc– none of which she denies but she clearly feels uncomfortable by them pointing out that the relationship she has with Connor is about money.
While Connor is in love with Willa, he is not ignorant to the fact that their relationship is heavily based on financial support coming from him. Willa is a playwright and creative and identifies as such; she never outwardly admits to her relationship dynamic (because why should she!) but when confronted about her relationship with Connor by Tom (Shiv's Husband) she states iconically, "At least I'm only getting fucked by one member of this family."
Willa and Connor's relationship ebbs and flows throughout the series because Connor really is A LOT but Willa stays focused on her own goals and desires and simply lets Connor fit into that in ways she feels comfortable with. In the end, Willa secures the bag in perpetuity by marrying Connor and into the empire of the Roy family. Even though Willa's experience in the family is primarily uncomfortable/awkward she is still there and allowed into the inner sanctum (most of the time). I highly recommend Succession and watching it through this lens of focusing on Willa and her journey with the family. I'm interested to know (if you've seen the show): What would you do? Would you marry into the nest of vipers or say fuck this family?
– Mel
Succession scored 4/4 on The Red Light Rules™ test that assesses portrayals of sex work in film. We created 4 questions to determine this:
