Kendall Roy is hot

Unlikeable characters, Yellowface and The Guest

I’m back in London (for those following on from home). I hope you all enjoyed Marijke’s guest post. I did.

This week I have been meditating on the idea of unlikeable characters.

I have thought about it in the context of the two books I’ve just read, and thoroughly enjoyed: Yellowface by R.F.Kuang and The Guest by Emma Cline.

In Yellowface June Hayward decides to steal her friend’s (Athena Liu, a novelist’s) finished manuscript and becomes a bestselling author herself in the wake of her Athena’s unexpected death. What eventuates is a performance of sorts from June as she tries to convince the public, and inevitably herself, that the work is her own. Yellowface had me marvelling at its clever way of exploring self delusion. The kind of delusion that comes when we absorb ideas from social media, friends, podcasts and with time these ideas become something of our own. Personality traits, self identifying manifestos we share with others that become part of our ‘brand’. June Hayward is slightly insufferable and entitled and yet? I want her to get away with it.

In The Guest, a young woman ‘Alex’, is a grifter who has convinced herself that once she wins the heart of a wealthy man 20 years her senior, a man who she doesn’t really have feelings for, that the rest of her life will come together. Alex is a former NYC escort running from a drug dealer ex who she has stolen money from. When the man in question asks her to give her space for a week she lingers around a holiday town where the man spends the Summer, so Alex couch hopping with randoms. In each encounter she has Alex engages in a different type of performance to convince the people around her that she ‘belongs’. I found this fascinating and so true of how we all operate, although not to these extremes.

So much of us have an element of performance in our everyday lives, the different selves we pull out from the shelf when needed. If you run a small business now it is necessary for a brand to have a face. And for that face to encompass an ethos of sorts. On top of all the other facets of managing a business this might just be the most difficult.

When I think of unlikeable/ likeable characters I often think about Kendall Roy in Succession. Not only because he looks identical to my husband and I’m totally attracted to him, but my heart breaks for Kendall. A character who is deeply flawed and unlikeable, his ‘performative masculinity’ so unbearably cringe worthy. And YET we still root for him.

But why ? The guy is an asshole.

It’s the hat for me

Well, I think it is because most of us (those who watch the show) are aspirational , like Kendall. We sympathise with his bravado, his awful banter, his erratic behaviour because we know the feeling of having performed and being taunted OR having performed and having won at the end of it. We’re all guilty of being a chameleon sometimes for the sake of our ego.

Kendall is a jerk. A hot jerk.

I am very sad succession has ended. I am not sure which TV character I will lust after next. Only time will tell.

Which unlikeable characters are you fond of?

Happy Reading !

Jessie

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