From The Good Couple to The White Lotus, Why Do We Love Watching Wealthy Folks Behaving Badly?

We’re telling you now: Netflix‘s The Good Couple is completely addictive viewing.

Starring Nicole Kidman, Unhealthy Sisters star Eve Hewson, Dakota Fanning and The Daring Sort‘s Meghann Fahy, this star-studded collection is tailored from Elin Hilderbrand’s novel, which revolves across the doomed wedding ceremony of newcomer to the rich Winbury household, Amelia Sacks (Hewson). The matriarch of the household Greer (Kidman) appears to disapprove of Amelia, however all is thrown up within the air when a member of the marriage celebration dies the night time earlier than the marriage – everybody, wealthy or poor, turns into a suspect.

However what The Good Couple actually is at its core is six scrumptious episodes of wealthy folks behaving completely atrociously – with genius comedic timing – and us as an viewers delighting in it and concurrently keenly awaiting their downfall.

A number of affairs and abuses of energy are revealed all through, with NDAs shortly served to guard members of the Winbury household. Cash is thrown (or not less than threatened to be thrown) at unethical transgressions as a substitute of precise acceptance of unhealthy behaviour. Two of the Winbury brothers even find yourself wrestling over what’s undoubtedly an unspeakably costly wedding ceremony cake. Financial price means nothing, and the household clearly believes themselves to be above not simply the legislation, however fundamental morals. That is demonstrated time and again when a number of family members come underneath suspicion of homicide.

Liev Schreiber’s character Tag, particularly, clearly appears to imagine that he can outrun any wrongdoing because of his wealth. His oldest son, Thomas, is your traditional misogynistic, aggressive finance bro who acts like a spoiled little one. The ladies are crafted barely otherwise, quieter however no much less lethal of their scoundrel behaviour. Nicole Kidman simmers because the household’s matriarch Greer – when she’s not in PR harm management mode to guard the household’s ailing popularity, she is subtly undermining relative commoner Amelia with the sweetest of smiles. Dakota Fanning’s Abby – Thomas’ pregnant spouse – and her easy supply of slut shaming, salacious in-family sh*t stirring and all-around snobbery is pure genius. We will not stand her, however we might most likely nonetheless need her to love us if we met her.

The brand new Netflix TV collection, identical to Succession, The White Lotus – even reveals like The Undoing and Huge Little Lies, each additionally starring Nicole Kidman, in addition to Determined Housewives and Gossip Woman for these with an early Noughties fixation – revolves round critically unlikeable wealthy folks doing horrible issues, being horrible folks, and getting away with it. For a sure stretch of time, anyway. Emerald Fennell’s divisive Saltburn additionally scratched this itch, significantly with Rosamund Pike’s Girl Elspeth Catton delighting and repulsing audiences in equal measure along with her common aversion to “ugliness” and her sweetly-delivered offensive feedback, together with calling a pal’s suicide “consideration looking for”.

“When folks have wealth and privilege, it could possibly generally be more durable to adapt behaviour to social requirements, as a result of there may be little price for not doing so,” mindset psychologist Dr Rebekah Wanic explains.