The Evolutions of Serialised Television in House of Cards
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Ghent University Faculty of Arts and Philosophy The Evolutions of Serialised Television in House of Cards An Increase in Complexity and the Arrival of the Antiheroine Supervisor: Paper submitted in partial fulfilment of the Prof. Dr. Gert Buelens requirements for the degree of "Master in de Vergelijkende Moderne Letterkunde" by Laura Van den Bossche May 2016 1 Contents Acknowledgements 3 1 Introduction 4 1.1 Methodology and Results . .5 1.2 The Evolution of Serialised Television . .8 2 Narrative Techniques 12 2.1 Beginnings . 12 2.2 Diverging Narrative Arcs . 15 2.2.1 UK Version: The Start of Serialisation . 16 2.2.2 Netflix: A Hyper-serialised Story . 18 2.2.2.1 Character Serialisation and Episodic Focuses . 19 2.2.2.2 Long Story Arcs and Character Appearance . 22 2.2.2.3 Serialisation Through Dialogue . 23 2.2.2.4 Serialisation Through Symbolism . 25 2.3 The Functions of Melodrama . 28 2.4 Accessibility Through Recapitulation . 34 2.4.1 Previously Segment . 34 2.4.2 Flashbacks . 35 2.4.3 Diegetic Retelling . 41 2.4.4 Breaking the Fourth Wall . 43 3 Character Dynamics 47 2 3.1 Mrs Urquhart and Mrs Underwood in House of Cards ................ 47 3.1.1 Elizabeth Urquhart . 48 3.1.2 Claire Underwood . 53 3.1.2.1 The Anti-heroine: Relatable and Detestable . 56 3.1.2.2 A Feminist Representation . 64 4 The Increase in Complexity and the Rise of the Antihero(ine) 67 Works Cited 72 3 Acknowledgements Throughout my life I have been influenced by a number of great storytellers. The last four years I was able to learn about stories in an academic context. For that chance I will be forever grateful. So first of all, I want to thank my parents for the support I received during my time at the University of Ghent, the preceding years and the years that are yet to come. Next I want to thank my promoter, Prof. Dr. Gert Buelens for offering me the chance to research the exciting medium of the serial and to provide me with the necessary feedback. Literature and movies have always been a topic of conversation among my friends and me, but a couple of years ago the conversation changed. My friends and I were not talking about the movies we watched last night, but which shows we binged on and how much sleep we lost over them. House of Cards was one of those programmes that intrigued me. Researching in which ways the narrative operates was equally intriguing. I also want to thank my grandparents for the encouraging hugs, proud telephone calls and multiple cakes that kept me company while studying and writing. Thank you, Julie De Muynck, Lore Piers, Louise Smet en Margot Vervliet for being a part of my support system during my time at university and for the encouraging reflection sessions. Last I want to thank Roberto Medico for reading my thesis, but most of all for his patience and loving words. 4 1 Introduction Today, our age-old need for stories is met through multiple media. Classic art forms such as literature and theatre continue to serve that need, but in the last decades televised narratives have become increasingly important. Indeed, the primary story source of Western society seems to be shifting towards the small screen. According to multiple cultural and television researchers such as Jason Mittell and Brett Martin, the television landscape changed tremendously since the late 1990s. These changes ensured that today’s television can be regarded as an art form, deserving attention from academia and critics. A contemporary television programme that could count on much attention from television critics was House of Cards, a political drama. Most people today know House of Cards as an original Netflix production, but in 1990 the BBC also broadcasted a television programme entitled House of Cards. The programme ran until 1996, but changed names three times since every new season came with a new title. Accordingly, there are three titles that can refer to the House of Cards production from the BBC: House of Cards, To Play the King and The Final Cut. The Netflix version is an adaptation of the BBC production and both are based upon Michael Dobbs’ novels that form a trilogy. House of Cards was chosen as the topic for this thesis for multiple reasons. One being that both productions were critically acclaimed and recognised by prize committees such as The Emmys, The Baftas and The Golden Globes. Therefore, House of Cards can be considered an archetype for qualitative and contemporary television. Many awards were handed out for performances of lead and guest actors, but the writing, casting and cinematography has also yielded nominations and awards. Other reasons for selecting House of Cards revolve around the differences between the two productions. Those differences promise to clarify certain evolutions of the TV making 5 industry. The setting of the Netflix production and the BBC production diverges due to the geographical difference and the difference in time. Netflix is an American company that primarily targets American viewers. Hence, Netflix chose Washington D.C. as the most important location. The BBC production is British and follows the setting of Michael Dobbs, namely London. Furthermore, there is a time gap of twenty-three years between the two productions. During this period the television world developed in many ways. The House of Cards’ productions should be exemplary of at least some of the changes that occurred in the last quarter decade. Because of the time gap House of Cards grants academia a unique insight into how TV storytelling changed since 1990. Besides time and geography, length is another important difference between the productions. A BBC season consists of four episodes as opposed to the thirteen-episode seasons Netflix produces. Moreover, Netflix already has four seasons and a fifth one on the way, while the BBC only had three seasons. To illustrate, the BBC told the entire story in the same amount of time as one Netflix season, that time being approximately 660 minutes. Consequently, Netflix has room to explore the narrative in ways the BBC could not. In this thesis it will become clear how the differences in time and size affect both form and content. More precisely, this thesis will explore how the US and UK version of House of Cards compare to each other on the level of form and content, and if the differences between the productions represent larger evolutions of serial televised narration. 1.1 Methodology and Results The thesis consists of two main chapters that are split up according to the division: form and content. The first chapter discusses narrative techniques and the second discusses character 6 dynamics. In that way, it is possible to systematically explore how the adaptations of House of Cards function differently and how these differences relate to the previously mentioned dissimilarities determined by geography, time and length. When analysing formal components such as narrative arcs and recapitulation techniques, ‘close viewing’ of all episodes and note taking were necessary steps. In that way an in-depth comparison between the productions could be made and interesting (dis)similarities could be noted. The same is true for Chapter 3 (Character Dynamics). The second step involved the creation of a theoretical framework. The works of multiple scholars such as Newman, Mittell, Martin and Armbrust were used as a basis for the analyses that are discussed below. Newman and Mittell were important finds, since there are not many academic works regarding the poetics of contemporary television storytelling. Especially, Mittell’s book Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling considers many of the topics that directly relate to the questions of this thesis. Many references are made to Jason Mittell because of two reasons. First, the book was published in 2015, making it hard to find an academic work that considered more recent changes in TV making than Mittell’s. Second, there is the exhaustive character of the book. Complex TV is one of the few scholarly works that offers formal analyses and theory on almost every aspect of contemporary television. Technical jargon and various concepts were borrowed from Newman, Mittell, and Armbrust, especially in relation to Chapter 2. It analyses the use of pilots, story arcs, the functions of melodramatic plots and recapitulation techniques in order to illustrate how narrative techniques work and how they have evolved in regard to House of Cards. A discussion of the pilot of both versions acts as an introduction to the story world of House of Cards, its themes and operational techniques. In Chapter 2, it becomes clear that Netflix recounts the narrative in a more complex 7 manner than the BBC since it entangles more narrative levels and narrative plots. As a result, the operational techniques of the US version are also more advanced. Brett Martin was especially important in relation to Chapter 3 that primarily revolves around the female protagonist of House of Cards: Elizabeth Urquhart in the BBC serial and Claire Underwood in the Netflix production. In his book Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad, Brett recounts the rise of the televised antihero. According to Brett "difficult men", meaning the antiheroes, are representative for a new golden age of TV that started in the late 1990s. The book was published in 2013 and only mentions American primetime serials. Therefore, it does not mention House of Cards since the first version is British and the second one was not yet available during the writing process.