Just watched the first two episodes of AppleTV+’s new series called ‘Severance’ which is a thriller about a group of workers whose memories and identities inside of work are kept separate and hidden from those outside of work. I was struck by how this seemingly shocking condition mirrors quite closely the plight of the ordinary laborer. Without giving too much away, the characters have experiences necessitated by their employer that, at first glance, seem bizarre and dubious but quickly reveal themselves to be more and more unethical, humiliating, manipulative, dangerous, punitive, and harmful. They also reveal themselves to be more and more familiar, commonplace, ubiquitous, and quotidian. The tension between these two states exposes the mundane banality of the insidious oppression inherent in the modern subjects experience of labor. As the distance between a worker and the fruits of their labor grows, so grows the ability of corporations to dehumanize and exploit their workers.
This show, so far, does a really great job of demonstrating this so I’d recommending giving it a watch. Here’s hoping it gets some attention and sparks some much needed discussion about class consciousness and the need to give greater respect and autonomy to workers.