Essay Sample on The Carringtons & Colbys: A Netflix Dynasty

Dynasty is a TV show from the production company, Netflix. The show is a reboot to an earlier TV series from the 1980s that went by a similar name. The television show follows two of the wealthiest families in America who go by the name the Carringtons and the Colby's, as they try to outdo each other in almost every aspect of their social life. Somehow expectedly, their lives are marred by several dark secrets which they do not want the world to know. In this case study, the focus will be on two last episodes of Season 2, which has 22 episodes. In episode 21 of the show, the battle between the Coblys and Carringtons continues as the Colbys' primary weapon, Jeff Colby, continues to plot on ways of taking down the Carringtons after finding out that Adam, a Carrington, poisoned him. On the side, Fallon, also a Carrington, is forced to cover for her father at the expense of her ambitions (Dynasty TV Series np).

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The structure of the two leading families is somehow similar. For Carrington's, both parents are alive, but the only one participates in active parental duty. Blake Carrington, who is the head of the family, is a wealthy businessperson whose wealth comes from oil. His first wife is Alexis, whom together they had three children; Adam, Steven, and Fallon, respectively, of which all of them are above the age of 18. Interestingly, the Carringtons are related to the Colby's through Dominique, who is the half-sister to Blake Carrington through their father, Tom Carrington. Dominique was married to Cecile Colby, whom together they had two children; Jeff Colby and Monica Colby, respectively. The viewer can sense a bit of racial tension involved as Colby's are an African American family. It is so bad that Tom Carrington tried to keep his relationship to Dominique a secret, not because of her racial background.

Both families featured in the TV show belong to the highest social class. The Carringtons benefited from generational wealth while Colbys got their big breakthrough Jeff Colby who is an IT guru through his music software. It was not until the Colby's were already rich that they found out that they are entitled to some of the Carringtons wealth. Their standard of living is realistic to their level of education and jobs because members of both families have access to fortunes that run into the billions.

In both houses, the male figures are the breadwinners. Blake Carrington is the family patriarch who is in charge of most of the Carrington's wealth. As for the Colbys, Jeff is the family's provider using the wealth he generated through his software. Fallon Carrington is the only woman who seems interested in running the family's affairs. Her mother, Alexis, is missing in action as she eloped while they were still young only to return years later to try and claim some of the family fortunes after the death of Tom Carrington. As for Dominique, she displays the same behaviors as Alexis only that she returns to swindle money from her stepbrother instead of her husband or son. Jeff Colby and Monica Colby grew up poor and had to rely on Blake Colby for their education. As a result, while Steve and Fallon grew up around house servants and personal drivers, Jeff and Monica had to do their chores. The Carrington children generally have a poor relationship with their parents and have to rely on third parties such as friends and lovers for emotional support. The situation is slightly better for the Colby's. Jeff Colby has a perfect relationship with his father and sister, and while Monica does not have the best of relationships with her parents, she can always rely on her brother for emotional support.

Specific gender roles that come out in the show. The fact that both families are wealthy means that the children do not get to handle any of the house chores. However, certain aspects that come out. Such as the male members being the breadwinners (Lindsey and Linda, np). The fact that Blake is always hesitant to hand the role of household alpha to Fallon even though she was the only one interested until Adam came along and now that he did, Fallon is almost completely sidelined. In the case of the Colbys, Dominique is the deadbeat parent, and Monica is living under the shadow of her brother. Furthermore, she does not seem to be bothered by that aspect of their family.

Technically, I got to understand that the social class of the family plays a massive role in the family's relations. Supposedly one or both of the two families were middle class or low-class American families; then, the different roles would have come out. Like most families, there are issues of gender and racial discrimination. However, most of these issues are not pronounced because of the wealth of the two families. Things such as house chores are non-existent, and the wealth can be shared without one party feeling denied.

Works Cited

"Dynasty (TV Series 2017- ) - Imdb". Imdb, 2019, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6128300/.

Lindsey, Linda L. Gender roles: A sociological perspective. Routledge, 2015.