Mark S. and Marx: Alienation in the TV Series Severance

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With over 500 million streaming minutes across its two seasons, the TV show Severance is all the recent hype. From the show’s dizzying cinematography to its riveting love triangle, it is undeniably entertaining. However, Severance is a lot more than just a nail-biting thriller. With its monotonous office setting and the characters’ hardships in the workplace, much of the show can be examined through the lens of Marx’s theory of alienation, making his theory more accessible and palatable for viewers.

The concept behind Severance is quite unique. Essentially, individuals in the Severance universe can undergo a legalized medical procedure called “severance” that separates their work lives from their home lives, resulting in two counterparts of a severed individual: “innies” who work all day and have no memory of the outside world and “outies” who are composed of only non-work memories. The effect of the procedure is so pronounced it practically creates two people with entirely different consciousnesses. The show follows four main characters—Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving—who work for “Lumon,” a shady corporation that refuses to disclose the purpose of their work to the characters. Throughout the series, our protagonists become increasingly uneasy about their careers and begin to ask questions: What exactly does Lumon do? Why are they so secretive? Why is the workplace so miserable? If Karl Marx were to watch Severance, I am sure he would have some answers to these burning questions. 

The reason I use a Marxist lens to examine Severance is because the Marxist themes may jump out of the screen for those who are familiar with his work, but might require some elaboration for those who are less familiar. Also, by examining Severance through a political theory lens, it unveils a deeper layer of meaning to the show that deserves recognition.  One Marxist theory that is prevalent in Severance is alienation. According to Marx, in a capitalist society, workers become estranged from four things: their labor product, labor process, “species being” (or human self), and other workers. In Severance, the estrangement between Lumon’s employees and their labor process is particularly striking. For example, Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving’s innies belong to a department called “macro-data refinement.” Their sole task is to sort numbers into six different categories. However, they don’t know what the numbers stand for or what it is they are accomplishing. All they know is they have to sit in front of their computers in a monochromatic office and sort numbers until they’re allowed to leave. Marx argues that this type of labor is external to the worker and therefore alienated from them. He claims that, “in his work, [the worker] does not affirm himself but denies himself, does not feel content but unhappy, does not develop freely his physical and mental energy but mortifies his body and ruins his mind.” Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving are incredibly affected by these forces of alienation. For example, Helly’s innie is so discontented with her work life that she attempts to hang herself in the elevator. Irving consistently hallucinates and enters nightmare-like states during his data sorting. Dylan is so bored with his work he resorts to finger trap toys to keep him busy. All four innies are insatiably curious about their outies, yet their questions are never answered. Overall, the workers are unhappy, bored, and their creativity is stifled because they are estranged from their work.

Perhaps the most blatant form of alienation in the show is the alienation of man from fellow man. According to Marx, the alienation between workers stems from a place of capitalistic competition, which leads “each man [to] view the other in accordance with the standard and the relationship in which he finds himself as a worker.” This concept is most illuminated by Innie Dylan’s hatred towards “Optics and Design” (O&D), a neighboring department on the severed floor. Dylan’s suspicion towards O&D stems from a workplace rumor that O&D once staged a coup and murdered multiple macro-data refinement members. Dylan wholeheartedly believes this story despite its complete lack of proof. He calls O&D "duplicitous snakes" and even goes as far as to trap the O&D department head, Burt, in a conference room. Dylan’s estrangement from the other department employees is fueled by his role as a laborer. Because Innie Dylan’s life is composed of work and work only, he views himself first and foremost as a worker and therefore compares himself to other people within this context. He fails to see the O&D members as individuals and instead views them as a monolith. Similarly, he views himself as a representative of macro-data refinement rather than a complex individual. This creates a sort of in-group/out-group competition that defines both Dylan and the O&D members as mere extensions of Lumon, thereby alienating Dylan from other individuals on Lumon’s severed floor.

Lastly, Severance’s sci-fi aspect of severed consciousness allows us to view alienation between man and his species being in a unique way. According to Marx, the species being is essentially what makes humans human. Marx argues that people’s ability to produce labor products (what he calls "life activity") beyond the need for immediate survival is what distinguishes humans from animals. So, by claiming ownership of individuals’ labor, the bourgeoisie, also known as the ruling class, alienates the individual from what makes them human. This is especially true for the characters in Severance, as they are entirely disconnected from their work innies. While some of the outie characters exercise their ability to produce—such as Irving, who is a painter—they are mostly estranged from their species being, since they are kept in the dark when it comes to what their innies do for work. Lumon acts as the force of estrangement since they profit off of the workers’ labor, and Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving are left to experience the alienating consequences of this.

Overall, it is clear that Severance incorporates lots of Marxist themes—but what does this mean for its viewers? For one, the series can serve as a sort of wake-up call for viewers who are unhappy with their careers. Though fictional, the experiences of the characters in Severance are not that different from those of the everyday 9-5 worker: wake up, go to work, sit in front of a computer all day, then go home with half of the day gone. Of course, not all employees are as dissatisfied with their work lives as the Severance characters are, and it is unlikely that the show will start a worldwide Marxist revolution. However, the series does shed light on some of the oppressive aspects of capitalism, such as alienation, and can inspire workers to gain class consciousness. Marx describes class consciousness as workers’ collective understanding of shared interests and experiences. Within capitalist societies that place a lot of emphasis on individuality, it is easy to get sucked into a competitive “fend for yourself” attitude in the workplace. For workers who feel like this, I recommend they watch Severance through a more Marxist lens and question if they have fallen victim to oppressive working conditions. Severance provides a great example of workers who realize their class consciousness and advocate for themselves in the workplace, and I urge viewers to follow this example if they feel “severed” by their own labor experiences.

Additionally, the show makes Marxism more accessible to viewers without explicitly identifying itself as a Marxist series. Marx’s works, such as Capital and the Communist Manifesto, are notoriously dense, complex, and therefore subject to misinterpretation. With its relatively dated diction and incredibly nuanced arguments, Marxist works can be daunting and require a lot of dedication to fully grasp. However, Severance weaves in the theory of alienation and makes it a bit easier to engage with because of its entertaining plot-driven nature. Furthermore, Severance can teach viewers Marxist ideas without explicitly connecting the show to Marxism. Marx and his theory of alienation are never directly mentioned in the show, but they are ubiquitously present throughout its plot. This implicit hint to alienation is significant because people often synonymize Marxism with communism, and communism often gets a bad reputation in capitalist societies, especially in America—whose history is filled with anti-communist movements such as McCarthyism and the Vietnam War. For viewers who may be skeptical of Marx because of their preconceived notions of communism, I recommend they watch Severance with an open mind, as it is a perfect way to introduce them to valuable political theories.

Overall, Severance is a huge hit. It has everything you could want in a television show: plot twists, cliffhangers, dynamic characters, action, romance, and more. However, the series is more than just a mindless way to wind down after a long day at work; it makes you think about your long day at work. Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving’s experiences working with Lumon echo Marx’s theory of alienation. The show is incredibly captivating, making Marx’s theory more accessible to viewers without being overtly political. This implicit Marxist representation in media is important because it teaches people valuable lessons they otherwise may not have been exposed to. So, the next time you tune into a new Severance episode on a Thursday night, I urge you to ask yourself if you feel severed in a capitalist society. If the answer is yes, then you might have a lot to learn from Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving.