CULTURE
HBO Max's The Industry: Highlighting the Role of Black Women in Media and Corporate Jobs
By: Mams Jagha Edited by: McKenna McCormick
In recent years, HBO Max's "The Industry" has emerged as an intriguing guide of the high-stakes world of finance. But its true talent precedes in its nuanced portrayal of Black women navigating this world, their contributions to corporate roles, and illustrating diverse narratives. "The Industry" demonstrates the complex obstacles Black women face in not only the media, but also corporate environments and their resilience through it.
"The Industry" follows Harper Stern, played by Myha’la Herrold, and a group of young graduates as they compete for permanent positions at Pierpoint & Co., a prestigious investment bank in London. Stern embodies ambition and talent, but her journey throughout the show has many unique obstacles that come with her identity as a Black woman. As the show's main Black female lead, protagonist, and Anti-Hero all at the same time many of her experiences feel “unrealistic” but in the corporate world this array of persona’s is forced upon Black women everyday. At the series’ start Stern faces many new experiences with microaggressions, increased pressure to succeed and go beyond, and rocky relationships; platonic and romantic. But what makes her so unique and relatable to many Black women is her ability to pivot and keep moving.
Black women are not afforded the ability to make mistakes and Stern undergoes the unsatisfactory kind of role-playing that workplaces demand of Black women. In high pressure environments like the finance industry, there are eyes everywhere watching for mistakes and ready to cut you out due to stereotypes and predisposed biases. Many of Stern's actions like “backstabbing” coworkers are due to a zero sum mindset that we see highlighted as the show progresses. In order for her to gain something, someone else has to lose something, but this is where a lot of people start to feel a bit unsettled about her character. Stern has been introduced as the “narrator” of some sort, so as season one started we saw a lot of things through her point of view and were able to empathize with her a lot. But as we moved onto season two, the point of views changed and although we still had her as our main character, we also were introduced to other peoples stories and were able to see how “unreliable” of a narrator Stern was.
Though many viewers and even characters see her as cutthroat or disloyal because of her actions, a question to consider is, “If she were a man or even white would we still think this of her?” Being hyper aware of how different you are especially as a Black woman makes you in some ways hyper-independent. In Stern's case, this issue along with family trauma has made her take her future seriously and do whatever needs to be done to get where she knows she deserves to be.
This belief that Stern obtained throughout the show, is something many Black women struggle with even outside of the workplace. Imposter syndrome is constantly doubting one's own accomplishments and stressing that someone might expose you as a “fraud.” However, the most inspirational part about Stern's reflection on Black women in the industry is her continuous fight against this pattern. Although Stern, along with other Black women, encounter microaggressions that aim to undermine their credibility, challenges when it comes to networking, and struggle to balance work and life, something the show does incredibly well is portraying her resilience.
Harper Stern is a character with cards in her deck and up her sleeve and the media needs more of those. By showing Stern as a fighter and not a victim or a “pet,” she reflects strength and tenacity Black women have while navigating this field.
