“The Queen’s Gambit” Plays Netflix’s Power Move: Cultural Relevance

Netflix has declared checkmate with the release of The Queen’s Gambit miniseries, which premiered October 23. The Queen’s Gambit, which tells the story of a woman’s journey to becoming a chess master, is probably the most talked about production of 2020 as well as critically acclaimed, with a rare 100-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Netflix has not released viewership numbers yet, but The Queen’s Gambit is certainly going to rank at or near the top when compared to anything else Netflix has created during the company’s great creative run in recent years. But the miniseries is more than a critical success. It’s a cultural touchstone that has quickly forged a deep connection emotionally with its audience. In doing so, The Queen’s Gambit demonstrates why Netflix continues to rule New Hollywood: cultural relevance.

Why Cultural Relevance Matters

Brands become culturally relevant when they connect with people through their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, and sometimes cultural relevance means shaping those attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. The entertainment industry in particular can wield enormous cultural influence. For example, the Beatles were more than rock stars, and Star Wars was more than a popular movie. Both the Beatles and Star Wars influenced culture, including how we speak and dress.

Cultural relevance is more valuable than the most effective PR and advertising a brand can buy. That’s because cultural relevance is authentic. Authentic connections are more long lasting and real. They are less prone to the changing consumer tastes. Again, consider the Beatles and Star Wars. The Beatles are still one of the best-selling acts in the world long after they stopped recording, and Star Wars, in the Disney+ era, might be more influential than ever.

Netflix has become the world’s biggest streaming company by unleashing content that connects culturally. For example, as I noted in a Hacker Noon article earlier in 2020:

• In 2019, Tidying up with Marie Kondo connected with American materialism (and its consequences) so profoundly that the show actually created a spike in donations to thrift stores.
• Stranger Things became a pop culture sensation by tapping into 1980s nostalgia (and arguably engineering that nostalgia).
• Tiger King, the most streamed show in America as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, also lit up social media during its initial run in 2020, inspired the growth of a cottage industry of Tiger King memes, sparked conversations about topics ranging from polyamory to America’s obsession with true crime, and revived congressional interest in the Big Cat Safety Act. In the words of CNBC’s Alex Sherman, “ . . . there’s a reason ‘Saturday Night Live’ chooses to parody ‘Tiger King’ instead of [CBS All Access’s] ‘Young Sheldon,’ or other broadcast TV shows. The world has coalesced around Netflix.”

The Queen’s Gambit has had the same kind of impact. The show is credited for causing a surge in chess set sales and online classes. In addition, The Queen’s Gambit explores a range of topical themes that resonate deeply.

A Closer Look at The Queen’s Gambit

The Queen’s Gambit was created by Scott Frank and Allan Scott, who adapted the story from a novel by Walter Tevis. Frank also directed all seven episodes. He is credited as a writer for some big-name movies, including Logan and Out of Sight. He is an example of the kind of talent Netflix has attracted from Old Hollywood, and he pulls together a complex narrative deftly with The Queen’s Gambit.

The series explores the emotionally complex and layered journey of Beth Harmon, who battles personal demons as she successfully wages war with men in the competitive world of international chess. Anya Taylor-Joy, whose recent acting credits include Emma and Peaky Blinders, delivers a jaw-dropping performance as Harmon. Taylor-Joy creates a complicated, flawed human being, who is something of a Keith Richards of chess: a wild card whose drug and alcohol abuse threaten to eclipse her considerable talents. Harmon learns to use every weapon at her disposal to intimidate her male opponents, including her ability to improvise and, at times, her femininity. The men just don’t know what to make of her, and she exploits that blind spot.

She is also at war with herself. As she gains renown for being a chess genius, a journalist speculates that madness is the flipside of genius. The remark haunts Harmon, who knows her mother was mentally ill and subsequently struggles with fears for her own mental health. Harmon also cannot let go of a nagging belief that drug and alcohol abuse fuel her success as a chess master — that the dark impulses feeding her addictions also make her a dangerous opponent during chess matches. She fears that giving up on drugs and alcohol could destroy her as a chess player.

Taylor-Joy portrays the many dimensions of Beth Harmon with a nuance and sensitivity that allow for Harmon’s inner humanity to shine through even as Harmon’s self-loathing causes her to treat others in her life badly. Hers is a stunning performance — a portrayal of a fully realized human being who elicits empathy and all of the viewer’s attention. Taylor-Joy never relies on cheap pleas for sympathy, but neither does she put off viewers when Harmon alienates those who want to help her succeed.

A Powerful Emotional Connection

Although The Queen’s Gambit has generated headlines for sparking an interest in chess, the series also connects culturally in its exploration of feminism, substance abuse, and mental illness — topics that have shaped the cultural zeitgeist in their own way.

In the Me Too era, the series has connected with viewers because of its depiction of a fully realized woman who succeeds in a world dominated by men. Yes, she is victorious, but she’s not a one-dimensional saint, and neither is she a femme fatale. As Carrie Wittmer of Consequence of Sound writes, Beth Harmon is a female antihero. Harmon is unapologetic in her single-minded drive to succeed, and she makes no excuses for the way her inner demons alienate just about everyone who dares to get close to her. Wittmer compares Beth Harmon to Mad Men’s Don Draper, another great television antihero:

In similar fashion to Mad Men’s portrayal of Don Draper, The Queen’s Gambit allows its protagonist — Beth Harmon, an orphan turned chess prodigy and addict in the mid 1950s to late 60s — to be terrible as well as remarkable. Beth is driven and talented, but she also tends to be cruel, condescending, and selfish. The show’s strength is its freedom to let a woman be a whole person unapologetically, even though that person is imperfect. Flashbacks to Beth’s childhood are never meant to make the audience feel sorry for her, rather they’re meant to help you to understand her. Even though Beth is a woman with the odds stacked against her, the story never goes out of its way to make excuses for her behavior, which makes her victories (both in life and in chess) more about her than her misfortune.

She adds, “Like Don Draper’s obsession with his work in advertising, Beth becomes so consumed by chess that she has no space for anything (or anyone) else in her life. Beth’s addiction, both to substances and to chess, helps her repress a past she’s too broken to confront. It’s an awful way to live, but it also makes her somewhat awful to be around, especially for the people throughout her life who try to guide her in the right direction.”

Similarly, Sarah Bea Milner of ScreenRant praises The Queen’s Gambit for demolishing “strong female character tropes.” She says The Queen’s Gambit is “a condemnation of the cultural tendency to romanticize — or worse, normalize — mental illness and substance abuse among brilliant female characters.” She continues:

. . . the series juxtaposes Beth’s feelings of isolation and loneliness to those of the other women around her, who, when relegated to the insular roles of being homemakers, often descend into alcoholism, depression, and boredom. Yet, the show offers a glimmer of hope: rather than suggest this is the pattern women are doomed to repeat, the show shines a light on the conditions that created these problems in the first place, and — most important — allows Beth to overcome her issues on her own terms.

I think The Queen’s Gambit would have a powerful impact no matter when it was released — but Beth Harmon is especially relevant at a time when Kamala Harris is about to take office as the first woman vice president, and an outgoing president’s controversial statements about women continue to reverberate across the cultural landscape.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse

The Queen’s Gambit’s exploration of mental health and substance abuse has also hit home during a time when:

• The number of Americans who say they’re experiencing mental health issues during the pandemic is rising sharply.
• Americans have been drinking more, and alcohol sales have risen, since the early days of the pandemic.

We live at a time when employers are becoming more sensitive to the mental health needs and challenges of their own people as the stress of the pandemic continues to mount. It’s becoming more acceptable for people to discuss the emotional impact of the pandemic inside and outside the workplace. And yet, it was not long ago when discussing mental health was a taboo topic at worst, and a delicate one at best. The pandemic has made our fragility more acceptable to discuss and acknowledge publicly.

And here again, The Queen’s Gambit connects on a deeply personal level. Beth Harmon is sparking discussions about mental health and substance abuse across social media and in publications such as Care Counseling, Esquire, and Psychology Today. Care Counseling actually analyzes Beth Harmon as if she were a real person:

Throughout the mini-series, Beth was battling her own inner demons, including insecurity and self-loathing which led to self-destructive behaviors. Beth may be interested in working on these areas. A maintenance plan to identify triggers, warning signs, self-care, and coping strategies for alcohol and drug misuse may also be helpful.

I see the impact in a visceral way on social media. One of my Facebook friends mentioned that The Queen’s Gambit hit home for her because of its depiction of substance abuse. Her comment sparked a heartfelt discussion with dozens of comments from others, including one viewer who wrote,

I related to it on so many levels mainly how one treats their trauma with addiction to avoid facing it. The shots of her getting bombed to sleep soundly were triggering. Also the rock bottom moments that really didn’t give the audience a path forward with the character. The uncomfortable conversations with her friends. It was a lovely series. I feel this happens a lot with hyper talented people. Everything feels overwhelming all the time until it just gets to be too much and you crave release. I definitely cried like a baby a few times.

The Queen’s Gambit has moved viewers profoundly — and the miniseries has been available for only a matter of weeks. The series will surely accumulate more viewers and generate more conversation as the world braces for a long winter in the shadow of the pandemic. With each article, tweet, Facebook post, and conversation at the dinner table, The Queen’s Gambit will remind us why Netflix has more viewers than any other streaming service: Netflix understands its audience. Netflix understands modern culture.