Recently, BBC’s Industry was back on our screens for season two — the infamous show known for its no-holds-barred take on working in the City. Written and created by Konrad Kay and Mickey Down, both former financiers, the show makes for compelling watching. The script is superb; the performances outstanding. The two gentlemen have outdone themselves, creating a television powerhouse.
Unlike the numerous other portrayals of finance in film and TV, Industry stands out thanks to the number of female lead characters. Amongst the motley crew, we have Harper Stern (Myha’la Herrold), a young African-American graduate, ruthlessly determined to succeed despite being a university dropout. We also have Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela), a British-Lebanese graduate from a wealthy family trying to get out of her own shadow. In the first season viewers saw them both starting out as first-year graduates competing for permanent positions at Pierpoint & Co, a fictional investment bank in London. This time around, they are now seasoned full-time hires.
Over the course of the series, we have watched these women be merciless to succeed at a cost to others. Yet viewers remain enthralled by their stories. As a woman who works in Finance, I frankly love the show. It is great to see the long-overdue on-screen representation of women working on a bustling trading floor.
These women of Industry aren’t the usual portrayals, either. That is, they aren’t the stereotypical one-dimensional token female character in a male-dominated finance film. Say, for instance, the concerned girlfriend (Darryl Hannah in Wall Street), or the stay-at-home wife (Margot Robbie in Wolf of Wall Street), or even the cut-away character sipping champagne in a bathtub (Margot Robbie again in The Big Short). These aforementioned characters don’t have much to work with, and most fail the Bechdel test.
In contrast to this, visual media is full of self-interested men in Finance on an endless quest for validation through either money or status (or both). All this while remaining likable enough to warrant scores of young men trying to follow in their footsteps. From Wall Street to The Big Short to Billions, the movies and TV shows surrounding Finance have somewhat of a siren-esque quality for the male gaze.
What did women have before Industry showed up? Well, there’s 1988’s Working Girl. On the surface, the movie is about a woman from Staten Island trying to be successful in a male-dominated world via mergers & acquisitions. But at the heart of it, the major plot is of two women fighting over one man. Additionally, there is the 1996 film, The Associate, starring Whoopi Goldberg. This film made valid criticisms about what it was like to be a woman of colour in Finance, but ultimately however it was besieged by poor reviews. Recently, there was 2016’s Equity. That was a great film, with lots of multi-faceted female characters who spoke of IPO deals in boardrooms. But who saw it? As an indie film, Equity was in and out of theaters as fast as it took Margot Robbie to polish off her glass of champers in The Big Short. The women of Wall Street and its global counterparts have nothing to call their own.
That is why I and so many others are excited to see women starring in a hit TV show about Finance. I mean, finally — now we can all talk about something other than 1987’s Wall Street. Yes, that is a great film, but who isn’t tired of hearing the words “Lunch is for wimps” as you try to scarf down three bites of your Pret sandwich between an incessantly ringing phone. Let’s hear more lines such as Harper’s “I think this is the closest thing to a meritocracy there is” said during her interview. If one had simply watched media prior to Industry, one would be surprised at how multicultural the real world of Finance truly is.
People have asked me how accurate Industry is. This is hard for me to answer, not least because I worked primarily in New York City, a different culture altogether from its London cousin. Are the women we see onscreen the same as their real-life counterparts? Yes and no. What is certain is the increasing number of women joining the finance world — all of whom are filled with hope, ambition, and a desire to succeed. Some of them are from wealthy families, following in the footsteps of their parents, while others are from less privileged backgrounds. What unites them is a hunger to flourish. Over time these women become leaders and mentors to the younger generation.
I would hope that for those women starting out in their careers, they see relatable characters depicted on-screen. Perhaps not everyone is as ruthless in Finance as Industry makes it out to be, but there is no denying that you can encounter others who are. The world of Finance, and many other similar industries, aren’t filled with one-dimensional women. The world is a diverse place.
When visual representation matters, women should be able to see characters such as Harper and Yasmin in the cultural zeitgeist. Let us see women be the “good” bad guy. One who is their own master of the universe, sophisticated and yet emotionally complicated. Let young women follow in the footsteps of their imperfect idols. If it means that more women end up working in Finance, that can only be a good thing for all of us.
Words by Jordan Cracknell
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.