Authenticity reigned supreme at the recent 76th Primetime Emmy Awards held in October 2024, with FX’s Shōgun and The Bear both emerging as top winners in their categories. Key in the discussion of these shows’ successes — is the notion that being genuine in one’s craft will always pay off. With viewers and critics alike lauding Shōgun for its dedication to authenticity, we take a deep dive into why television’s biggest success read winners have become the golden standard for world-building and story crafting today.
Here’s an interesting, confusing conundrum about humanity’s relationship with cinema. We watch TV shows and movies to lose ourselves in the plot; we want to be engaged and removed from the real world, seeking the escapism provided to us by way of dramatic storylines, exquisite costuming, and sterling performances from our best-beloved actors. And yet.
On the flip side, there is something inherently intriguing about art that imitates life. We want to identify with the characters we see on screen. Hand over hearts, we adopt our favourite characters with empathy and understanding, integrating them into our lives and adopting their troubles as our own.
In this manner, we identify and commiserate, finding fragments of our own lived experiences within their narrated storylines. It is when a perfect balance is struck between fictional and relatable that the true artistry of poetic cinema is revealed. Genuine storylines dripping with humanity are devoured.
