Taylor Sheridan, a series creator who speaks to Trumpists

Wide open spaces and simple lives, grumpy men and sexy women… the Texan screenwriter’s productions reflect the archetypes and traditional values ​​of “real” America. And break audience records.

Udoes not pick on the inefficiency of the federal government, sexist and anti-green rhetoric, and a good dose of vulgarity – “selling wind turbines is easier than selling pussy in a men’s prison”… We are not at a Donald Trump rally, but in the first episode of the series Landman, Taylor Sheridan’s latest creation, about the procrastination of employees of an oil company.

In just a few years, this Texan screenwriter has built a television empire: Yellowstone, 18831923, Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Special Operations: Lioness… His series tell the story of the “real” America, that of small towns where we drink beer and sock juice rather than smoothies and lattes. And they always decline the same values, favored by the American right: anti-taxism, the defense of land against an external threat, or political autonomy. As Donald Trump returns to the White House, the success of Sheridan’s series is most revealing.

Yellowstone, Paramount’s first scripted series, was ordered in 2017, a few months after the start of the billionaire’s first presidency. Its dazzling success in rural states made it the most watched series in the country. The creator quickly understands that he must not alienate the Trumpists. While in 2017 he publicly criticized the president (“can we impeach this bastard?”), in 2022, when a journalist from The Atlantic When asked, Sheridan claims to no longer remember this statement. Oberlin University professor Joshua Sperling describes the series like “the emblematic work of the Trump era”. Sheridan’s creations “reassure conservative audiences that there is still entertainment out there that understands their point of view.”

Pick any of his productions, and you’ll find the same masculine archetype: a gruff but brilliant man who communicates only in aphorisms (Kevin Costner in Yellowstone, Harrison Ford in 1923Billy Bob Thornton in Landman). Often cynical, these characters curse Wokism and take the law into their own hands, harboring a distrust of the institutions and elites of big cities. As for the uniform: cowboy hat for the gentlemen, plunging neckline for the ladies (who, when they are not brainless people delighted to be objectified, are femme fatales more macho than their male peers).

However, the success of the Sheridan brand cannot be explained solely by political reasons. Its programs are extremely well paced, and played by stars from a bygone Hollywood (Kevin Costner, Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Nicole Kidman, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Hanks and Demi Moore). In 2020, the popularity of Yellowstone is also exploding in big cities: while the whole world is confined, its wide open spaces and its discourse on the return to a simpler way of life appeal to a large audience.

Modernizing the traditional western

But Taylor Sheridan’s greatest asset remains his writing. In Yellowstone or Landman, the screenwriter modernizes the traditional western, integrating not only new technologies, but also complex economic issues. As Joshua Sperling points out, rather than a classic binary opposition (the cowboys against the Indians), Sheridan integrates a third archetype (incarnated by Jon Hamm in Landman): the soulless capitalist of the metropolises, ready to do anything to buy up local land and transform it into real estate or industrial complexes.

This mixture of narrative force and political ambiguity, which is lacking in many contemporary programs, gives an undeniable appeal to Sheridan’s series, including for liberals who view them as a guilty pleasure. “Taylor Sheridan also wants to force the progressive public to question itself. It is conscious of addressing two audiences, much like Pixar addresses both children and adults,” explains Joshua Sperling. The creator, who refutes the label “republican series”, skilfully blurs the lines, and now features mixed couples, lesbians, immigrants, feminists… “This ideological vagueness is a strategy to have it both ways,” confirms Joshua Sperling. This is the ingenuity of Sheridan’s series: no matter our political side, we roll our eyes at least once per episode, and then we ask for more.

Landmanseason 1, series created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace (USA, 10 × 50 mins, 2024) | With Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, Jon Hamm, Demi Moore. On Paramount+, two episodes then one every Sunday.