Feminista Is Watching This So You Don't Have To: Territory

By Michelle B. Taylor

I’m going to be honest with you AJPT fam, because I always have to keep it real with y’all: I’m not the biggest fan of Westerns. As a media scholar who focuses on race and gender in films, Westerns haven’t exactly been the best genre for diverse and equitable representations. American Westerns, for example, have historically relied too heavily on racist tropes that are harmful to Native Americans, Mexicans, and African Americans. They also double down on the myth of male virility and domination, often at the expense of women who have been reduced to auxiliary characters whose only purpose is to prop up male protagonists. It’s hard for me, knowing what I know, to ignore that and simply enjoy some of the films that have been heralded as “classics” like Broken Arrow (1950) and The Searchers (1956).

This doesn’t mean the entire genre is bad. There have been several attempts to reframe narratives about the “Wild West” that are more respectful of diverse cultures and representative of more than white men wielding guns. I think the new Netflix show, Territory, represents a fresh take on the genre, and it’s good to know all isn’t lost in the entertainment industry’s attempt to craft new narratives and imagine worlds with fantastic possibilities.

Though it is an Australian “Neo-Western,” this new series follows the structures of typical Westerns as it tells the story of a family business in jeopardy. Yes, the main characters are white, but the show doesn’t rely on whiteness and maleness to carry it, which is refreshing. It engages both cultural history and its conflicts with empathy and doesn’t fall into the trap of Old Western hyperbole and Spaghetti Western sensationalism.

The Lawson family owns the world’s largest cattle station which has been in their family for three generations. As one might imagine, the Lawsons have a lot of enemies, frenemies, and people among their ranks who are jockeying for the top position after Daniel, the family patriarch’s chosen heir, dies suddenly. The elder Lawson, Colin, needs to figure out who will now take over the family business, and what should be a simple passing of the torch becomes a more complicated endeavor given all of the players with a stake in the station’s future.

If any of this sounds familiar, it’s because it is--the show is giving Succession and Yellowstone with a hint of the classic Dallas. Another moment of honesty... I didn’t like Succession. It’s what I jokingly call a “White Nonsense Show.” I am unmoved by any series about wealthy white families and their drama, corruption, and overall goofy bullshit. It’s hard for me to sit through shows that fictionalize and endear us to characters and storylines that represent what is a real societal problem: exploitative wealth hoarding. There, I said it. 

Territory differs in that it includes Aboriginal people as essential characters and the representation appears fair. An area on the Lawson property called “The Sorry Place” holds cultural significance for the indigenous people and explains why they’re among those vying for control of the cattle station. Several Aboriginal actors are part of the cast, and the show’s writers make it a point to include the history of colonization and land theft that is part of Australia’s past and present. Viewers are led to believe that Colin’s ancestors are responsible for horrible violence against the original inhabitants of the land and that is one of the main family secrets he fights so hard to protect. There are major tensions between the Lawsons and the Aboriginal community and we get the sense that it’s related to racist violence motivated by capitalist pursuits.

So brace yourself: there are a lot of storylines in this six-episode show. I think they may have crammed too much into such a short run, and I’m not surprised that folks on social media are speculating about whether or not there will be a second season. I had difficulty, at first, keeping up with all the characters and their respective stories. Nearly everyone on this show is modelesque, which is a bit distracting; imagining these gorgeous people as cattle ranchers instead of strutting on fashion runways requires some suspension of disbelief.

I don’t want to spoil it for you, but the show gets very spicy and there’s an unlikely antagonist who also keeps things pretty interesting. It’s one of the most popular shows on Netflix, so I may be in the minority of people who are meh on it. Sometimes, I admit, not everything is my jam. But I watch it because it might be yours. Have you watched Territory? What do you think?