I am writing about the Netflix show Outer Banks. The show is about a group of Pogue friends who live in The Cut, and are on a journey to find out what happened to the missing father of this group’s leader and protagonist of the show, John B. The group discovers treasure that is linked to his father. The reason I chose to write about this was to discuss the relationship between the Pogues and the Kooks to the concept of “the other”. In the show, the Pogues are considered the ‘lower class’. They live on the south side of the island (known as The Cut) and they work for the Kooks. As mentioned in the Pilot of the show, The Cut is the, “Home of the working class, who make a living busing tables, washing yachts, running charters” for the Kooks and they are very much looked down upon. The Kooks on the other hand are the upper class and are the privileged ones. They live on the North Side of the island, also called Figure 8. They are considered the elite, and they treat the Pogues’ horribly and want to make the Pogues’ lives difficult. Not to mention they also get away with illegal things, such as stealing and even murder, which the Pogues could never. John B says so himself in the very first episode of the series, “It’s the sort of place where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes. One island.” The Kooks are the elite with parents having money. The Pogues are desperate to move up the social ladder to become new versions of themselves and establish new beginnings”
The way the Pogues are seen as less remind me of de Beauvoir’s concept of “The Other”. They do what the “Master” (the Kooks) say and tell them to do. Also, they rely on them since they work for them. The Kooks only care about themselves, similarly to the One. They are the subject, while the Pogues are “the other”. They are seen as less and do things for the Kooks. They are “ignored and neglected”(John B, Pilot Episode). We can see how injustice and power plays a part in this show. Since money equals power, and the Kooks are born having money and are powerful, they can get away with whatever they want, no consequences. While on the other hand, the Pogues are trying their hardest to work their way up the ladder and create a better life for themselves. This leaves me with a few question; Why is it fair for the upper class / the “Kooks” to take advantage of the lower class, “the Pogues”? and why can they get away with illegal actions? Also, in the show, why are the Pogues automatically ruled out as less than just because of where they live on the island?