House of Lies recently premiered its fifth season.  Five seasons of the craziest, silliest, and probably most realistic glimpse into the real players in big business. Marty Kaan (get it? Kaan? Con? Ha ha) initially works for a major business management firm before branching out on his own to form Kaan and Associates.  Single father, cut-throat businessman, bullshitter extraordinaire, Marty deals with everything from landing massive corporate clients to having an unexpected baby with one of his business partners to navigating parenting a transgendered teen.  Clyde and Doug, two of the members of Marty’s main team, provide plenty of comic relief (as does Marty himself). Don Cheadle plays Marty and truly showcases his brilliant, prolific acting skills.  The man is sincerely talented.

This series, mainly, explores (and makes fun of) the corporate business world and their executives.  If I had an extra life to spare, I’d love to be Marty Kaan (or his female component).  Business strategy fascinates me personally, so this show hits close to home for me.  In my “day job,” I assist small businesses with everything from accounting to marketing to business management.  However, small businesses are in a different field than massive corporations.

Most interesting about this show: the realistic look at what top execs in our country are like.  These people are likely based on real people, or the shadow of them, and brings to light the ludicrous inner-workings that make up our corporate executive culture. Ninety percent of the business terms used in the show are complete jargon–some real, some completely made up, all total crap meant to confuse and intimidate.  Their bottom line message: our execs are ridiculous, full of shit, golf instead of work, and generally have no clue what they are doing.

Recently in my own business, I worked briefly for a company who had grown practically over night through networking, some television exposure, and a great back story.  They netted millions last year but these people were some of the biggest morons I’ve ever met.  Marty Kaan deals with people like that in his business life every day and it leaves one wondering after most episodes: how are these morons at the top of the food chain?

House of Lies is one of those shows that gives no fucks about being politically correct, displaying a professional image, or any level of professionalism for that matter.  It parodies the business world and the people tied to it.  It exposes corporate greed, money sickness, and even the laws that are broken in order to achieve that thing we all seek: MORE.

Sadly, the show also brilliantly displays–more, parades–the misery tied with money, “success,” power, fortune.  Marty is truly miserable. The irony of this is not lost on me in the least.  Most of us, the bottom 99% dream of how wonderful it would be to win the lottery, land a crazy high-paying dream job, be RICH.  The obsession with wealth in this country grows every year, and yet the show makes this much crystal clear: money does not equal happiness.

Memes exist all over the internet, making a joke of why it’s acceptable to want more money.  Some of my favorites:

“You say love is more important than money.  Bitch, have you ever tried paying your bills with a hug?”

“Money can’t buy me happiness.  But I’d much rather cry in a mansion”

“Just give me money and I will be happy… happy… happy!”

These examples are the total opposite of the truth.

Marty Kaan and his team fly all over the country, meeting with high-powered executives, peddling platinum-level business services and raking in millions of dollars in contracts.  And yet, he is absolutely miserable in his personal life.  He is a fantastic salesman that, if asked, would probably agree that he has no idea who he is.  In fact, I’d bet his entire image of himself is embedded in what he does for a living because–outside of his job and screwing pretty but ditzy women–he’s actually a pretty flat character.  This, unfortunately, is not from lack of good writing but because people who dedicate their every waking moment to business management for corporations are, in essence, flat characters with little sense of self, not much of a personal life, and more than a little misery.  Marty spends next to no time with his children, doesn’t have a happy relationship, doesn’t even take time to really enjoy life.  If asked on his death bed what he’d do differently, he’d probably say ‘everything.’

House of Lies reminds me to appreciate my life.  It reminds me why I don’t want to grow my own practice to the size of some of the powerhouse firms in the country.  I don’t need money to be grateful for my blessings.  Marty continues to think that the next big score will be enough.  After that, he’ll be set.  He’ll be happy.  He’ll be free.  Instead, he is imprisoned in his quest for more–for a time when that ‘more’ will be enough.  Truth is: there’s no such thing.

#appreciatewhatyouhave

Image: Showtime