Regeneration Through Violence? The American Family in Ray Donovan and Big Little Lies

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to assess the continuity of the mythical motifs of “regeneration through violence”, famously described by Richard Slotkin as “the structuring metaphor of the American experience”, in contemporary American popular culture. The article discusses the representations of family in two American television dramas: Showtime’s television crime drama series Ray Donovan (2013–2018) and HBO mini-series Big Little Lies (2017). The narrative analysis of the two shows reveals that both dramas creatively employ the theme of “regeneration through violence”. Although rooted in two different ideological foundations and different in their genres, both shows focus on violence as an underlining theme and the prime cause of the crises in the family. A model of the family framed within a paternalistic, neo-conservative discourse is offered in Ray Donovan. Its eponymous character is successful at solving problems of the LA rich and immoral elite, but hopeless in dealing with those created by his own  dysfunctional family. Big Little Lies tells the story of five women from northern California, members of an ostensibly liberal and progressive social elite, each of which is, however, troubled by the serious problems of their respective families. The analysis shows that although the narratives of both series are structured along the theme of “regeneration through violence”, their meanings are strikingly different from each other. Ray Donovan persistently points to the futility of the use of violence in its characters’ struggle to save and preserve the family, while the narrative of Big Little Lies, despite its progressive overtones, seems to imply that retributive violence can indeed have a cathartic and regenerative function.