What “After the Hunt” Gets Right
Annie Julia Wyman, writer of The Chair, reflects on Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt. In 2017, she left academia for entertainment due to the difficult job market for humanities Ph.D.s and co-created The Chair, a Netflix series about the academic world she had left.
Portrayal of Professors
During the writing process, Wyman and her co-creator discussed the complexities of professors’ personalities. They can be “uptight, self-aggrandizing, depressive, controlling, petty, kind, idealistic, noble, and wise—sometimes all at the same time.” They also explored a sense of material desperation familiar to academics but relatable to wider audiences.
Setting and Themes in The Chair
The fictional Pembroke campus is undergoing corporatization. Humanities enrollments are declining, causing professors to panic, compete, and retreat into their roles.
- Older professors, mainly white men, make life difficult for the English Department head, Sandra Oh’s character.
- She is the first woman of color to hold the position and is determined to save their jobs.
- The story gains dramatic tension with a romance involving a colleague who challenges campus cancel culture.
Reception of The Chair
When The Chair premiered in 2021, Wyman feared it might offend academic friends and mentors by portraying the field as silly and undignified. However, these concerns proved unfounded.
“Professors can be uptight, self-aggrandizing, depressive, controlling, petty, kind, idealistic, noble, and wise—sometimes all at the same time.”
“Pembroke, the fictional campus where our show takes place, is corporatizing.”
Author's summary: The Chair realistically captures the contradictions of academic life and the pressures facing humanities professors amid institutional change.