Women written by men

The operating system in which Industry operates does not really value, or, is able to commodify vulnerability. You don’t get paid for being vulnerable on a trading floor. So what you do is you minimize that vulnerability, and you carry it.

-Industry creators in conversation with Deadline

Harper Stern has been called many things: cunt, sociopath, liar, heartless, evil. After the season 4 finale it is clear that she is much more principled than people ever gave her credit for.

She is the moral compass of the show.

For those unfamiliar with Industry, the show started as a financial drama that followed a group of recent college graduates working at Pierpoint, a fictional prestigious investment bank. As seasons progressed, they step out of the Pierpoint offices and into aristocrat manors, newspaper rooms and tech corporations.

Although I do enjoy the commentary on corruption, politics, class and power, I am mostly interested in the show because of the relationship between Harper and Yasmin. Two of the main characters. So, clearly in the wake of the s4 finale I feel devastated.

After spending most of the season bickering, Yas and Harper finally come together in the last minutes of episode 7. Seated at a bar they confess, feeling both admiration and jealousy for each other. I especially loved the part where Harper opens up about resenting Yasmin because she is a constant reminder of how she is less and Yasmin’s response is to say, “I choose to love you for being a breathing example of how I can be more.” As is tradition on Industry, nothing good can come out of a moment of tender vulnerability like that.

In episode 8, Yasmin invites Harper to Paris to a dinner party she is throwing for a far-right politician. Surrounded by potential donors to his campaign, Harper finds herself seated in front and next to two austrian aristocrats that just happen to be nazis. Horrified by the people in the room, Harper questions Yasmin’s actions. But as they dicuss, Harper notices something far worse— young women in gliterry dresses enter the room and sit next to (some on top of) men twice their age.

The entire scene feels straight out of a horror movie. I was speechless watching how Yasmin justified trafficking young women. And I must admit that when Harper told her “This is not who you are. Please, you do not have to do this. We can just go”, I felt a glimpse of hope. For a second, I really thought they were going to leave the party together, especially after their conversation in episode 7, but as it was always meant to happen, Yasmin refuses her.

In that moment, we are once again reminded that despite having love for Harper, Yasmin will never choose someone before herself.

As a character, Yasmin has always been dubious. Throughout the show we see glimpses of her corroded character. In Season 1, when Venetia tells her that a client sexually harassed her, Yasmin’s reaction is to minimize what happened and tell her to get over it. It’s even clearer on Season 4, when we see her having a discussion with Henry and Whitney about the danger of associating their company with nazis and Yasmin says they should just humor them.

Because Yasmin grew up surrounded by extremely violent men, she is incapable of recognizing violence as violence, or of seeing herself and others as victims. Identity politics are not important to her. Neither is moral correctness. All she has ever care about is feeling important. Where that validation comes from is inconsequential.

In a patriarchal society women choose different roles depending on their needs, values, and contexts. Some resist, some try to work it to their advantage, and others uphold it. Yasmin is the type to uphold it.

From a young age, Yasmin allowed the men around her to shape the narrative of her life, and never even imagined an alternative for herself. She believes she is destined for a life of torture. Harper on the other hand refuses to accept the life she was given. She chooses to forge her own path. She writes her own story.

When Harper tells Yasmin “That is not your voice coming out of your mouth. I know your voice” we understand at a superficial level what she means, but her words take on a much more symbolic meaning when we see Yasmin listening to her dad’s voicemail over and over again alone in her hotel room. As his voice echoes through the walls, we understand Yasmin’s voice was swallowed a long time ago, and that maybe she never even got the chance to develop one. The poison dripped through.

At times s4 felt more like a thriller about tech corporations and evil politicians than a financial drama, which narratively pushed Harper away from the main storyline and placed Yasmin, Henry and Whitney in the center. Yet, we do get glimpses of Harper’s growth throughout the season.

After loosing her mom, Eric, and Yas, Harper is forced to reckon with her ideas of success and power. She is succesful. She won a lot of money. She’s had think pieces written about her in The New Yorker. Yet none of that fulfills her. For the longest time her career in investment banking has been her priority, and she has neglected every other aspect in her life in the process. Now, that she is at a point where she has everything she always wanted, she’s thinking “what is the point in all of this?”

That night in Paris, she is faced with the ultimate challenge. By choosing what is right and not what will benefit her personally, she finally finds her voice.