Beef Hollywood Takeover! + Meaning of Life

Beef takes over Hollywood: not the food beef, but the Netflix show Beef. Beef is one of my favorite shows, after Avatar the Last Airbender and The Brothers Sun It is a 2023 American comedy-drama series created by Korean-American director Lee Sun Jin for Neflix. The show features Danny Cho (played by Steven Yeun) and Amy Lau (played by Ali Wong), two strangers who get get involved with each others life in a feud after a road rage incident.

The show has been nothing short of successful- after winning at the 75th Emmy Awards show and taking home eight trophies. Including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Lead Actor for Steven Yeun and Lead Actress for Ali Wong. Lee Sung, the series creator, took home awards for writing and directing.

A very special occasion to note is that Ali Wong's win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology makes her the first Asian American women to win an Emmy for a lead role. Steven Yeun's win marks the third for an Asian American Lead Actor.

The Emmys wasn't the only place where Beef stole the show. At the Golden Globes, Beef won Best Limited Series and lead acting categories for Steven Yeun and Ali Wong.

So what made this show so popular? It is easy to say the comedy, the acting, the sympathy we get from relating to such road rage incidents. All which I would say is correct, the show was masterfully done and a breath of fresh air for Netflix original shows. But Beef is a bit more than just a feud between two strangers that becomes chaotically worse.

A road rage incident escalates to an elaborate, dark comedy of a revenge plot.

Danny Cho is on his way to returning something at the store. As he gets into his car and begins backing out his spot, a white SUV comes from behind and he nearly hits it. The SUV driver honks at him in an exaggerated way and to make it worse, flips Danny off. Danny, already frustrated with his life, the SUV just sets him over the edge and he follows the car in an intense car chase.

The small incident becomes worse, fueled by anger. Which sets the theme of the series where anger just makes things spiral out of control. The driver in the SUV, is Amy Lau who is a very successful business owner. Her mother-in-law tends to visit often, to the point where it seems like she is living there full time.

Both Danny and Amy are frustrated with many things in their life. Their anger being all pent up, is finally unleashed after their road rage incident where they took out their frustrations on each other. The incident doesn't get rid of their anger, but sets the motion for the rest of the plot.

Amy's troubled marriage, Danny's unsuccessful jobs, the pressure from his parents, and Amy's struggle to let go of her company all act as the factors that make the characters who they are and motivate their actions.

Beef explores the complexities of human emotions and make viewers sympathize. As crazy as their actions are, it makes sense. Throughout the series they begin to destroy themselves more and more, as their anger and frustrations eat away at them the more they try to fix things. Its basically one step forward and three steps back.

They fall into a vicious cycle of trying to fix their lives and we can't do anything but empathize as this is a common situation in many people's lives. It almost brings up a sense of frustration within us, we feel what they feel and understand why they are doing what they are. But at the same time, from an outside perspective we also see their mistakes and think why would they do that? That's a bad choice. She should of done something else.

Not only does their frustrations transfer to the viewers, but it highlights the craziness that anger causes. Some may even think, that would never happen to me. But more often than not, that type of anger eats at us the same way. Only this time we see it happen to someone else and we feel it on a second-hand level.

Danny and Amy show their disappointment and frustration with their daily lives. Putting themselves in an existential cycle of anger. Their motivations are all powered through emotions and we see logic disappear. Beef explores the ones humanity and the emotions that make us who we are and the choices we make. But more importantly it underscores the power of anger and how these feelings lead to a powerless state where one losses themselves in finding a solution.

On a more light-hearted note, Beef is genuinely one of the funniest shows I've watched. I feel like many of us have suffered from watching too many shoes and movies that say the same overused lines or just straight up bad jokes that never hit. Like Marvel's "he's right behind me isn't he?" or "you and what army? ... Oh that army". Give it a break Marvel its time for something new. Regardless, Beef is a breath of fresh air and Ali and Steven do an stellar job of showing these characters on screen. I'm not one to find many shows funny, but this show proved me wrong. It's a relatively shorter series and I highly suggest you give it a try. It is easily bingeable in a day or two, depending on whether you're a full time worker, college student, or second-semester senior with lots of free time like me. Rumors surround Beef for a season two, so I'll be sure to keep everyone updated. Thanks for reading! ~