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 the entertainment industry due to the challenging job market for humanities Ph.D.s. Soon after, she co-created The Chair, a Netflix show about the academic world she had left behind.
Depiction of Professors and Academic Life
During the writing process, Wyman and her co-creator explored the complex personalities of professors. They observed that professors can be simultaneously uptight, self-aggrandizing, depressive, controlling, petty, kind, idealistic, noble, and wise. They also highlighted the material desperation in academia that many viewers outside the field might understand.
Setting: Pembroke Campus
The Chair is set at Pembroke, a fictional campus undergoing corporate changes. With humanities enrollments declining, professors grow anxious and defensive, often clashing with one another. The drama intensifies around the English Department’s head, played by Sandra Oh, the first woman of color in that role, who is committed to saving jobs despite resistance.
Central Themes and Characters
- The story features a love interest between the department head and a colleague — a troubled, white, middle-aged man who challenges campus cancel culture.
- This dynamic creates fertile ground for drama and conflict from multiple perspectives.
Reception of The Chair
When the show debuted in 2021, Wyman feared it might seem unflattering or overly truthful to her academic peers, exposing the silliness of their field. However, this concern proved unfounded, and The Chair resonated well with viewers.
“We also discussed a kind of material desperation I knew well and to which we thought viewers who weren’t academics might relate.”
“Those worries turned out to be unwarranted.”
Author’s summary: Wyman’s insights reveal the nuanced realities of academia portrayed in The Chair, blending personal experience with dramatized conflicts that resonate beyond the campus.