The Downfall of Elizabeth Holmes

On January 3, 2022, entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of four out of eleven charges in an American court. She was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Theranos, a company that claimed to revolutionize blood testing by utilizing a single fingerprick to examine blood. This led to Holmes topping a Forbes list of the wealthiest self-made women in the United States, or until the truth rose to the surface. Holmes was involved in an elaborate fraud scheme where she was purposely misleading investors and the government to receive funding. The four charges mentioned previously were all for wire fraud and lying to investors about the company’s technology. Holmes now faces the potential of spending twenty years in prison.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

If there is anything noticeable about television trends lately, it is this: women are deeply involved in true crime, too. Netflix’s Inventing Anna would delve into the true story of fake heiress Anna Delvey, while Elle Fanning’s much-anticipated Hulu series The Girl from Plainville will retell the story of Michelle Carter. The Dropout answers to this trend trying to disguise itself as a show laced with dark humor, but instead comes across as a dramatized documentary.

Three years before Holmes’ fate would be decided, in 2019, Hulu ordered a miniseries about her story. Originally anticipated to be between six and ten episodes, it would be based on the 2019 podcast The Dropout, which is where the television series received its name. Amanda Seyfried was cast as Elizabeth Holmes in 2021 after the first choice, Kate McKinnon, left the project. The show’s lineup includes Naveen Andrews as Sunny Balwani, Holmes’ significant other and partner in crime, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Michael Gill, Bill Irwin, and Laurie Metcalf, among many other big names.

Related: Best Amanda Seyfried Movies, Ranked

Humble Origins

Hulu

The opening scene immediately sets the tone. While Seyfried sits in front of a camera, fully in character and playing Holmes, she is interviewed about her company and career by a journalist. “What is the best word to describe you?” She hesitates then gives a small smile. “Mission-oriented,” she responds after a beat. She is in a hurry for glory, and in the next scene, we have an inkling why: her father lost his job due to—ironically—the company committing fraud.

Before the show delves into the world she has created with her company, it establishes itself in the past, where she is about to attend Stanford University and prepares to study abroad in Beijing, China. This cuts back and forth between scenes at her trial, as she is questioned about her company and motives Holmes is cast in this Shakespearean tragedy as the ambitious go-getter limited by who she is surrounded by. On her study abroad program, she tries to speak to her fellow students in Mandarin Chinese, but they laugh, snort, and tell her to speak English. Holmes knows what she is doing, despite her youthfulness, and that is what attracts her to Sunny: he sees her for who she is.

At a meeting with a wealthy family friend, she confidently says she is going to go to Stanford, build up a company, and become a billionaire. Unamused, the male family friend postures and asserts that she must think that she is much smarter than him. And perhaps that is the irony behind Holmes’ situation: she has too much confidence in her façade to the point where she may even believe in it. As she rehearses her lines and makes faces in the mirror, this is merely becoming a character for her. She is so driven and ambitious to the point where she stubbornly will not give up, which is her downfall at the end of the day. It is a toxic relationship she has with her motivations, as well as the relationship she has with Sunny.

Navigating a Male-Dominated Industry

Hulu

One of the most interesting and critical parts about The Dropout is how it portrays the world of startups in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. It begins with Sunny, the man twice her age who does not seem to have innocent intentions when he meets Holmes, a girl who just graduated from high school. At Stanford, she is sexually assaulted, leading to another turn of events ridden with trauma, and she has to constantly prove her worth and intelligence to the men around her. The sexism and discrimination of being a woman follow her with every business decision even when she drops out of Stanford to start her company,

It seems incredulous that a young woman can create such an empire at this age, especially in a male-dominated industry. And maybe there is an underlying motivation set up for her to fail. Successful women in business are rare due to the conditions they live and work in, and so when someone does make it to the top lingering resentment is there just because she is a woman who made it.

While other true-crime shows and movies may have leanings for sympathizing with their subject, The Dropout is straightforward in its approach and does not try to make it seem like what Holmes did was right. She successfully evaded being caught for her fraud for over a decade, and while she did succeed in her dream of making it as a billionaire, it did not last for very long. Holmes came from a wealthy family, a fact glossed over in the show. She was capable of dropping out of Stanford due to her family’s financial support, although the show sets it up to seem as if the family is going to hit rock bottom when her father loses his job.

There is also an underlying commentary about the American Dream going on here. Often it is uttered that when one works hard and relentlessly towards their dreams, they will eventually make and manifest everything they want possible. That is not what happens here in The Dropout. Although Holmes already had the privilege of coming from a well-to-do family and attending Stanford University, she chased after her dream hard and fast to the point of becoming corrupt to succeed. Business is unfortunately not always clean, but Holmes is merely one of many stories revealed openly about unethical practices. And because of that, she never truly accomplished what she set out to do.

Related: Best 70s Crime Films, Ranked

An All-Star Ensemble Cast

Hulu

To prepare for her role, Seyfried had to master one of Holmes’ signature characteristics: her deep voice. Many have speculated it to have been fake for years, yet another construct in Holmes’ master plan, and the show chooses to go this route. Seyfried weaves the deeper voice in specific contexts, such as when she is around a lot of men. It is moments like these where a stark juxtaposition against Holmes’ real attitude and appearance tells a different, underlying story. She is a woman desperate to succeed in the cutthroat business world, even if it means altering certain personal aspects, mythologizing herself with the deep voice, black turtleneck, and red lips. If it is what it takes to succeed, she is willing to do anything, and she does.

Amanda Seyfried, who has been nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Mank, weaves in the different parts of Holmes’ story seamlessly. Her portrayal has many layers to it, from the awkward teenage girl befriending a man twice her age to the young female CEO entering the cutthroat world of Silicon Valley startups. The viewer cannot help but cringe when she seriously quotes Yoda to a stone-faced chemistry professor (Laurie Metcalf), who then decides that she can longer trust anyone who quotes Star Wars in her lab. While McKinnon was once intended for the role of Holmes, it seems that Seyfried was a good replacement, as she nails it and evokes a sense of what the story wants you to take away from it.

Related: Best Series to Watch on Hulu Right Now

The ensemble cast in The Dropout provides a set of cohesive performances that makes this story particularly gripping. The show’s linear storytelling and cast set up Holmes to be this awkward, intelligent, but remarkable antihero that manages to deceive everyone for years about technology that did not work. There is skepticism interjected with the awe and wonder for what she has done, and this is what makes a good story. After the viewer follows her origin story, building sympathy for her situation and what she has experienced, this is torn away through her decisions. It is an inner look at the university dropouts who want to make it big in the business world, but fall to their own ambition.

The Dropout is a limited series, so it is only eight episodes long and has a run time of eight hours. The first three episodes have already been released, while the remaining episodes will be dropping weekly every Thursday. The Dropout is currently available to stream on Hulu.

About The Author

Ashley Hajimirsadeghi
(61 Articles Published)

Writer, author, and aspiring critic. Find me @ashleynassarine.

More
From Ashley Hajimirsadeghi

You can view the original article HERE.