The Dropout follows The Social Network and Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, both of which centre on heartless narcissists whose only motivation was to gain money at any cost to mankind. It’s an eight-part series that you can watch on Hulu. The series is based on Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, who was convicted of defrauding a large number of investors. It is similar to films/shows about the rise and fall of a capitalist. Amanda Seyfried, who is best known for her roles in Mean Girls and Mamma Mia, plays Elizabeth Holmes and has received good reviews for her acting, voice, and demeanour. The series begins with Holmes testifying in a courtroom, giving viewers a sense of what the series is about.
Her mother, Elizabeth Marvel, tries to exert control over her life, but Holmes’ commitment to becoming a billionaire is unwavering from the start. She enrols at Stanford University, where she is lonely and unfriended. She goes to a party where she is raped, and when the university fails to intervene, she decides to leave out. Holmes then persuades her parents to invest the money she needs for her college tuition in Theranos, the firm she is launching.
Her invention is a machine that uses a drop of blood to test someone’s blood, and she succeeds in convincing a large number of people to invest large sums of money, including George Schultz, who served in the American government as Secretary of State and Treasury. Tyler, Schultz’s grandson, was a feature of the plot, performed by Dylan Minnette of 13 Reasons Why fame. He and Erika Cheung, a Theranos whistleblower, both know the technology is flawed. Despite this, the corporation continued to conduct tests, including in Walgreens locations. Unlike Holmes, who was unconcerned about patients receiving incorrect blood test results, Schultz and Cheung felt compelled to act.
Sunny Balwani, a coworker played by Naveen Andrews (Bride and Prejudice), falls in love with Holmes. As she strives to entice investors and keep those who have invested in her company satisfied, the protagonist becomes elusive and eventually completely deceitful. Elizabeth’s decision to fire her company’s chemist will be remembered as one of her many blunders. Meanwhile, a Wall Street Journal correspondent is following her every move.
One of the most important aspects of The Dropout that must be addressed is the sexism and discrimination that the protagonist faces when making each decision, and it is difficult to believe that a young woman can develop a billion-dollar enterprise in a male-dominated world. Because successful businesswomen are scarce, some viewers may believe that Holmes is being prosecuted for being a woman in addition to deceiving clients because she made it to the Forbes list of famous individuals. Unlike movies like The Wolf of Wall Street, in which Scorsese made a real effort to conceal Jordan Belfort’s wrongdoings and obscene behaviour, The Dropout is fairly upfront in presenting the protagonist’s disgusting acts.
