Jesse Armstrong: ‘Lack of Self-Awareness is Always Good for Comedy’

Disrupting the status quo and hacking away at our insecurities are just a few of the technocratisms bandied about by the four tech bros who have gathered at a mountaintop redoubt in Jesse Armstrong's latest film, Mountainhead. Written, directed, and produced by Succession creator Armstrong, this film skewers the broligarchs' worldview with dark humor and satire.

Rolling Stone recently spoke with Armstrong about his take on skewering the tech elite. When asked if he thought the article that inspired the film got everything right, Armstrong replied, "Well, I was just enjoying rereading the piece. It's really a lot of the same ideas about what it does to people to be in that position of wealth and power." He agreed with the piece's assertion that the way they live is crucial to how they've ended up, rather than their inherent characteristics being the cause.

Armstrong also discussed the lack of self-awareness among the tech elite, stating, "The ones who, quote-unquote, are doing well, that may be just because they have adapted their psychology to an extraordinarily unhealthy level of wealth and power." He highlighted how these individuals often justify their selfishness by convincing themselves that what they're doing is the most important thing.

"I wonder how much of the utopianism is a way of not thinking about the wildfires and scorched ground and increasingly hot days in front of your eyes," Armstrong mused. "It's hard for any of us to keep our focus on that." He noted that these individuals often claim they're saving humanity, which serves as a distraction from the real problems at hand.

A Conversation with Jesse Armstrong

We spoke with Armstrong about his approach to satirizing the tech elite and how he finds inspiration in their worldview. "I'm fascinated by how these people who are so concerned with optimizing themselves justify the selfishness baked into the Silicon Valley vibe," he said.

"Who wants to live forever if you don’t have any friends?" Armstrong asked, highlighting the absurdity of their priorities. He also discussed the importance of human connection and maintaining friendships in a world where the pursuit of wealth and power can be all-consuming.

Power and Comedy

"I've said before that people who lack self-knowledge are good for comedy," Armstrong noted. "And research shows that the more wealthy someone is, the more they misjudge their own abilities." He believes that this lack of self-awareness makes them better comic targets.

"The people in Mountainhead, with the exception of Jason Schwarzman's character, all feel like they've done it," Armstrong observed. "And just as you say in your piece, if you're successful, the sense that you have been responsible for that success is so compelling to human beings." This confidence can be both a strength and a weakness.

The Real Concern: Politics

"But because [with] our capability of boring democratic pushback and regulations — which will automatically be wrong and be too tight in one place and too lax in the other — the only hope the population as a whole has to get its arms around the problem is to eventually get a politician who can explain to us what we want the world to look like," Armstrong said. This highlights his concern that politics, rather than technology, should be our focus.

"I think [the tech elite] do seem to give themselves this sort of messianic quality, right?" he asked. "And I don’t get the sense that many of them are cynical about it." Armstrong notes that these individuals often believe they're doing something truly important and transformative.

A Galaxy Brain

"When it comes to references to long-termism or uploading brains to the grid or the importance of the future happiness of trillions of potential future humans, did you struggle with how to satirize that so-called galaxy brain?" Armstrong was asked. He noted that this concept can be both fascinating and terrifying.

"I was watching the movie with my partner, and some of this stuff sounds so out there that I had to be like, 'No, that's real. They really believe that,'" he recalled. Armstrong highlighted the importance of finding a balance between satire and accuracy in his writing.