The Dropout

I very much have a bias towards anything related to the Elizabeth Holmes case because I find it so intriguing and the consequences of this infamous case potentially being so severe for future female entrepreneurs and the distrust of female leaders. So it is rated higher than I probably would've rated it if I had absolutely no connection to the case and this was my first exposure to the case. For those unaware, the Elizabeth Holmes case is about Elizabeth Holmes, a former biotechnology entrepreneur who frauded a whole of lot investors out of their money and panicked a whole bunch of people with false results from their technology. Elizabeth Holmes was an ambitious Stanford dropout who wanted to create a piece of technology that could revolutionize the field of biotechnology, what she called the Edison, a blood testing kit that only needed a drop of blood to perform hundreds of tests. Only problem, that is impossible. There isn't enough cells within a drop of blood to perform hundreds of blood tests, there's a reason why they all require bags of blood. No one would want to drain an excess amount of blood for an unnecessary reason; at least I hope not. So, how did she become the youngest and wealthiest self-made female billionaire with a company that used to be worth 9 billion dollars on a product that didn't even work? No clue. Probably her charisma, but to be honest, the more clips I watch of her, she just freaks me the fuck out. Her creepy stare, her messy hair, it doesn't work for me. But apparently it did for a bunch of other private investors and venture capitalists. Now, to the actual show. It was very underwhelming. Like- extremely underwhelming. I, at first, thought it would be more of a deep dive into the psychology of Elizabeth Holmes. After all, that's one of the main reasons why I was drawn to the case, the psychology of it all. How could someone who knows their product doesn't work, still believe so deeply in it? How could someone who presents themselves so messily be so convincing and charismatic to everyone else? How could Elizabeth Holmes be Elizabeth Holmes? That was the question I wanted to be answered within this miniseries, sort of an in-depth analysis of the character of Elizabeth Holmes, and we get hints of that in the last episode, but never anything concrete. Everything is just surface level stuff we all already knew about her. She has the drive, the charisma, and the belief, but why? What makes her who she is? They probably couldn't do that because Elizabeth's character is so carefully crafted that not much about her personal life is in the public's knowledge, so they probably couldn't do much or else it could be considered slander or something like that. Interestingly, the cinematography isn't as interesting as I hoped it would be. The shots aren't very interesting and there isn't much playfulness when it comes to certain scenes where I think it would probably be necessary for the environment of the scene. The best aspect of the series is the acting, with Amanda Seyfried killing it as Elizabeth Holmes. And knowing that she's a soprano, it was probably extremely difficult to drop her voice down low to that classic baritone that Elizabeth uses, so I don't mind the inconsistencies between the episodes with her voice. The writing is a close second, with certain scenes being extremely well written and certain lines being great as we can see how other characters view Elizabeth Holmes. The Dropout just feels more like a retelling, like a visual form of the podcast that the show is based on which has the same name. Don't expect anything thoughtful or deep about the story of Elizabeth Holmes, just a not-so-fun ride of a story being retold in the visual format. And I'm saying not-so-fun if you like the character of Elizabeth Holmes. For me it was fun cause I fucking hate her :)