Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Who are you…really? If you’ve been watching the TV show Severance, it puts this question into a very weird but kind of amazing way in that it takes the idea of splitting a person's brain into two parts and creating two versions of the same you, separated and detached but still connected. And after coming across this interesting concept on Reddit from the fans, I want to go into this even further because of something called the you you are theory. Spoilers ahead.
The You You Are theory or concept is the idea that you, as a person, have an inner child. It’s the version of you that you were when you were young, raw and unmodified by the world. As time goes on, this inner child becomes replaced with an older version of yourself, which takes over as you become an adult. The inner child has morphed into the outer adult, or some could say, is still there, separated in the background.
The inner child is, some would say, the person we perhaps truly want to be, the person we used to be and now long to be again. It’s about recognising the beautiful parts of who we were with all the feelings and joys and interests we had as kids, which then feel like get uprooted as we get older and have our innocence be corrupted by the hard world around us.
But how does this relate to Severance?
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What is Severance?
Severance is an American science fiction psychological thriller television series created by Dan Erickson, and executive produced and primarily directed by Ben Stiller. It stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, Sarah Bock and Patricia Arquette. The series follows employees at the biotechnology corporation Lumon Industries who have undergone "severance"—a medical procedure that ensures they retain no memories of the outside world while at work, and have no recollection of their job once they leave. This results in two distinct personalities for each employee: the "innie", who exists solely within Lumon, and the "outie", who lives their personal life outside of work.
Severance premiered on Apple TV+ on February 18, 2022. It received acclaim for its cinematography, direction, production design, musical score, story, and performances. It received 14 nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards and Creative Arts Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series and acting nominations for Scott, Turturro, Walken, and Arquette; it won for Main Title Design and musical score. The second season premiered on January 17, 2025. Severance was renewed for a third season on March 21, 2025.
Erickson conceived of Severance in a period of depression working an office job at a door factory after he had completed his master's degree in television writing. He found the job so monotonous that he wished he could "skip the eight hours of the workday, to disassociate and just get it over with".
Erickson submitted his pilot script to Ben Stiller's production company Red Hour Productions in 2015, and it was passed to Stiller by the development executive Jackie Cohn. Stiller read it at least five years before Severance premiered, and said the project was "the longest thing I've ever worked on". He said he enjoyed the story's contributions to the workplace comedy. Erickson has described his earlier versions of the pilot as "weirder" and containing many stray elements with no backstory such as a disembodied pair of legs running by Mark, a charred floor with burnt desks, and a woman trapped in a glass cubicle. Erickson credits Stiller with grounding the show, saying "he felt that the concept was weird enough that you didn't have to throw a bunch of other Terry Gilliam-esque bells and whistles at it." According to Erickson, "Ben fell in love with the part of the show that was this weird human sadness of a person who would willingly do this to himself."
And if you’re still reading this – hello.
This video is made through Fair Use under copyright law for the purposes of education in criticism or review; as well as parody or satire. copyright.gov/title17/92c https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod
Who are you…really? If you’ve been watching the TV show Severance, it puts this question into a very weird but kind of amazing way in that it takes the idea of splitting a person's brain into two parts and creating two versions of the same you, separated and detached but still connected. And after coming across this interesting concept on Reddit from the fans, I want to go into this even further because of something called the you you are theory. Spoilers ahead.
The You You Are theory or concept is the idea that you, as a person, have an inner child. It’s the version of you that you were when you were young, raw and unmodified by the world. As time goes on, this inner child becomes replaced with an older version of yourself, which takes over as you become an adult. The inner child has morphed into the outer adult, or some could say, is still there, separated in the background.
The inner child is, some would say, the person we perhaps truly want to be, the person we used to be and now long to be again. It’s about recognising the beautiful parts of who we were with all the feelings and joys and interests we had as kids, which then feel like get uprooted as we get older and have our innocence be corrupted by the hard world around us.
But how does this relate to Severance?
Thank you to my incredible Patreons for continuing to support this channel. You guys are amazing.
These include the lovely people “Matthew McKinley", "Adam McCarter", "FloNess" and "ThatEvilCanadian” at the time this was made.
If you’d also like the option of becoming a Patreon, head to:
patreon.com/motioninart
For more of my reviews, analyses, and other articles:
motioninartmedia.com
Twitter:
twitter.com/motion_in_art
Reddit:
reddit.com/user/motioninart
Odysee:
odysee.com/@motioninart:3
To join the channel's Super Friends members:
youtube.com/channel/UCqKD9LycFTu8MxYCaX9Z8XA/join
What is Severance?
Severance is an American science fiction psychological thriller television series created by Dan Erickson, and executive produced and primarily directed by Ben Stiller. It stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, Sarah Bock and Patricia Arquette. The series follows employees at the biotechnology corporation Lumon Industries who have undergone "severance"—a medical procedure that ensures they retain no memories of the outside world while at work, and have no recollection of their job once they leave. This results in two distinct personalities for each employee: the "innie", who exists solely within Lumon, and the "outie", who lives their personal life outside of work.
Severance premiered on Apple TV+ on February 18, 2022. It received acclaim for its cinematography, direction, production design, musical score, story, and performances. It received 14 nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards and Creative Arts Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series and acting nominations for Scott, Turturro, Walken, and Arquette; it won for Main Title Design and musical score. The second season premiered on January 17, 2025. Severance was renewed for a third season on March 21, 2025.
Erickson conceived of Severance in a period of depression working an office job at a door factory after he had completed his master's degree in television writing. He found the job so monotonous that he wished he could "skip the eight hours of the workday, to disassociate and just get it over with".
Erickson submitted his pilot script to Ben Stiller's production company Red Hour Productions in 2015, and it was passed to Stiller by the development executive Jackie Cohn. Stiller read it at least five years before Severance premiered, and said the project was "the longest thing I've ever worked on". He said he enjoyed the story's contributions to the workplace comedy. Erickson has described his earlier versions of the pilot as "weirder" and containing many stray elements with no backstory such as a disembodied pair of legs running by Mark, a charred floor with burnt desks, and a woman trapped in a glass cubicle. Erickson credits Stiller with grounding the show, saying "he felt that the concept was weird enough that you didn't have to throw a bunch of other Terry Gilliam-esque bells and whistles at it." According to Erickson, "Ben fell in love with the part of the show that was this weird human sadness of a person who would willingly do this to himself."
And if you’re still reading this – hello.
This video is made through Fair Use under copyright law for the purposes of education in criticism or review; as well as parody or satire. copyright.gov/title17/92c https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod
