Is 'American Horror Story' Only for Liberals?
by EG
The upcoming season of American Horror Story, which is inspired by the 2016 presidential election campaign, has the potential to be a long bout of Trump bashing. The show's creators, though, say that's not what it's going to be.
Despite what some may think, American Horror Story: Cult isn't an attack on President Trump.
After deciding to deconstruct his FX anthology series last year with the mysterious sixth season of Roanoke, Ryan Murphy is calling the upcoming seventh season another "unexpected jolt" for longtime viewers of the franchise. Though there were passionate Hollywood voices in the writers room when they started to plot the season in December, the showrunner is now saying that it was never a "pro-Hillary, anti-Donald Trump conversation." Instead, "it was really about trying to understand: Why are people voting for X or Y candidate? What are they feeling? Why are they feeling belittled or disenfranchised or upset with the patriarchal system?"
During a recent press event attended by The Hollywood Reporter, Murphy explained how no matter who people voted for, everyone can relate to the feeling of experiencing the 2016 election night. When Murphy first conceived his election-themed idea in early September, Hillary Clinton was the presumed winner and the opening scene he then imagined was "a little different," he said.
"Our feeling is that everybody lost their shit after the election — Republican, Democrat — and everybody's still losing their shit, and nobody's really figured out from either side where to put those feelings," Murphy explained of the genesis of Cult. "There is no real discussion. Everybody's still at each other's throats, you're either on one side or you're on the other. The season really is not about Trump, it's not about Clinton. It's about somebody who has the wherewithal to put their finger up in the wind and see that that's what's happening and is using that to rise up and form power, and using people's vulnerabilities about how they're afraid and don't know where to turn, and they feel like the world is on fire."
THR joined a handful of press in screening the first three episodes of the highly anticipated season and, as promised, Cult does kick off on 2016 election night, using real footage of both Trump and Clinton ahead of the former's astounding win. As shown in the season trailer, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters portray characters with reactions on opposite sides of the spectrum, serving as an entryway into the political divide that quickly splintered, and is still splintering, in America.
Kai Anderson (Peters) reacts to Trump's election night win by blending Cheetos and smearing them across his face as makeup. From there, however, the season quickly reveals itself to be more about the blue and the red — rather than the orange.
"The characters have very strong views about Trump and Hillary Clinton, but it really is not about them," Murphy reiterated during the event. "It really is about the cult of personality that can rise in a divisive society. That's what this show is about. And I hope that people can figure that out."
Murphy also revealed that Peters will go on to play multiple cult leaders, six in total, in addition to playing Trump supporter Kai — a seemingly racist, homophobe who is accused of emerging from his "parent's basement" after Trump's win — in order to examine how those people rise to power and why people follow them.
Check out the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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