At a time when the line between politics and pop culture is more blurred than ever, one horror anthology is trying to bridge the difference — though it’s success remains questionable.
FX’s “American Horror Story: Cult” tries to make a statement about the political pulse of America following the 2016 presidential election while instead coming across as a flat satire. This season’s ‘cult’ theme is meant to highlight the hysteria and hive mind tendencies of both political extremes.
This is evident in the first episode, as the ever-charming Evan Peters thrusts his hips into the television and then proceeds to cover his face in Cheeto dust following the announcement of Trump’s presidency.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
On the other side of the spectrum of cartoonish personalities, Sarah Paulson’s character has a full-blown meltdown when she hears the news. Weeping in the arms of her wife, she admits that she had voted for Jill Stein and goes on a tirade about news coverage.
All of American Horror Story’s characters are based on the stereotypes given by the opposing party. Maybe it’s meant to represent the ridiculous narratives each side imposes on the other, or maybe it’s meant to be a satirical take on these larger-than-life stereotypes. Either way, all of the characters are unlikeable. Because they are portraying caricatures of political generalizations, we already know how they will act and react to situations. There is nothing fresh about this season, no matter how much producer Ryan Murphy tries to tell us how relevant and timely it is.
The problem with trying to comment on the current political tension in a heavily-produced television show is that what they are talking about is already old news by the time each weekly episode airs. It is out-of-date and uncomfortable, especially with the addition of buzzwords the characters throw out to seem realistic, like “snowflake,” “trigger warning” and “Lena Dunham.”
These phrases and news stories are uncomfortable because it’s an exaggerated version of the past, and it does not bring anything new or relevant to the table. American Horror Story is playing a game of catch-up that revolves around Paulson wailing and condemning everything, including pharmacy companies, the glowing green chemical truck that only she and her wife can see and her son wanting to name his pet ‘Mr. Guinea’ because it’s too cis-normative.
The worst, however, may have been one woman complaining about how easy it is for uneducated Americans to vote, and then writing in ‘Oprah’ on her ballot.
One episode, in particular, brought in journalists and what could have been a cheap punchline about fake news instead turned into a cameo from Emma Roberts, during which she got a massage, reported fluff pieces and blew her boss to move up in the industry — before being fatally stabbed by a cult of killer clowns, that is.
Sure, this season of American Horror Story is about a living Reddit account with a blue top-knot who capitalizes on fear by starting a clown cult and closing couples in caskets, but it is not trying to be a joke. “American Horror Story: Cult” wants to be a true-to-life analysis of political instability. Instead, it compares the death of a wrongly-targeted Latino man to a guinea pig that was blown up in the microwave.
Do you think Sarah Paulson cried harder after shooting the man or after finding out Mr. Guinea had been microwaved, allegedly by her militant, Bernie-loving neighbors who blame her for murdering a minority?
(Spoiler: she assaulted the neighbors; the man’s family didn’t even get an apology.)
