History Series / TheAssassinationOfGianniVersace

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: In real life, Andrew, presumably on purpose, violently threw his mother against the wall and dislocated her shoulder, as the two were arguing about Andrew's recent admission of his homosexuality. In the series, the incident is seemingly portrayed as an accident, and one that occurred over something much more trivial – Andrew getting annoyed by Mary Anne's insistence that she come along with him to Italy while he "works" for Versace, and the incident causes him genuine guilt and remorse, especially after she covers for him at the doctor's. The show also omits a number of other red flags about Andrew's physically abusive behavior towards friends.

* AintTooProudToBeg: William Reese, Andrew's fourth victim is depicted pleading for his life before Andrew [[BoomHeadshot executes him mid-sentence.

** The first onscreen appearance of Andrew's mother tells you everything you need to know about them. She keeps cheering and babying him, and tells him she's been telling flamboyant lies about him to other people to make them jealous. But when he tries to reach her for emotional support, she pulls out to focus on her own lies. In other words, she doesn't actually love or even care about her son as much as about her own insane construct version of him. And he knows it.

* AintTooProudToBeg: [[spoiler: William Reese, Andrew's fourth victim is depicted Pleading for his life before Andrew [[BoomHeadshot executes him mid-sentence]].]]
* AlasPoorVillain: Even after several episodes of selfishness, manipulation, and murder, it's hard not to feel bad for Andrew at the very end: he is completely alone with no money, no friends, no vehicle, and not even ''food.'' And he has absolutely no plan to get out of his predicament. In fact, he's afraid to even leave the houseboat he's squatting in, for fear of the police and FBI hunting him. And when they finally are (literally) at the door, he [[spoiler: takes the [[AteHisGun only way out]] he has left.]]

* BackToFront: The series opens with Versace's murder and then flashes backward to show how Cunanan began his road to the crime, including earlier murders. Thus, each episode takes place before the previous one. There are some exceptions, where Jeff's DayInTheLimelight episode features him meeting Andrew for the first time in the same episode where their friendship permanently degrades, while subsequent episodes show them still as best friends.

* CampGay: Andrew enjoys opera, fashion and expensive dining.

* HopeSpot: "House by the Lake" ends with David apparently managing to seek shelter from Andrew's bullets and reuniting with his father. [[spoiler:It's then revealed that this is a hallucination; David took a bullet to chest and is now flat on his back, with Andrew preparing to deliver a kill shot.]]

* IronicName: '''Modest'''o isn't exactly a humble fellow.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Andrew is so tone-deaf that he interrupts David, ''the man he is trying to seduce'', when David is talking about his unprivileged childhood, ''after Andrew asked him about it'', to tell another anecdote about his own (Cunanan's) pampered childhood.

* LighterAndSofter: In real life, Andrew, presumably on purpose, violently threw his mother against the wall and dislocated her shoulder, as the two were arguing about Andrew's recent admission of his homosexuality. In the series, the incident is seemingly portrayed as an accident, and one that occurred over something much more trivial – Andrew getting annoyed by Mary Anne's insistence that she come along with him to Italy while he "works" for Versace, and the incident causes him genuine guilt and remorse, especially after she covers for him at the doctor's. The show also omits a number of other red flags about Andrew's physically abusive behavior towards friends.

** The first onscreen appearance of Andrew's mother tells you everything you need to know about them. She keeps cheering and babying him, and tells him she's been telling flamboyant lies about him to other people to make them jealous. But when he tries to reach her for actual support, she pulls out to focus on her lies. In other words, she doesn't actually love her son as much as the insane construct version of him that she made in her head. And he knows it.

* AbusiveParents: In flashbacks, it's shown that while Modesto Cunanan pampered Andrew, he was neglectful towards his older children and physically and emotionally abusive towards his wife. It's also heavily implied that Modesto molested Andrew at one point, which was not confirmed in real life (though he was rumored to have been molested by a priest).

* CrazyJealousGuy: Andrew towards David. It gets to the point that he thinks Jeff moving to Minnesota means he is trying to make a move on David because David also lives there.

* MachoCamp: Antonio D'Amico, [[HistoricalBeautyUpgrade moreso]] when played by Creator/RickyMartin.
* ManlyGay: Jeff Trail, a Navy lieutenant not even suspected before he intervened to defend a sailor who was getting a beating for being gay, and who later works at a propane tank warehouse.

** The john Andrew picks up on the beach is implied to be one. He can't bring himself to complete a 911 call (after Andrew almost murdered him) because he knows he'll have to explain what they'd been up to.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The bulk of the series takes place during the nineties, when gay relationships were still largely frowned upon, and thus the police aren't terribly sympathetic when they question Antonio about Gianni's sex life.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In the finale, Ronnie chews out the FBI agents for expecting the gay community to help them catch Cunanan when they've ignored violence against gay people for years.
** Andrew himself is on the receiving end from both his own father and David Madson, The former who mocks Andrew for his weak-willed nature, and the latter who calls out Cunanan on his parasitic lifestyle.

* StraightGay: Jeff Trails.

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Andrew at first revels in his murder of Gianni Versace and the infamy at his brought him. However, his joy vanishes when the authorities take this crime far more seriously than the previous murders Andrew committed and he finds that living on the run is extremely difficult. Turns out that killing a major celebrity has very harsh consequences.

* CrazyJealousGuy: Andrew towards David. It gets to the point that he thinks Jeff moving to Minneapolis means he is trying to make a move on David because David also lives there.

* GoldDigger: Despite the fact that Antonio has been with Versace with fifteen years and sincerely loves him, Donatella still harbors some suspicion that he's just a taker and with Versace for what he can provide. Played straight with David who enters into relationships with older gay men for their money.

* GoldDigger: Despite the fact that Antonio has been with Versace with fifteen years and sincerely loves him, Donatella still harbors some suspicion that he's just a taker and with Versace for what he can provide.

* ConsummateProfessional: The Escort Agency lady is curt, but she's also good at her job.
** She turns Andrew down because [[GenreSavvy she knows]] white fetishists request [[MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow Asian women]], but Asian ''men'' are never in demand.

* DeadpanSnarker: Andrew and Donatella are a masters of this. Lizzie certainly has her moments too.

** It's not just friendly sniping, there's real malice under the surface. Gallo knows Andrew is a fraud and detest him. Andrew in turn hates Gallo for being onto him.

* TheResenter: Sort of implied that Andrew resents older rich gay men who managed to build successful careers by remaining closeted. He blames his lack of opportunities in life on being gay - but he's really just a shiftless psychopath with a taste for the finer things and no desire to do actual work for them. His hypocrisy is gradually revealed in later episodes when he's ''openly'' living with a wealthy older gay man who isn't closeted at all, but still resents his success even as he mooches off him. The same episode has Andrew claim he has a PhD, only for his partner to call this out as bullshit because he discovered that Andrew simply ''dropped out'' of college. Andrew doesn't even bother to claim discrimination as an excuse in response, he just childishly protests that "It was boring!"

* RewatchBonus: Andrew really does tell David the truth after the latter asks him to be honest for once, However, it still sounds like such a lie and the viewer hasn't seen the flashback episode of Andrew's life yet, [[CassandraTruth so they and David don't believe him.]]

''The Assassination of Gianni Versace'' is the second season of the Creator/RyanMurphy-produced {{true crime}} {{docudrama}} {{anthology}} series ''Series/AmericanCrimeStory'', aired by Creator/{{FX}} in 2018.

* WickedPretentious: Andrew Cunanan has a taste for the finer things in life and feels entitled to them: expensive clothes, cars, vacations to Europe, etc. He pretends he has the lifestyle standards of a wealthy jet set[=/=]fashion designer type - but in reality he's none of these things. He just obsessively reads ''Vogue'' magazine and gives rants about choosing between fashion designs which he's probably never ''seen'' in real life, much less owned.

* AdultChild: Andrew refuses to get a job or an education, preferring to just leech off of others and whines when he doesn't get his way or doesn't get the privileges he wants, often making him look like a child going into a tantrum when denied a new toy. He even smashes a carton of ice cream his mother got simply because it wasn't the right brand. [[note]]Notably, in real life, one of the only people he seemed to genuinely care for was a toddler, his goddaughter whom he spoiled and built dollhouses for.[[/note]]

* WickedCultured: Andrew Cunanan has a taste for the finer things in life and feels entitled to them: expensive clothes, cars, vacations to Europe, etc. He pretends he has the lifestyle standards of a wealthy jet set[=/=]fashion designer type - but in reality he's none of these things. He just obsessively reads ''Vogue'' magazine and gives rants about choosing between fashion designs which he's probably never ''seen'' in real life, much less owned.

* ConsummateProfessional: The Escort Agency lady is blunt, but she's good at her job. She turns Andrew down because she knows white fetishists request [[MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow Asian women]], Asian men are never in demand.