A few weeks ago I reviewed Crimson Peak, a film that explicitly states that it has ghosts in it, but it isn’t a ghost story. American Horror Story similarly continues in its exact same vein of being a drama with horror tropes, but not a horror (and it is still disappointing for it). This season, Freak Show, feels like a bit of a departure from previous seasons, in that whilst the regular cast show up again, cosmetically or digitally enhanced to resemble sideshow attractions, we get a load more new characters – some of whom have actually lived in somewhat similar roles in real life.
That was a good idea, Firstly, because it is always sucky when TV shows ask us to care about people with disabilities, only to deny such people decent roles. Secondly because some of the personal experiences of these actors seem to have worked their way in to the drama, giving a colour and verisimilitude the show has not had before. The show is at its best when it focuses on these people’s day to day lives as social pariahs, and at its worse when it focuses on recycled (unscary) horror tropes.
I’m not scared by evil clowns or mentally ill mommy’s boys. The former is tired, and the latter looks like a punch down at mentally ill people (sadly consistent with this show’s spotty presentation of mental sickness and the health profession around it). The big evil this time around is the cruelty and callousness of “normal” people. The show is pre-occupied with how they are simultaneously fascinated yet disgusted by sideshow freaks. There is the potential to extend this to a meta-level by holding a mirror up to us, the audience. We too are still morbidly curious and voyeuristic about people’s physical deformities, to the point that we’d watch million dollar tv shows about them for entertainment. Having only seen the first half dozen episodes, the show is yet to indicate such a degree of self-awareness, and I’ll be quite worried if it doesn’t by the finish.
Freakshow is one of the better seasons of AHS, but it still has some awkward issues with taste. It also has some god awful musical numbers in it to put up with, and some really annoying background music that seems to consist entirely of an endlessly croaking frog. If you can tolerate those, it is a decent enough distraction.
Precarious as Always
A few weeks ago I reviewed Crimson Peak, a film that explicitly states that it has ghosts in it, but it isn’t a ghost story. American Horror Story similarly continues in its exact same vein of being a drama with horror tropes, but not a horror (and it is still disappointing for it). This season, Freak Show, feels like a bit of a departure from previous seasons, in that whilst the regular cast show up again, cosmetically or digitally enhanced to resemble sideshow attractions, we get a load more new characters – some of whom have actually lived in somewhat similar roles in real life.
That was a good idea, Firstly, because it is always sucky when TV shows ask us to care about people with disabilities, only to deny such people decent roles. Secondly because some of the personal experiences of these actors seem to have worked their way in to the drama, giving a colour and verisimilitude the show has not had before. The show is at its best when it focuses on these people’s day to day lives as social pariahs, and at its worse when it focuses on recycled (unscary) horror tropes.
I’m not scared by evil clowns or mentally ill mommy’s boys. The former is tired, and the latter looks like a punch down at mentally ill people (sadly consistent with this show’s spotty presentation of mental sickness and the health profession around it). The big evil this time around is the cruelty and callousness of “normal” people. The show is pre-occupied with how they are simultaneously fascinated yet disgusted by sideshow freaks. There is the potential to extend this to a meta-level by holding a mirror up to us, the audience. We too are still morbidly curious and voyeuristic about people’s physical deformities, to the point that we’d watch million dollar tv shows about them for entertainment. Having only seen the first half dozen episodes, the show is yet to indicate such a degree of self-awareness, and I’ll be quite worried if it doesn’t by the finish.
Freakshow is one of the better seasons of AHS, but it still has some awkward issues with taste. It also has some god awful musical numbers in it to put up with, and some really annoying background music that seems to consist entirely of an endlessly croaking frog. If you can tolerate those, it is a decent enough distraction.