For those who don’t already know, American Horror Story is an American series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, this is not a series that follows a continuous line, in each season a different story is presented, independent of the previous ones and with its own result.
However, it is true that the cast generally does not have many variations, especially until the fifth season, the actors are more or less the same and play different roles in each season.
- It’s a series that offers some freedom to the viewer: you can choose in what order to watch the seasons and even skip them if you’re not entirely interested.
- Either way.
- For the most loyal fans.
- It’s interesting to watch the full series and follow year after year to discover small connections between stations.
As the name suggests, American Horror Story keeps real, fictional stories of American popular culture and are certainly horror-laden stories. We see several cultural and historical references such as:
This year we saw a very different season, with a different cast, although two veterans also stand out: Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson.
AHS has us accustomed to seeing supernatural events, souls in search of revenge, haunted houses. . . But this seventh season is not paranormal. It was clear that the sister (Jessica Lange in Asylum) was not wrong when she said this famous phrase that “all monsters are human. “
This season we are witnessing the degradation of humanity, we see its scariest side, it all starts in a complex environment, exactly on election day that Trump won and became president of the United States, and politics will be exactly one of the essential parts of the season.
At the opening we see that we are in a different season. This opening is really special, we see hints of tripophobia, clowns and masks from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
It’s a controversial season, with a lot of critics. However, I think it is also one of the most thoughtful, in which media manipulation is called into question. In addition, we can identify an effort to show how our society resembles a clown circus.
Our fears and phobias sometimes become our worst enemies, which we see clearly in the character of Ally (Sarah Paulson). The series begins by focusing on your phobias (tripophobia and coulrophobia) and how they affect your daily life, your wife and child. But nada. es what it looks like in American Horror Story and, as always, things can change and take a completely unexpected turn.
The character of Kai Anderson (Evan Peters) is at the center of the action, at first we see him as a very intelligent young man, with a great capacity for manipulation and with very radical political ideas that will lead him to create a kind of sect. or cult. Gradually, we discover how this character uses the fears and insecurities of others to achieve his goals.
“When we’re afraid of someone, it’s because we give them power over us. “Hermann Hesse.
We’ve seen an incredible evolution of the characters. All have several changes over the course of the series, but above all the aforementioned Kai and Ally stand out. While one man recovers, it looks like the other loses. When one is vulnerable, is the other strong?
AHS: Cult presents us with the danger of sects and the influence of their leaders, describing their personality very well and showing how the most insecure and vulnerable people are their favorite victims.
The members of the sect are not called by their real names, but by nicknames, in this way Kai suppresses the identity of his followers.
Everything can take an unexpected turn and anyone, at any time, whatever the circumstances, can be more vulnerable and be involved in a situation of manipulation from which it is very difficult to get out.
This whole atmosphere of worship is deeply reinforced by the constant allusions to other well-known sect leaders, some promoters of the most numerous mass suicides in history, such as Jim Jones and his “Drink the Kool-Aid,” Marshall Applewhite and his Sect The Sky?S porte or David Koresh, head of the Davidians.
Among all, does Charles Manson stand out, known for his cult? The Manson family?And for organizing one of the most famous murders in history, I mean the murder of Sharon Tate, who was pregnant and was the wife of director Roman Polanski. This murder is recreated in the series and leaves the viewer speechless.
Kai will tell the stories of these renowned leaders, and Evan Peters himself will be in charge of interpreting them. Kai sees these people as great men of history, with great ideas, idealizes them and tries to imitate them, but it is not. very critical and analyzes the reasons for their failures, so he tries to create a better image of all these leaders, draws inspiration from them, but tries to overcome them, to improve them.
“Fear will free you from your desires, ambitions and needs. “Kai Anderson, AHS: cult-
This personality is reinforced not only by the image of other leaders, but also by one’s own experience. Through some flashbacks, we relived critical moments in Kai’s life and can guess that, perhaps, behind the narcissist one day, there was one person. who suffered and who was also a victim. This sketch immediately brings a reflection: everyone chooses how to deal with adversity, everyone chooses how to face their fears and overcome them. In American Horror Story: Cult, two different forms of this “overtaking” are featured in the characters Kai and Ally.
Kai becomes an extremely narcissistic misogynist and leaves the women of his cult in the background. This male-female rivalry reaches its peak and a world of antagonistic misogyny emerges, in which Valerie Solanas is saved with her SCUM manifesto and her attempt to assassinate Andy Warhol.
There is no shortage of violence to which the series has accustomed us, but this season is presented from a very different perspective, showing the worst of humanity to make us reflect on the manipulation we suffer every day with the current media and political systems. especially in the United States.
“There is nothing more dangerous than a humiliated man. -Kai Anderson, AHS: cult-