american horror story: a further look
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American Horror Story: A Further Look. Comm. 463 Final Project Presented by: Janelle Kluczynski Michelle Lascon Vince Viverito. Breakthrough in Basic Cable Programming. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
American Horror Story: A Further
LookComm. 463 Final Project
Presented by:Janelle KluczynskiMichelle LasconVince Viverito
Breakthrough in Basic Cable
Programming Changing the landscape of
basic cable programming, how is gender, race, and sexual orientation represented in the emerging television series American Horror Story, while at the same time awakening nightmares beyond people’s deepest fears… and secrets? Who is profiting from this show? And how are audiences responding to it’s risky material?
What societal issues is the show drawing
attention to? American Horror Story: Origins of Monstrosity All organized institutions & people of power that
contribute to constructing and framing our knowledge, including religion and social statuses.
Othering with characters of minority… (race).
Power of Patriarchy within casted characters…(gender).
Challenging hetero-normality in a new way in media within the representation of one of their strong leading roles… (sexual orientation)
Other nightmares we stumble on…
Devil & Angel of Death Exorcisms Nazi doctors Flesh eating creatures or
experimented, mutated people, or zombies
Aliens Botched surgical or unethical
psychological therapy procedures Ghosts Mad doctor with mommy issues
turns serial killer And lots more craziness and blood!
This twisted show really gets you on the edge of your seat stirring up your mind!
Political Economy, Production, Profits…
Main Star Actors & Actresses:
Sister Jude - Jessica Lange
Lana Winters – Sara Paulson
Dr. Arthur Arden- James Cromwell
Kit Walker – Evan Peters
Sister Mary Eunice – Lily Rabe
Dr. Oliver Thredson – Zachary Quinto
Guest stars included thus far include: Frances Conroy, Chloe Sevigny, Adam Levine, and Mark Consuelos
According to the American Horror Story: Asylum webpage on Fxnetworks.com (2012), FX is the channel of broadcasting Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk (creators/executive producers/ writers/ directors) Tim Minear & Dante Di Lorento (executive producers)
High Ratings keep growing…
The ratings for American Horror Story, are showing double-digit percentage growth in every demo compared to its predecessor, American Horror Story, pacing +19% ahead of prior year in Adults 18-49.
Asylum is averaging 5.23 million Total Viewers,
3.88 Million Adults 18-49
2.40 million Adults 18-34, which reflect respective gains of +19% in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 and +22% in Adults 18-34.
The program’s highest growth is among Women 18-49 and Men 18-34, each up +24% over prior year.
The median age of the audience for AHS: Asylum is 33 years old.
AHS: Asylum is one of the top-rated dramas on television in delivery of Adults 18-34 with a 3.54 national rating.
**Bibel, Sara. TV by the Numbers. November 15, 2012.
The Holly Wood reporters claim, “Murphy and Falchuk are a long
way from Glee, their other flawed series, as they dabble in what
Murphy said was a psycho-sexual horror story as opposed to, say,
the Saw franchise,” he writes. But it’s hard to tell whether Murphy and Falchuk are real fans of the horror genre or just set out to
create something so creepy and freaky and off-the-charts weird
that it would create massive buzz, he adds. One thing they got right – from bad horror movies, at least – is that every time a character has the opportunity to make a really
bad decision that will almost certainly scare them senseless or kill them, they make it” (Reporters
2011).
Race: Othering with characters of
minority…Characters with ethnic identities and who aren’t white do not last long in this show, at least not as long as the others. Common patterns among characters of color: No Power Die quickly in the show, or may last a couple of episodes Some are only referred to as their race, leaving the audience not knowing their name committing suicide
Gender: power of patriarchy within
female characters…“The women on American Horror Story sure are having a tough time. Besides the generic bias against them because of their gender, they’re running over little girls, having their feet chopped off, their skin peeled from their body and being possessed by the devil *phew*. There is no ‘safe’ way to be a woman at the Briarcliff manor, which is what makes the female characters more intriguing,” says Litsa Dremousis on Nerve.com.
women achieve power through their desire or relationships with men
Lana, Grace, and Shelley experience gruesome medical experiments, procedures, and therapies.
Sexual Orientation: challenging
hetero-normality Intense pressure to stay closeted
about her sexual identity because of discrimination
Conversion/ Aversion therapy she was forced to endure in attempt to “convert” her and to make her feel shameful about being a lesbian. “gay-reparative therapy”
“I do believe that in promoting empathy for Lana and her own personal hell, the show is encouraging viewers to consider, even just for a split second, the various humiliations and slights that LGBT people experienced in the show's setting of 1964, and which many still suffer today,” says Brian Juergens on Afterelton.com (2012).
Audience Perception
This FX show has pulled in 5.79 million viewers in it’s second season
What the reviews are saying “FX has unleashed on us something
we've never seen” “They are really pushing the edge of
cable TV” “American Horror Story couldn't be
more different. Their unique yet different styles and personalities are the reason this weird show works. In the same way they are able to connect with every character in the show, they are also able to connect with every member of the audience”
Audience Perception
“American Horror Story is not like any other show you've seen on television, in fact, I'm pretty surprised they are able to get away with some of the stuff they are doing”
“It's innovative and pushes the limits of what you can do on television. It's a show that is most definitely not for everyone”
Audience Perception
What weekly viewers of the show are saying Q1. what do u feel is the best feature of the
show? It has so many twists in it that keeps you
interested The wide range of characters in the show That they challenge the regular mold of the
shows we see No one is off limits, it challenges the church
and other institutions
Audience Perception
Q2. How do you think the show illustrates race and homosexuality compared to other shows? Race is shown in a relevant way of the time period,
not being around much, deemed invisible, while most shows try to include minority characters forcibly in the story lines
There were a few times where characters were shortened to their race, Jew , Mexican, but it fits in the reality of the time frame
Because the show is based in a religious setting, it deems homosexuality as a sin and reminds people of how idiotic that idea is
The show brings back the struggle of homosexuality that many people endured. Now shows are so accepting of gay characters with no realistic struggles
Audience Perception
Q3. What was your reaction to the conversion therapy applied to the lesbian character in the show? I thought it was really intense, was
kind of speechless when I saw it It was unnecessary, to think you can
change someone from being gay, I cant believe that they showed it on television.
I was glad they showed that, many people have no clue what sick things they did to gay people to “cure” them
It was a relief to see a show put the reality of what actually happened to people out there.
Work’s CitedAmerican Horrow Story, Asylum. 2012. http://www.fxnetworks.com/ahs/about (accessed
November 24, 2012).
Bibel, Sara. TV by the Numbers. November 15, 2012. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/11/15/american-horror-story-renewed-for-season-3-by-fx/157859/ (accessed November 25, 2012).
Dremousis, Litsa. (2011, Dec. 21). Love lessons from american horror story. Nerve.com. Retrieved on November 16, 2012 from: http://www.nerve.com/love-sex/love-lessons-of-american-horror-story.
Juergens, Brian. (2012, Nov. 16). Groundbreaking “american horror story” gives queers a place at the blood feast. Afterelton.com. Retrieved on November 18, 2012 from: http://www.afterelton.com/2012/11/groundbreaking-american-horror-story-queer-storyline?page=0,1.
Reporters, The HollyWood. 'American Horror Story' What the Critics are Saying. October 5, 2011. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/american-horror-story-what-critics-244654 (accessed November 25, 2012).
Wikipedia. American Horror Story. November 24, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Horror_Story (accessed November 25, 2012).