What is it about people who work in the entertainment industry that makes them think anyone is interested in their politics? The “American Horror Story: Cult” series premiered this week and was a little heavy on the “resistance.”
Kyle Smith writes at National Review:
Trump Derangement Syndrome, as Seen on TVIf you’ve been wondering what it might have felt like to be a fanatically left-wing woman in the months following President Trump’s election, the first episode of American Horror Story: Cult gives you an inkling. Our protagonist has visions of killer clowns nobody else can see rampaging through the supermarket on scooters while she haplessly lobs bottles of rosé at them.Dark? Meh. Disturbing? Not really. Hilarious? Now you’re getting the idea. “This is just like what happened to me in college after 9/11 when I couldn’t leave my apartment!” complains the woman. Yep, there’s a sure sign that you’ve completely lost touch with reality.The seventh season of the FX Network horror anthology series, which has a different storyline each year, seems to be the first major Hollywood production to grapple with the Trump presidency on TV or at the movies. It kicked off this season’s opener on September 5 with news footage of then-candidate Donald Trump and — what’s her name? The lady who just assumed she was going to beat him?It segues into what election-night television coverage looked like from two living rooms in a posh suburb in Michigan. In one, a psychotic blue-haired freak who looks like the kind of guy who would make the Joker slightly uncomfortable joyously watches Fox News: “The revolution has begun!” he crows, and “F*** you, world!” and “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” This is the bad guy, if you were wondering.
Here’s the trailer. Kyle is not exaggerating:
So how did the show do in the ratings? Not great.
Joseph A. Wulfsohn reports at Mediaite:
Anti-Trump-Themed American Horror Story Was The Least Watched Premiere in Five YearsThe latest and politically-charged season of American Horror Story had its weakest debut in five years.Deadline reports that American Horror Story: Cult, which premiered Tuesday night, drew 3.93 million viewers and a 2.02 rating among adults 18-49, which is a 24% drop from last year’s premiere of American Horror Story: Roanoke.The story AHS: Cult surrounds Sarah Paulson‘s character, whose numerous phobias including her fear of clowns worsens after Donald Trump shocked the world and won the 2016 election last November while at the same time a cult of scary clowns begin a murderous rampage in her town.This week’s premiere was the worst kickoff for the FX anthology series since its second season back in 2012. American Horror Story: Asylum drew just 3.85 million viewers. The weakest premiere to date is still the 2011 series premiere, which has since been coined as Murder House, that drew 3.18 million viewers.
Do you think the show’s creators have any idea why it’s bombing? More importantly, do they care?
Featured image via YouTube.
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