Two True American Horror Stories
Whether we realize it or not, Hollywood releases new shows and films for a good reason. Though it often goes unnoticed, new works tend to have some sort of relevance to the public or popular culture at the time.
One of the most watched shows right now, American Horror Story, has just finished up Season 6 of the wildly popular spectacle on the horrors of the dark stories they cover. The show is on both FX and Netflix.
The ten-episode season played within the months of October and November. So naturally, while the 2016 presidential election’s reality was in full swing, American Horror Story: Roanoke was, too.
This season of the disturbingly raw show made countless jabs and comments on America today and how the legend of the Roanoke colony brings our society in a full circle when it comes to the deeper issues we hold as a population.
The story of the ancient people of Roanoke is a historic mystery. They were the first known English settlement in North America who completely vanished, leaving behind no trace of the 117 colonists except one word carved into a post: “Croatoan.”
Image from American Horror Story courtesy of FX
This cryptic message has never found an exact meaning or origin, in history or the show. Some say it is a message of warning from the natives to all future English settlers to stay away.
“Oh, leave me alone!” lead actress Sarah Paulson’s British character said. “I’m not American. I’m not used to this kind of carnage.”
It seems that we’ve become immune to the terror of acts of hate, like no bloodshed can even faze us anymore. During this election we as Americans have seen protests, violence, riots, and vicious hatred spread across the nation.
Topics like racism, sexism, abuse of power, corrupt law enforcement, and our flawed justice system were frequently touched upon when the pure terror would subside for a few minutes.
“Yeah, racism is scary,” Taissa Farmiga’s character said. “Patriarchy is scary!”
Ryan Murphy, creator of AHS, made sure to use subtlety when poking fun at the world outside of the fictional show, but on the other hand was not afraid to be brash.
The way this season of AHS connected to the world as we know it was by showing people the truth in a chilling, memorable way.
American Horror Story wasn’t afraid to comment on the way we live through tragedies and controversies while our humanity is in question like never before.