Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of articles about how American Horror Story: Hotel is like the worst thing ever aired. All sorts of flippity-floo about how Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have gone too far in their push-the-envelope style of depictions of sex and gore, use of taboo concepts like homosexuality and transgendered people, how Lady Gaga is more or less portraying what people think Lady Gaga is, which is a weirdo who likes to do things for shock value, and how the franchise is undeniably dead with the fact that Jessica Lange (supposedly) has left.
Perhaps I don’t analyze things so much when I’m watching them, or more likely the fact that I’m just not really thinking too hard, but I haven’t had any problems with AHS:Hotel so far, and I’ve found them to be entertaining. For baseline sake, I found Freak Show to be entertaining, in spite of the popular belief that it was the weakest of the four prior seasons.
In some regard, I think I’m a little desensitized when it comes to shock, gore and sex depicted on television, and I’m more apt to ponder on whether or not someone, be it show creators, or someone at FX is going to get in trouble for pushing the envelope as hard as they’ve been pushing it, but when I’m watching people getting their throats slit and/or sexually assaulted, I might cringe and go “Ohhhh” but it’s nothing that’s going to mentally scar me for eternity, as the rhetoric spouted by Parent Television Council sheep would have you believe it should. If anything at all, just seeing “Murphy/Falchuk” combined with the fact that it’s on FX, by now, anyone should know that they’re going to see some pretty intense stuff.
Sure, I was disappointed when it was announced that Jessica Lange was going to step away from the series, because it’s been undeniable just who had carried the franchise on her back over the last four years. But all things eventually change, and it’s not like she left because of money, or some selfish reasons that created a massive fallout with Ryan Murphy; she simply wanted to step away and get some time back, where she wasn’t obligated to work for a show. The door is open for her to return, and there’s already rumors that she’s going to appear as a cameo this season.
At the same time, Lange’s departure has opened the door for any one of the other show mainstays to grab the mantle and put the show on their back. Evan Peters or Sarah Paulson, and even possibly Kathy Bates or the ageless Angela Bassett, could very well rise up and absolutely become that character whom commanded attention, and said things with such conviction and venom that maybe we’ll move on from Jessica Lange.
When Lady Gaga was announced to be in the show, I recall that there was a lot of outcry or pessimistic skepticism towards her participation in the show; or at least a very vocal camp of those who disagreed with her casting. However, I would say that I was in the camp that was optimistic, and thought that if there was anyone who could dampen the loss of Jessica Lange, it would be someone like Lady Gaga whom sure, has never really acted in a large project like AHS, but has presence, charisma and an obvious lack of fear when it comes to doing pretty much anything on screen. So far, I have to say that I haven’t been disappointed with her performance; to no surprise, her dialogue has been minimal, and has let visuals, intense stares and other actions do all the speaking for her.
Inevitably, the combination of Ryan Murphy’s love of musical numbers, the glam setting of the Hotel Cortez, and the show’s basic cashing in on having Lady Gaga is going to result in some sort of musical performance in the season, and it’s probably going to be really awesome.
The point is, I think people need to mellow out, turn off their brains or something, and just sit back and enjoy the program. Overanalyzing plot and comparing this season to prior seasons results in nothing but a recipe for disappointment. We’re just two episodes in, and it’s vastly way too soon to be casting such definitive judgment on a show that’s still not even close to blossoming yet.
