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| Emma Roberts |
Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.
While they may seem totally different, it is hard not to think of show runner Ryan Murphy as being somewhat of a TV series version of Donald Trump. Maybe he's more willing to give diversity a chance, but there's a certain understanding going in: you're in for a nightmare. Once you get a little nip of them, it's your own fault for sticking around, only to complain about their nonsensical approach to humanity. Yes, Murphy is a fan of genre shows - and he has made a killing off of them most notably with Glee and American Horror Story. However, like Trump, you're more likely to stick around to see if he needs resuscitation, or if the mad man will actually pull off his belligerent pile of nonsense.
That is the only real way to describe Scream Queens, which is gunning to be his worst series yet. Whereas American Horror Story at least hooks you before slowly disappointing your soul, this show comes out of the gate being vitriolic, rancid series in love with the egotistical 20-year-old sorority girl that lives in Murphy's 50-year-old brain. It could just be that Murphy doesn't "get" the young'ins. His best characters are usually older and given less embarrassing dialogue than calling housemaids "White mammy." With that said, this show is a murderer's row of problematic characters, not even allowed names and given shtick over characteristics. At the center is Emma Roberts, whose domineering persona is given the most flamboyantly offensive language of them all.
It could just be that the horror genre isn't my favorite. However, it still doesn't explain the lack of empathy in what is essentially a show with nothing but anti-heroes. Murphy has written these characters, convinced that we'll laugh at them all die. Like most of his other shows, the outcasts are stereotypes of butch lesbians, deaf girls, and airheaded vanity. It could be for laughs, but it all feels insulting without purpose. Roberts quickly calls her co-stars "sluts" before they're even introduced. By the time she leaves her bedroom, she is a caricature of meanness. You expect her to say mean things even to the doorknob. Even if there's Jamie Lee Curtis as an authority figure, she isn't given much of a chance to counterbalance the toxic obsessions of Roberts' character. In fact, nothing about it feels real.
The one exception to Murphy's problematic career is that he at least seemed to like classic horror films. I watched American Horror Story: Freak Show and was continually impressed with his visual cues. It covered everything from predictable fare like Freaks to the work of German expressionism. Say what you will about how the story deteriorated, but I admired his ability to be playful with his camera. While there's a deliberate Psycho reference made early on, Scream Queens is lacking that flair. It could be that director Wes Craven did this better 20 years ago, but it also just makes me more aware of how disconnected this show is as a whole. The only references made are jarringly obvious attempts at a 50-year-old trying to understand people 30 years his junior. Yes, there's Michael Bay and Twilight shout-outs. Yes, they're kind of painful, largely because they're buzzword punchlines than anything else.
I don't know if I just have been thankfully unaware of Murphy's tackiness in the past, but Scream Queens feels like a show with a mission statement that is in title alone. It wants to be a nod to the female victim genre of horror. However, there hasn't been evidence that these are at all strong women. Even the characters are fourth wall-breaking aware of how dumb things are. There's no character development or intriguing mystery to make the first two episodes worthwhile. All you'll get is flamboyant gay stereotypes and women who are too smug to be considered funny. If you're like me, you'll even wonder what happened to Abigail Breslin (she got an Oscar nomination, right?) to land is such garbage.
Much like Trump, I don't think that Murphy likes women and Scream Queens reflects exactly why that is. Every character is an archetype without purpose. His women are idiots who illogically hate each other. One of the first murder victims spends her last living moments to type an exhaustively redundant message onto Facebook, knowing the killer is feet away from her. I get that this is supposed to be horror-comedy, but it's frankly too stupid. Like Trump, Murphy seems to only exist because he is a baffling white male who kicks people when they're down. The one catch is that Murphy can be entertaining about his faults. The only sad part is that he won't go away.
Should you watch Scream Queens? It isn't even fun in the way that Freak Show was. You don't ever get a sense of who this show is made for. It is an example of what happens when Murphy is a man who has his ego disproportionately blown up with a few *good* shows and thinks that he can do anything. Yes, I get that this was supposed to bridge that mysterious gap between Glee and American Horror Story, but it neither succeeds as the campy outcast story of the former or the horror grab bag of the latter. It's nothing. It could get better, but that's not Murphy's style. Much like Trump, you're likely to hate yourself before he ever realizes that.
That is the only real way to describe Scream Queens, which is gunning to be his worst series yet. Whereas American Horror Story at least hooks you before slowly disappointing your soul, this show comes out of the gate being vitriolic, rancid series in love with the egotistical 20-year-old sorority girl that lives in Murphy's 50-year-old brain. It could just be that Murphy doesn't "get" the young'ins. His best characters are usually older and given less embarrassing dialogue than calling housemaids "White mammy." With that said, this show is a murderer's row of problematic characters, not even allowed names and given shtick over characteristics. At the center is Emma Roberts, whose domineering persona is given the most flamboyantly offensive language of them all.
It could just be that the horror genre isn't my favorite. However, it still doesn't explain the lack of empathy in what is essentially a show with nothing but anti-heroes. Murphy has written these characters, convinced that we'll laugh at them all die. Like most of his other shows, the outcasts are stereotypes of butch lesbians, deaf girls, and airheaded vanity. It could be for laughs, but it all feels insulting without purpose. Roberts quickly calls her co-stars "sluts" before they're even introduced. By the time she leaves her bedroom, she is a caricature of meanness. You expect her to say mean things even to the doorknob. Even if there's Jamie Lee Curtis as an authority figure, she isn't given much of a chance to counterbalance the toxic obsessions of Roberts' character. In fact, nothing about it feels real.
The one exception to Murphy's problematic career is that he at least seemed to like classic horror films. I watched American Horror Story: Freak Show and was continually impressed with his visual cues. It covered everything from predictable fare like Freaks to the work of German expressionism. Say what you will about how the story deteriorated, but I admired his ability to be playful with his camera. While there's a deliberate Psycho reference made early on, Scream Queens is lacking that flair. It could be that director Wes Craven did this better 20 years ago, but it also just makes me more aware of how disconnected this show is as a whole. The only references made are jarringly obvious attempts at a 50-year-old trying to understand people 30 years his junior. Yes, there's Michael Bay and Twilight shout-outs. Yes, they're kind of painful, largely because they're buzzword punchlines than anything else.
I don't know if I just have been thankfully unaware of Murphy's tackiness in the past, but Scream Queens feels like a show with a mission statement that is in title alone. It wants to be a nod to the female victim genre of horror. However, there hasn't been evidence that these are at all strong women. Even the characters are fourth wall-breaking aware of how dumb things are. There's no character development or intriguing mystery to make the first two episodes worthwhile. All you'll get is flamboyant gay stereotypes and women who are too smug to be considered funny. If you're like me, you'll even wonder what happened to Abigail Breslin (she got an Oscar nomination, right?) to land is such garbage.
Much like Trump, I don't think that Murphy likes women and Scream Queens reflects exactly why that is. Every character is an archetype without purpose. His women are idiots who illogically hate each other. One of the first murder victims spends her last living moments to type an exhaustively redundant message onto Facebook, knowing the killer is feet away from her. I get that this is supposed to be horror-comedy, but it's frankly too stupid. Like Trump, Murphy seems to only exist because he is a baffling white male who kicks people when they're down. The one catch is that Murphy can be entertaining about his faults. The only sad part is that he won't go away.
Should you watch Scream Queens? It isn't even fun in the way that Freak Show was. You don't ever get a sense of who this show is made for. It is an example of what happens when Murphy is a man who has his ego disproportionately blown up with a few *good* shows and thinks that he can do anything. Yes, I get that this was supposed to bridge that mysterious gap between Glee and American Horror Story, but it neither succeeds as the campy outcast story of the former or the horror grab bag of the latter. It's nothing. It could get better, but that's not Murphy's style. Much like Trump, you're likely to hate yourself before he ever realizes that.
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