The second episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace helped to explain why the fashion designer’s family objected to this series, opening with a scene heavily implying that Versace was HIV positive. However, the show’s debatable realness should also extend to the incredibly flattering portrayal of the man.
Through two episodes, Gianni Versace has been depicted as a nearly flawless, almost saintly human being (despite Antonio’s claim that he isn’t a saint). In the premiere we saw him stroll through Miami, greeting everyone he met and being treated like a benevolent king, adored by the local citizens.
As a fashion designer, he’s portrayed as a man whose only goal is to make women happy, shying away from praise or adoration and, instead, focused entirely on helping others feel beautiful. At a runway show, while Donatella begged him to be darker and more commercial, he embraced positivity, the joy of life, and even complained about the models being too thin.
Maybe that’s who Gianni Versace really was, a wonderful, nice, caring, loving man. But for the show, this doesn’t work dramatically. The character seems to be put on a pedestal, presented as the embodiment of all that is good. Thematically, this works well as a counterpoint to Andrew Cunanan, a character who despises reality and revels in disturbing behavior.
The problem, however, is that it makes Andrew’s obsession with Versace seem understandable. In the TV show, the two are polar opposites, depicted like Batman and the Joker, two characters who philosophies on society and humanity are at odds. This virtually excuses the fact that Andrew is simply a delusional sociopath with an unhealthy and unrealistic fixation on Versace.
Instead, the show tethers the two of them, thematically and, in the case of their first meeting in the premiere, literally. They become two halves of the same coin, light and dark, linked together. That feels more disrespectful to the Versace legacy than suggesting that he was HIV positive.
It also hurts the show’s attempts at realism. In certain moments, like the scenes involving the pawn shop owner, the show appears to be a true-crime docu-drama, depicting actual events in a straightforward, “Just the facts” kind of way. Yet when it comes to Versace and Cunanan, the show tries to be more poetic, exploring universal themes and overall psychological concepts rather than just portraying them as they really were.
The second season of American Crime Story wants to have it both ways. It wants to show the crimes as they really happened, like the first season did with the O.J. trial. But it also wants to indulge in the tortured psychology of a serial killer, embracing the more abstract notions that exist in the fashion world.
You can’t be realistic and dreamlike. And you can’t say that Gianni Versace is not a saint, but then portray him as flawless. The result is a jumbled and confusing story that doesn’t seem to have a clear idea of what it is.
Do you think the portrayal of Gianni Versace is a problem for the show?
Is Gianni Versace Too Perfect on ‘American Crime Story’ Season 2?
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