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Likewise, American Crime Story has created a whole critically-praised brand for taking exploitative stories and turning them into powerful and reflective works of art. The O.J. case was one of the most overly covered and circus-like trials in American history, but under the hand of Murphy’s team, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story stands as a thoughtful and sad reflection about the clash of racism, sexism, and the power of celebrity in America. The currently running Versace season of American Crime Story is an even better example of the creator’s contextualizing gift. Over the course of a handful of episodes, The Assassination of Gianni Versace has transformed Andrew Cunanan’s victims from forgotten names in an article to fully fleshed out, tragic victims taken before their time. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” took Jeff Trail, a murdered man whose death was largely ignored, and portrayed him as an outstanding naval hero. “House by the Lake”, the series’ episode on the death of David Madson, may be one of the saddest and most emotionally charged episodes of the year.
There have been many projects for Murphy and many years between the first season of American Horror Story and the Versace season of American Crime Story. When American Horror Story first premiered, Murphy was still only really known for Nip/Tuck and Glee. He wasn’t known as a horror-focused creator at all, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he and his team felt like they had to be as shocking as possible to cement the anthology series’ place on television. It’s more difficult to overlook the misstep of Glee, a show known for painting a candy coating on even the deepest of issues. Glee‘s attempt to address the complicated emotions of Sandy Hook was too much, too soon. Of course Murphy wasn’t totally new to the game when either AHS or the Glee episode dropped; but his previous projects erred on the side of shocking broadness, instead of real depth. Murphy is nearly a decade older now, wiser, and with more seasons of television under his belt. Add in that he, and others on his team, have had time to understand the impact of the O.J. case, Andrew Cunanan’s murders, and — unfortunately — the repeated cost of mass shootings, and you start to see why more recent Murphy projects have a more nuanced approached than Tate’s skull-faced attack.
There may be a way to depict school shooting on television. These stories are part of our societal narrative, whether we like them or not, and depicting the horrors of the world is something that art should do. As proven by the American Crime Story franchise, there’s even a chance that Murphy can be the creator to figure out this complicated and somber topic successfully. But at the moment, arguably one of the best remembered examples of school shootings in modern TV history still falls short.
Looking Back On ‘American Horror Story’s School Shooting Episode
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