(no subject)

[shadowkat]

Okay, this is a bit weird for a television enterprise... a new FX anthology series by Ryan Murphy, entitled Feud is premiering in 2017, and the first eight episode installment will center on the infamous Bette Davis vs. Joan Crawford feud..

Although considering it's Ryan Murphy, who likes to satirize American pop culture, I shouldn't be surprised. I find his satire to be a bit over the top, often offensive and cruel to my taste, but he's insanely successful. Ryan likes to punch his audience in the stomach with his jokes. Subtlety is lost on him. As is wit.

The only two Murphy series that I was able to watch for any length of time were Nip/Tuck (until it jumped the shark and got insanely gruesome in its last two seasons and I gave up) and Glee (which I mainly watched for the musical performances in the latter seasons.) Glee was also the mildest of his series.

So not so sure I'll be watching it, except maybe out of curiously. I do remember reading about the Bette Davis/Crawford feud, which culminated with Whatever Happened to Baby Jane - a psychological horror film about a deranged woman holding her crippled sister hostage.

The intensely bitter Hollywood rivalry between the film's two stars, Davis and Crawford, was heavily important to the film's initial success.[6] This in part led to the revitalization of the then-waning careers of the two stars. In the years after release, critics continued to acclaim the film for its psychologically driven black comedy, camp, and creation of the psycho-biddy subgenre. The film's then unheard of and controversial plot, meant that it originally received an X rating in the UK, Because of the appeal of the film's stars, Dave Itzkoff in The New York Times has identified it as being a "cult classic". In 2003, the character of Baby Jane Hudson was ranked #44 on the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Best Villains of American Cinema.[9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Ever_Happened_to_Baby_Jane%3F_(1962_film)

I've seen the film. Found it difficult to watch - no one is likable and Bette Davis over-acted, which she did in basically all her later films.

Comments

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

this is a bit weird for a television enterprise

Plus, I don't know how many young people would even care about the Bette vs Joan feud. That's ancient history as far as they're concerned.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Exactly. The person posting it on FB thought it was on PBS, they don't watch F/X. And they are in their 60s/70s.

At least the People vs. OJ Simpson was recent history - as in the last ten to fifteen years. This is old Hollywood nostalgia. How many people are going to be into that?

It's targeted at the 60-80 year old group, and they don't tend to like Ryan Murphy's style all that much. My mother can't stand him.