American Horror Story : Coven
Oct. 13th, 2013 07:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatI admittedly skipped American Horror Story : Asylum, and gave up halfway through on the first series about the Haunted House. Only tried this one because of the female cast which is extraordinary. Lead by Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson, Verma Farminga, Gibdhe Sidhe (the gal from the flick Precious) and Angela Basset.
This episode received controversial reactions online and mixed reviews. One of which made me think twice about watching the episode and I almost deleted it from my DVR, but a response to my Television Poll changed my mind. The negative reactions were mainly due to two controversial scenes, which I'll discuss behind a spoiler cut. The one I did not know about bothered me and I find unwatchable, the one I knew about surprisingly did not - actually, I'm bewildered by the reactions to the second one, because American Horror Story dealt with it far better than any television series I've seen or read about.(In fact I thought at the time - I've seen far worse.) This surprised me, I was expecting something offensive and unwatchable. It really wasn't. I don't understand the controversy. (Will explain in detail behind the spoiler cut.)
Overall it's an interesting series...a bit gory for more taste, and rather scary. Not for the weak-stomach or the easily scared. This is horror for adults, with satirical subversive twists. Also it's by Brad Falchuck/Ryan Murphy and Tim Minear - who like to ...how to put this? Break new boundaries that most television networks would frown on but which F/X allows you to do.
What's most interesting about it is the protagonists and antagonists are all female. And the focus is on female not male arcs. This is sort of rare in horror stories. Not to mention gritty anti-hero tales.
The story starts off with Kathy Bates character, whose name I can neither spell nor pronounce. She's a plantation owner in New Orleans in the 18th Century. To keep herself young and alive, she creates a poultice made from the blood and pancreas of her slaves.
Torturing them first. Unfortunately, much like the prior two series, we get to see snippets or flashes of her methodology, which is gruesome and cringe inducing. I wanted to fast-forward and found this bit unwatchable. I took my bathroom break during it.
Fast forward to the 21st Century, where we meet the first of our protagonists, a young girl played by Taissa Farmiga, named Zoe. She's lovely and virginal. And engages in sex with her boyfriend, who keeps asking her if she's okay...until something odd happens...his brain explodes while they are having sex. She basically kills him with her vagina. Rather brilliant idea by the way - but by no means new. This is taken directly from folklore and legends. I collected a couple jokes and horror tales in college about the male fear of the demon vagina. Also, in Wales, I collected stories and jokes about witches who could do this sort of thing...told by old men in their 80s. So I was impressed by it, mainly because I had studied jokes and stories about it in the 1980s. Zoe's particular talent will come in handy much later. Due to her unique talent - her family, led by Francis O'Connor, sends her to a finishing school for witches in New Orleans, run by Sarah Paulson and her mother, the witch Supreme, Fiona, portrayed by Jessica Lange. At the school she meets three girls, the clairvoyent and mentally challenged girl, a human voodoo doll - or rather that's her talent,
and Madison, who is a telekinetic.
Madison befriends Zoe and talks her into going to a Frat Party. Which is freaky and pyschodelic with flashing blue and white strobe lights. Evan Peters, from the previous series, appears the leader of a group of Frat Boys that arrive at the party by bus. One of the guys on the bus is a bit of an ass named Drew, that Peters advises to behave - no puking, no public urination, or displays of nudity. In other words, we don't want to see your dick, Drew, no matter how big it is. Zoe and Madison pop up at the party. Madison is a former D-List movie star who got shipped to the Coven, due to the fact that she killed her director by dropping a light on his head. Drew befriends Madison, gets her a drink, and devilishly drops a ruthie into it (a la Veronica Mars), while Peters befriends Zoe.
Madison is taken upstairs and raped. But the rape is shown in flashes from Madison's point of view. Which is interesting, because in most tv shows it is show from the male perspective.
Even Veronica Mars showed the rape from the male perspective. Buffy showed attempted rapes and in both cases? Male perspective. Also, in both cases - we followed the men afterwards and it was really about them. I read that Sons of Anarchy had a violent and grueling gang rape of Katey Sagal's character - which also ultimately became about the men in the gang and how they'd handle it, although I think she did avenge herself eventually (didn't watch it, don't know, but heard it was graphic). The Walking Dead had a graphic rape scene which again was shown through male eyes and about the man. And now there's Dowton Abbey which is apparently having a brutal and graphic rape to further a male arc.
So how they filmed and handled this rape surprised me. It was the opposite of what I expected. She sees little, but their faces and their grunts, and can't tell them apart. IT's gross and horrifying. They look and sound like animals, pigs, not human. Her friend, Zoe, and Evan Peters character manage to find her and stop them. Peters herds them off and Zoe threatens retribution, while Madison is curled in a ball. Zoe uncurls Madison and asks if they gave her something, Madison states they did. Zoe enraged races after them..while Peters fights them, until they knock him unconscious and throw him on the bus, which they also board - in order to flee the scene.
No such luck. Madison, no longer under the influence of the drug, races after the bus with Zoe and exerts her power - she basically picks it up and flips it, killing seven of the boys instantly. Zoe travels to the hospital - hoping Evan Peters who had attempted to help Madison - survived, no such luck. He died. But Drew lived. The asshole who instigated the rape. Zoe decides it's time to use her power for good - if she can't have pleasure, at least she can have revenge. She basically rapes Drew, and explodes his brain with her vagina.
Meanwhile, Madison curls up in the shower crying.
This is new. Usually, the series focuses on the poor dear rapists or the women's hubby or boyfriend or brother seeking vengence. But here? We are focusing on the victims. And they are not victims. They didn't ask for it. They didn't dress seductively. They weren't in an abusive sexual relationship with the guy. They just went to a party. And they basically slaughtered the boys responsible. Cathartic that. Usually, we have to go through the whole - she asked for it, or it was just fun or male justification crap. But nope. Although Jessica Lange does tell Madison, that although neat trick, messy, and you need to be more careful next time.
So, I don't understand the controversy? Was it in how the women decided to revenge themselves? The rape being shown through the female point of view as a frightening and horrifying thing? Because rape is horrifying. TV and books have a tendency at times to make it less so - which is problematic. The bit with Kathy Bates in the beginning - that makes me think twice about watching.
The other bits worth mentioning...are Fiona's decision to move in with her daughter and teach the students. She takes them on a field trip to see Kathy Bates old house, and manages through the clairvoyant (Nell) to locate and resurrect Kathy Bates (apparently she wasn't killed, just buried alive for a century and a half. Talk about nasty. Although she did have it coming.) Fiona, previously, sucked the life out of the physician she'd been funding with her husband's money in Switzerland because he couldn't cure her of old-age. So, she resurrects Kathy Bates to see how she avoided rotting. (It was Angela Bassett's character, a voodoo priestess, who gave Kathy Bates a youth serum which made her appear dead, and chained her up, and buried her in a shallow grave.)
Oh and Denis O'Hare plays the ladies creepy manservant, who is mute.
The series is interesting and beautifully shot, but like the other versions - not compelling. I'm not sure why. I feel emotionally distanced from it somehow... it's more style than substance, I think. Not that there isn't substance there is, and Taissa Fermiga's character is sympathetic, and Lange's appealingly goofy, but at the same time...it's distancing. So I don't know what to think about it. Also my love/hate relationship with the horror genre, inability to watch torture scenes, particularly graphic ones, and issues with Brad Falchuck/Ryan Murphy and Tim Minear - for being a bit over-the-top in their script writing...may be problematic.
We'll see.
Pilot? B+
This episode received controversial reactions online and mixed reviews. One of which made me think twice about watching the episode and I almost deleted it from my DVR, but a response to my Television Poll changed my mind. The negative reactions were mainly due to two controversial scenes, which I'll discuss behind a spoiler cut. The one I did not know about bothered me and I find unwatchable, the one I knew about surprisingly did not - actually, I'm bewildered by the reactions to the second one, because American Horror Story dealt with it far better than any television series I've seen or read about.(In fact I thought at the time - I've seen far worse.) This surprised me, I was expecting something offensive and unwatchable. It really wasn't. I don't understand the controversy. (Will explain in detail behind the spoiler cut.)
Overall it's an interesting series...a bit gory for more taste, and rather scary. Not for the weak-stomach or the easily scared. This is horror for adults, with satirical subversive twists. Also it's by Brad Falchuck/Ryan Murphy and Tim Minear - who like to ...how to put this? Break new boundaries that most television networks would frown on but which F/X allows you to do.
What's most interesting about it is the protagonists and antagonists are all female. And the focus is on female not male arcs. This is sort of rare in horror stories. Not to mention gritty anti-hero tales.
The story starts off with Kathy Bates character, whose name I can neither spell nor pronounce. She's a plantation owner in New Orleans in the 18th Century. To keep herself young and alive, she creates a poultice made from the blood and pancreas of her slaves.
Torturing them first. Unfortunately, much like the prior two series, we get to see snippets or flashes of her methodology, which is gruesome and cringe inducing. I wanted to fast-forward and found this bit unwatchable. I took my bathroom break during it.
Fast forward to the 21st Century, where we meet the first of our protagonists, a young girl played by Taissa Farmiga, named Zoe. She's lovely and virginal. And engages in sex with her boyfriend, who keeps asking her if she's okay...until something odd happens...his brain explodes while they are having sex. She basically kills him with her vagina. Rather brilliant idea by the way - but by no means new. This is taken directly from folklore and legends. I collected a couple jokes and horror tales in college about the male fear of the demon vagina. Also, in Wales, I collected stories and jokes about witches who could do this sort of thing...told by old men in their 80s. So I was impressed by it, mainly because I had studied jokes and stories about it in the 1980s. Zoe's particular talent will come in handy much later. Due to her unique talent - her family, led by Francis O'Connor, sends her to a finishing school for witches in New Orleans, run by Sarah Paulson and her mother, the witch Supreme, Fiona, portrayed by Jessica Lange. At the school she meets three girls, the clairvoyent and mentally challenged girl, a human voodoo doll - or rather that's her talent,
and Madison, who is a telekinetic.
Madison befriends Zoe and talks her into going to a Frat Party. Which is freaky and pyschodelic with flashing blue and white strobe lights. Evan Peters, from the previous series, appears the leader of a group of Frat Boys that arrive at the party by bus. One of the guys on the bus is a bit of an ass named Drew, that Peters advises to behave - no puking, no public urination, or displays of nudity. In other words, we don't want to see your dick, Drew, no matter how big it is. Zoe and Madison pop up at the party. Madison is a former D-List movie star who got shipped to the Coven, due to the fact that she killed her director by dropping a light on his head. Drew befriends Madison, gets her a drink, and devilishly drops a ruthie into it (a la Veronica Mars), while Peters befriends Zoe.
Madison is taken upstairs and raped. But the rape is shown in flashes from Madison's point of view. Which is interesting, because in most tv shows it is show from the male perspective.
Even Veronica Mars showed the rape from the male perspective. Buffy showed attempted rapes and in both cases? Male perspective. Also, in both cases - we followed the men afterwards and it was really about them. I read that Sons of Anarchy had a violent and grueling gang rape of Katey Sagal's character - which also ultimately became about the men in the gang and how they'd handle it, although I think she did avenge herself eventually (didn't watch it, don't know, but heard it was graphic). The Walking Dead had a graphic rape scene which again was shown through male eyes and about the man. And now there's Dowton Abbey which is apparently having a brutal and graphic rape to further a male arc.
So how they filmed and handled this rape surprised me. It was the opposite of what I expected. She sees little, but their faces and their grunts, and can't tell them apart. IT's gross and horrifying. They look and sound like animals, pigs, not human. Her friend, Zoe, and Evan Peters character manage to find her and stop them. Peters herds them off and Zoe threatens retribution, while Madison is curled in a ball. Zoe uncurls Madison and asks if they gave her something, Madison states they did. Zoe enraged races after them..while Peters fights them, until they knock him unconscious and throw him on the bus, which they also board - in order to flee the scene.
No such luck. Madison, no longer under the influence of the drug, races after the bus with Zoe and exerts her power - she basically picks it up and flips it, killing seven of the boys instantly. Zoe travels to the hospital - hoping Evan Peters who had attempted to help Madison - survived, no such luck. He died. But Drew lived. The asshole who instigated the rape. Zoe decides it's time to use her power for good - if she can't have pleasure, at least she can have revenge. She basically rapes Drew, and explodes his brain with her vagina.
Meanwhile, Madison curls up in the shower crying.
This is new. Usually, the series focuses on the poor dear rapists or the women's hubby or boyfriend or brother seeking vengence. But here? We are focusing on the victims. And they are not victims. They didn't ask for it. They didn't dress seductively. They weren't in an abusive sexual relationship with the guy. They just went to a party. And they basically slaughtered the boys responsible. Cathartic that. Usually, we have to go through the whole - she asked for it, or it was just fun or male justification crap. But nope. Although Jessica Lange does tell Madison, that although neat trick, messy, and you need to be more careful next time.
So, I don't understand the controversy? Was it in how the women decided to revenge themselves? The rape being shown through the female point of view as a frightening and horrifying thing? Because rape is horrifying. TV and books have a tendency at times to make it less so - which is problematic. The bit with Kathy Bates in the beginning - that makes me think twice about watching.
The other bits worth mentioning...are Fiona's decision to move in with her daughter and teach the students. She takes them on a field trip to see Kathy Bates old house, and manages through the clairvoyant (Nell) to locate and resurrect Kathy Bates (apparently she wasn't killed, just buried alive for a century and a half. Talk about nasty. Although she did have it coming.) Fiona, previously, sucked the life out of the physician she'd been funding with her husband's money in Switzerland because he couldn't cure her of old-age. So, she resurrects Kathy Bates to see how she avoided rotting. (It was Angela Bassett's character, a voodoo priestess, who gave Kathy Bates a youth serum which made her appear dead, and chained her up, and buried her in a shallow grave.)
Oh and Denis O'Hare plays the ladies creepy manservant, who is mute.
The series is interesting and beautifully shot, but like the other versions - not compelling. I'm not sure why. I feel emotionally distanced from it somehow... it's more style than substance, I think. Not that there isn't substance there is, and Taissa Fermiga's character is sympathetic, and Lange's appealingly goofy, but at the same time...it's distancing. So I don't know what to think about it. Also my love/hate relationship with the horror genre, inability to watch torture scenes, particularly graphic ones, and issues with Brad Falchuck/Ryan Murphy and Tim Minear - for being a bit over-the-top in their script writing...may be problematic.
We'll see.
Pilot? B+
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no subject
Date: 2013-10-13 11:47 pm (UTC)The gender subversion is really quite stunning. Found the rape scene difficult to sit through, but brilliantly directed and also crucial to the narrative, and again not in a driving-a-man's-story way. Found the way the lead girl finally offed the rapist equally disturbing, funny, and brilliant.
Also found it interesting to learn that both Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett's characters were historical figures. Bates' character, IRL, actually had a lynch mob after her when her serial murder and torture of her slaves was discovered, because it was violation of how people were supposed to treat their slaves (that torture attic was real, which makes it even more horrifying). And she did disappear, never to be found, though many believe she fled to France. Bassett's character was also a very famous voodoo priestess who did lose her first husband under mysterious circumstances. So Murphy conflated these two stories and added the magic angle to Bates' character.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-14 01:37 am (UTC)Found the rape scene difficult to sit through, but brilliantly directed and also crucial to the narrative, and again not in a driving-a-man's-story way. Found the way the lead girl finally offed the rapist equally disturbing, funny, and brilliant.
Felt the same way. Although since I was expecting something a whole lot worse from what I'd read, I was somewhat relieved. I thought at the time I saw it - "wait that's not that bad, I've seen much worse".
Regarding how she offed the guy? That was disturbing, funny, and brilliant - and really a great metaphor regarding male fear of the female. (It actually goes back to the Celtic/Wiccan mythos - about the mother goddess devoring her male lover after they have sex or "killer vagina" which falls within the same mythos.)
Also found it interesting to learn that both Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett's characters were historical figures.
I did not know this. Interesting. I thought he'd borrowed the bit regarding Kathy Bates character from various sources including the Blood Countess. But I like the historical angle better.
And you're right...the gender subversion is quite stunning. As is the subversion of stereotypes and expectations.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-14 05:25 am (UTC)Kathy Bates plays Delphine LaLaurie who is notorious in New Orleans for torturing her slaves. She had a torture room where she committed all kinds of heinous atrocities against black men and women and then was believed to have fled to France when her crimes were discovered. The opening scene of the episode borrows directly from some of her torture practices, including filling a poor man’s mouth with faeces before sewing it shut and tearing the skin back on another man’s face and then allowing maggots to literally eat him alive. Her house is said to be the most haunted place in New Orleans and you can actually take a tour of it like we saw in this episode. Fun fact; the episode also states that Nicholas Cage previously owned the property which is true.
Angela Bassett plays Marie Laveau who was a very famous voodoo queen in New Orleans. In 1874 over twelve thousand people watched her perform rituals and her ghost is said to still haunt the town today. She was a hairdresser for rich white people and judging by next week’s preview, the writers seem to have followed through on this by having her own a salon in present day. Like with Delphine LaLaurie, circumstances surrounding her death are something of a mystery and Murphy appears to have used this as an opportunity to include both women in the season.
I’m glad you liked it for the most part and I agree with you about the date rape scene. It was incredibly disturbing because it was so realistic but it was also really important and kind of ground-breaking that it’s shown through Madison’s POV. From what I can tell, most people’s issues with it are that they found it gratuitous and unnecessary or just plain uncomfortable to watch but I really disagree. Yes, it was pretty hard to sit through but this is American Horror Story and whilst there are always supernatural elements to the show it has pretty consistently explored the horrific ways humans act towards each other. And I don’t believe it was gratuitous given the themes they want to explore in S3, not to mention that it was only the first episode so how can anyone possibly claim that with any kind of certainty? For all we know it will have ripple effects throughout the season and will play a major role in Madison’s arc.
I can sympathise with why you felt it was distancing as I felt that way about most of S1. The characters are interesting, it’s beautifully shot, the writing is bold, but it was difficult for me to really connect with the characters. However, by the end of S2 I really felt for a number of the characters and found the series finale incredibly touching so I hope S3 will grab me the same way.
I can understand why it would be a difficult show for you to watch if you scare easily or don't respond well to horror. For what it's worth, Murphy has stated that S3 is intended to be a lot lighter and more comical than previous seasons (particularly S2 which a lot of viewers found really quite brutal) but, well, you’ve seen the first episode and the torture/rape scenes are hardly what I’d call “light.” That should really give you an insight into how mentally draining S2 was but I cherish it dearly. It’s exploration of mental health and the stigma surrounding it as well as society’s disgraceful attitudes towards homosexuality back in the 60’s was really well done. And again it handled the female characters superbly.
I hope you can stick with it. This was a good ep and as a big ASH fan I really enjoyed it but it was nowhere near the show's best. I’m really excited to see Lange, Bassett and Bates bounce off each other which we really didn’t get to see much in this episode so I think it’ll be worth sticking around just for that.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-14 02:23 pm (UTC)Plus, over-active imagination.
So...I may not be able to stick with it for that reason, which is a personal taste thing and has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the series. It's sort of like critiquing a superhero movie for being well a superhero movie.
This one might grab my interest character wise, since I really like Zoe.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-14 04:25 pm (UTC)I think that filming a rape scene from the victim's viewpoint is quite brilliant, and should always be used if a rape scene is necessary. (Though I suppose if the rapist is otherwise the viewpoint character, it would make sense to keep the rapist's view.)
no subject
Date: 2013-10-14 05:28 pm (UTC)I'd agree, I'm not a fan of being startled either. And it is another reason I have troubles with horror films.
Normally, for reasons I don't quite understand, tv shows like to have the rapist's view regardless of the viewpoint character.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-14 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-14 11:00 pm (UTC)(I don't like being startled either.)