Analysis of American Horror Story: Freak Show
In class we have learned about many different aspects of disability. In American Horror Story: Freak Show (Freak Show), there were many themes shown throughout that touched on material we have talked about in class. Freak Show illustrates the medical and sociopolitical models of disability, uses terms that are deemed inappropriate or unacceptable by the disability community, and represents people with disabilities in the media. I have read several articles claiming the show to be a disgrace to those with disabilities, but each author of various articles claimed to have not watched even a full episode. As an avid viewer of American Horror Story, I will be analyzing Freak Show and illustrating …show more content…
Freak Show, which was set in 1952 and told the story of one of the last remaining freak shows, made its own definition of freak. Though most of the characters outside of the freak show stuck to their dictionary meaning of freak, the actors that were considered freaks redefined what it means to be a freak. As Lenard Davis put it in his article, “Constructing Normalcy”, “the ‘problem’ is not about the person with disabilities; the problem is the way that normalcy is constructed to create the ‘problem’ of the disabled person” (pg 12). The characters in Freak Show did not overcome their disability, they overcame what the society had thought about them. In Freak Show the people with disabilities are the protagonist, and they may be called freaks but they are much more than that. The show shows that there is much more to a disabled person than their disability. There is a love story between a disabled person and a non disabled person; there is a fight for justice of those with disabilities; there 's acceptance; and most importantly, in my opinion, there is pride in who they are as an individual person. I feel that Murphy did a great job writing the characters as an individual with a disability, and not making the disability the character. In doing so he showed his audience that they aren’t freaks, they are living breathing human beings. Though there were a handful of actors that were portraying a disability that they didn 't actually have, they stuck to keeping the character to their individual self. As a horror genre there is going to be a lot of controversial topics, Freak Show was not any different. It is very difficult not to offend anyone, and I feel that if people that disapproves with the them of Freak Show they should sit down and watch the whole season and get absorbed into the
In class we have learned about many different aspects of disability. In American Horror Story: Freak Show (Freak Show), there were many themes shown throughout that touched on material we have talked about in class. Freak Show illustrates the medical and sociopolitical models of disability, uses terms that are deemed inappropriate or unacceptable by the disability community, and represents people with disabilities in the media. I have read several articles claiming the show to be a disgrace to those with disabilities, but each author of various articles claimed to have not watched even a full episode. As an avid viewer of American Horror Story, I will be analyzing Freak Show and illustrating …show more content…
Freak Show, which was set in 1952 and told the story of one of the last remaining freak shows, made its own definition of freak. Though most of the characters outside of the freak show stuck to their dictionary meaning of freak, the actors that were considered freaks redefined what it means to be a freak. As Lenard Davis put it in his article, “Constructing Normalcy”, “the ‘problem’ is not about the person with disabilities; the problem is the way that normalcy is constructed to create the ‘problem’ of the disabled person” (pg 12). The characters in Freak Show did not overcome their disability, they overcame what the society had thought about them. In Freak Show the people with disabilities are the protagonist, and they may be called freaks but they are much more than that. The show shows that there is much more to a disabled person than their disability. There is a love story between a disabled person and a non disabled person; there is a fight for justice of those with disabilities; there 's acceptance; and most importantly, in my opinion, there is pride in who they are as an individual person. I feel that Murphy did a great job writing the characters as an individual with a disability, and not making the disability the character. In doing so he showed his audience that they aren’t freaks, they are living breathing human beings. Though there were a handful of actors that were portraying a disability that they didn 't actually have, they stuck to keeping the character to their individual self. As a horror genre there is going to be a lot of controversial topics, Freak Show was not any different. It is very difficult not to offend anyone, and I feel that if people that disapproves with the them of Freak Show they should sit down and watch the whole season and get absorbed into the