Over the weekend, I was able to watch Fox’s new horror comedy show “Scream Queens.” Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, the show is one of the most talked about shows of Fall 2015 for its controversy. While the shows has been praised for its biting wit, edgy humor, all-star cast and compelling storyline, the show, centered on the murders on a fictional college sorority, has began making headlines more for its negatives.
Social media sites, like Vox.com has called the show offensive for it’s portrayal of race, class and sexuality. “For every crystalline moment of daring or every perfectly snapped insults, there are several cringe-inducing and downright offensive moments that make you question the taste of everyone involved,” Caroline Franke, a reporter for Vox.com said.
Most of the offensive dialogue comes from the character “Chanel no. 1” played by Emma Roberts. The head of the sorority house where most of the murders are being carried out, Chanel’s opening scene starts with her calling the housemaid of the sorority house “White Mammy” because she is “essentially a house slave.” Other unpleasant things to come from Chanel is the giving Sam, a Lesbian pledge, the moniker of “Predatory Lez” and Zayday, an African American pledge the moniker “Pledge Hoodrat.” There is also a character named Boone who is referred to not only by Chanel no.1, but also by Chanel’s nos. 3 and 5, played by Abigail Breslin and Billie Lourd, respectively, as “The gay.”
The show has its defenders and fans, including show star Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays the university’s Dean. Curtis said to the Washington Post, “We are the actual people that say the horrible things. We all live in this protected bubble where we’re all trying to behave and look a certain way. And the thing that’s so brilliant about this show is it strips away, it flays the imagined behaviors of human beings, and it actually shows, I think, what people really are. What’s so fun about this show is that everything you think about every single one of these characters, you don’t know about anything.”
While I understand what Curtis is trying to say, I looked at reviews and comments about the show before viewing the episodes. Fans continuously reminded people that the show was made as a satire and social commentary and those who are offended by its content are extremely politically correct and either develop a sense a humor or simply stop watching the show. One commenter compared an article to other movies with race issues.
In the “L.A. Times” article, “How ‘Scream Queens” ‘white mammy’ problem may have tarnished Fox’s diversity glow”, contact reporter Greg Braxton said that the writing of the show is harmful for both the shows minority cast and viewers. In response to this article, Outside the Herd critiqued on the article, saying, “Any PC hit pieces against the negative portrayal of pale-faces in Django, or Twelve Years? Of course not. None against Wayans Bro’s for ‘White Girls’ or Wesley Snipes for ‘White Men Can’t Jump’. PC is one-way street. Wacky Lib’s would ban Blazing Saddles if they could.” Comments like this can make it difficult to speak on what someone can dislike. Everyone has his or her likes and dislikes but shaming someone for disliking a show for valid reasons is childish. I was afraid that the show would be too much for me but I decided to watch anyway and see for myself, disregarding any comments I had read.
In my viewing of the first couple of episodes, I can honestly say that the show isn’t to my liking, but not because I find the reasons mentioned earlier true. I feel like the creators of the show were trying too hard with its characters. I found myself yelling to my television screen “I get it, I’m not supposed to like this person” multiple times. I understand that the people on the show are pretty much caricatures of social stereotypes, but I feel like Murphy turned the dial on these characters to an eleven, making me find the characters more irritating than offensive.
One character I was not particularly fond of was Denise Hemphill, played by Niecy Nash. Her portrayal of a sass talking, cowardly and lazy security guard was a little uneasy to watch but she is shown to be smart enough to not let any of the women in the sorority house onto a murder scene, asking why they put their lives in jeopardy just to see what has happened to their “sister.” Could this character have portrayed without what I saw as “jive talking?” I think it could’ve, but it was not meant to be.
So, I will not be tuning in to find out who is killing the pledges of Kappa Kappa Tau, the fictional sorority of the show, but I hope the cast and possibly writers learn that offensive language and being shocking won’t always be a ratings booster.
Jimaur Calhoun
Arts & Entertainment Editor