The ethics of representation in American Horror Story

Record numbers of viewers tuned in to watch the season premiere of the fourth season of American Horror Story. With the largest audience in FX’s history, the first episode of “Freak Show” did not disappoint. From the initial onset of the murderous clown with a torn-away face, the horror of the show was truly brought to life, and yet—in true Ryan Murphy form—nothing could be a simple, surface-level plot, as the clown goes on to try and please his captives, potentially foreshadowing the torrid history that has led him down the road to torture.

The immediacy of the fear in the fourth season was reminiscent of the original “Murder House” season, which so captivated audiences before the sharp drop of the plot and fear-inducing elements of “Coven.” But perhaps what sets this season apart from any of its predecessors is its central cast of freaks. Set primarily in 1950’s Florida, this season follows a performing freak show—with a cast composed of some actors with physical disabilities and others with disabilities induced through CGI technology.

Though hardly the first time that Murphy has pushed the envelope of casting decisions—earlier seasons of American Horror Story and Murphy’s show Glee have both prominently featured actresses with Down syndrome, with their storylines expanding far beyond the trope of their disabilities, and Murphy’s long-running drama Nip-Tuck featured actors and actresses with many different physical handicaps—“Freak Show” capitalizes on the othering of actors and actresses with disabilities in a way that previous shows have avoided. In focusing on these characters as “freaks,” the acting and artistic abilities of the performers themselves take a backseat to the fact that they look different from much of the world around them.

Although it is too soon to see to what degree the backstories of these characters is developed, if Murphy’s previous character development is any indication, the audience will be treated to the full view of each character far beyond just their classification as a freak. But this development does not counteract the way in which the actors are objectified into their role as a freak and systematically viewed as such by millions of viewers each week.

Because actors with actual physical disabilities are cast alongside actors who have their disabilities imposed onto them using technology, the message is driven home that these disabilities are a source of entertainment. The acting is entirely secondary to the visual representation of these characters as different from the majority.

As a society, we have moved away from the days in which the freak show was a source of entertainment—much like the recognition of the cruelty of a circus in general—because we have recognized that no person deserves to be mocked because of their appearance. But we are still far from perfect. It is no secret that many people with physical disabilities are still the victims of cruel bullying or violence. Discrimination runs rampant surrounding those whose physical appearance falls outside of what is often perceived as normal.

And when a show as popular as American Horror Story glorifies the othering of these people by labeling them as freaks for mass entertainment, it sends mixed messages to the viewers. Certainly, Murphy did not intend to perpetuate a culture of hate or discomfort around those with disabilities, but there is no saying that is not what will happen. If a child with ectrodactyly, the rare congenital deformity that causes a cleft in the hands or feet, looks to Evan Peters’s CGI-inhanced portrayal of the man with lobster-like hands, they may feel that they are a freak because he is labeled as such. Peters does not have ectrodactyly, yet he becomes a representation of the condition. In creating this image of himself while acting around those with the actual disabilities they represent, Peters is appropriating the condition of disability solely for the entertainment of being a freak. The behavior of the freaks in the freak show doesn’t help with the image they are projecting either. Not to give away any spoilers, but they are the perpetrators of a rather gruesome dismembering in the very first episode—not a great indication of the morality to come.