In American Horror Story Season 4, the title screams that this season is going to be a heart-wrenching season.
Disclaimer: I absolutely adore the show and it is my favorite show to watch, but this season taught me many life lessons about how we treat others in our society today.
The first thing I noticed in this season was the obvious fact that the ‘freaks’ were treated terribly. I thought about this, but I thought about how we treat others that are different from ourselves. And I DO NOT mean that people are inherently mean to what we're labeled ‘freaks’ in the show, but the people who are different from our norms. In my middle school for example, if you liked anime or certain cartoons, you were labeled weird.
When Esmerelda first came to the camp, she complained to her accomplice about how awful and gross she thought the freaks were. Esmerelda would be labeled beautiful by society’s standards, but in reality, her heart was ugly, dark, and self-seeking.
I don’t understand this. I cannot understand how our society has turned into such an awful place to simply be yourself. I truly believe this is what the show was trying to portray- the ‘normal’ people in the show looked like terrible people, but the freaks acted more humane than anyone else (besides some of the obvious things, but hey, if you were that mistreated, what would you do?).
Another societal evil the show portrayed was the obvious racism towards the woman named Desiree Dupree. She had struggled her whole life with one, being different for her abnormalities, and two for the fact that she was African American. Not to also mention that she is a woman, so she never had it easy. This is a reflection of a lot of themes that are being challenged in our society today in 2017.
In the end, this is a season I think everyone should watch at least once. This season teaches one to be grateful for what we have, to not take people for granted, and to look at each other as simply human, and nothing more. I believe that if all we saw just a human being when we looked at others, the world would be a better place.
Respect each other. Love each other. Cherish others, because absolutely no one is guaranteed tomorrow. And no one is perfect, but I think that if I do my best to do good every single day, I’m making the world a better place.