‘American Horror Story’ Will Edit ‘Cult’ Mass Shooting After Las Vegas
As if we weren’t living one real-life American Horror Story after another, the FX Cult is taking a cue from reality. Following concerns of an upcoming mass shooting sequence airing too close to the Las Vegas massacre, Ryan Murphy confirms changes to the scene.
You’re warned of a few upcoming American Horror Story: Cult spoilers from here on out, but this coming week’s “Mid-Western Assassin” was to open with a scene of violence at a campaign rally (TMZ has a slightly-spoilery breakdown of its participants). Initial trailers for the episode understandably cut around the shooting scene in deference to this week’s tragedy in Las Vegas, but questions remained whether FX might delay the episode altogether.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, series creator Ryan Murphy confirmed from the New Yorker Fest that the sequence will be edited to a “less graphic” version, though the episode itself will air on-schedule. EW says the shooting violence will now be “off-camera,” quoting Murphy’s thought process:
Should you air it? Should you not air it? How do you be sensitive? My point of view was I believe I have the right to air it, but I also believe in victims’ rights, and I believe that now is probably not the week to have something explosive or incendiary in the culture because someone who was affected might watch that and it could trigger something or make them feel upset. So our decision was to re-edit it and I felt that that was the right move. Nobody ever talks about victims’ rights. That’s sort of a weird emotional discussion that’s never bridged… But I felt great sympathy for people who were affected, certainly, and family members and loved ones and people who are upset about the way the world is.
American Horror Story now becomes the second prominent TV series to alter its plans out of sensitivity to the Las Vegas attack, following Marvel’s decision to remove The Punisher panel (and perhaps even a premiere) from New York Comic-Con. Other series like Mr. Robot, The Last Ship and USA’s Shooter have all delayed timely gun violence in recent years as well.
All the same, will American Horror Story miss the point with only a slightly-less-graphic scene?