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Hillary Clinton May Not Be A Fan Of 'AHS: Cult'

by Anna Rose Iovine

On this season of American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy truly knew the most horrific story of all: the 2016 election. Yes, AHS: Cult is about the aftermath of the latest presidential race in the United States, and from its premiere viewers can tell that there's no holding back. Some characters have PTSD from the election, others felt liberated to do the horrible deeds they've always wanted. Seeing as she's a sort-of unseen figure but still very present in the show, is Hillary Clinton watching AHS: Cult? Now that she's back in the public eye, she may want to keep up with cultural depictions of herself, but who are we kidding, the show is pretty terrifying and is probably not something she's interested in.

The audience get a glimpse of both Clinton and Trump during the opening credits this season. No, they didn't actually film a credit sequence, and it's not even video footage of them: there are unknown people in Clinton and Trump masks. Seeing as the season is centered on the election (and how people coped with it afterwards), this makes sense... but it doesn't make it any less creepy. The first scenes of the premiere, however, did feature clips of the two actual presidential candidates on the campaign trail and from election night. At least for me, it provided a flashback that I did not need (though it was also scarier than some previous seasons of AHS as a whole, so bravo).

Despite the first scene the overall theme of Cult, creator Ryan Murphy insists the show is not about Clinton nor Trump. At a Hollywood Reporter press event, he said, "It's about somebody who has the wherewithal to put their finger up in the wind and see that that's what's happening and is using that to rise up and form power, and using people's vulnerabilities about how they're afraid and don't know where to turn, and they feel like the world is on fire."

People knowing their vulnerabilities, feeling like the world is on fire? Relatable! Murphy also said he's not interested in a pro-Clinton or pro-Trump discussion, but instead getting at the heart of why voters voted the way they did. So, is Clinton watching in light of all of this? She hasn't spoken publicly about it so I can't say with absolute certainty, but I'm going to guess no. It can be difficult to (somewhat) "relive" the election for a voter, so I can't imagine how difficult it must be for Clinton.

AHS: Cult is probably not the show she needs right now. I'm not sure anyone needs it right now, but Murphy's study of vulnerability and terrors will certainly be interesting to watch play out, regardless of whether or not Clinton is watching.