The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story

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“ Any @sagaftra actor can attest- it takes a village. I’m so proud to have been part of such a stellar ensemble of performers… Not a single one of which I truly didn’t have a GREAT time with. The cast of @americancrimestoryfx was something truly special. Regardless if I actually had scenes with them or not, these are just SOME of the @sagaftra members that made this such an amazing experience for me, on and off camera. I hope they know that just in saying each of their names, I think fondly on our individual time together and am so grateful for their talent and warmth of spirit.
THANK YOU!!!”

~ Darren via IG

Darren thanking folks involved with ACS Versace after winning the SAG Award, part 2

“ Any @sagaftra actor can attest- it takes a village. I’m so proud to have been part of such a stellar ensemble of performers… Not a single one of which I truly didn’t have a GREAT time with. The cast of @americancrimestoryfx was something truly special. Regardless if I actually had scenes with them or not, these are just SOME of the @sagaftra members that made this such an amazing experience for me, on and off camera. I hope they know that just in saying each of their names, I think fondly on our individual time together and am so grateful for their talent and warmth of spirit.
THANK YOU!!!”

~ Darren via IG

Darren Criss Army wrote:

Don't Miss These 3 Poignant SAG Awards Speeches
Chadwick Boseman, Sandra Oh and Darren Criss delivered odes to representation and solidarity from the SAG Awards.

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darrencriss:    Thanks again for inviting me to the party #sagawards, I suppose third time’s the charm. I love getting to celebrate our union and the wonderful work of the @sagaftrafound. Made a lot of fun memories that night, so thanks to @terencepatrick & @gettyentertainment for capturing a bit of it!

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@codyfern:   This is one of my favorite pictures ever taken. I love each and every one of these people deeply and I’m filled with pride and joy every time I look at it. We made a family and that family changed my life.

Forbes wrote:
Are Shows About Serial Killers Inherently Offensive?

Jan 31, 2019

Is it appropriate to make a show or film about a serial killer? This has been the topic of hot debate lately, as Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile has come to Sundance, The Ted Bundy Tapes and You have come to Netflix, and FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace racks up awards at the various awards shows this season. Some, like Extremely Wicked and You are vilified for their portrayals (You, it should be noted, is the only one of these films that is based on a fictional person), while Gianni Versace is beloved. What makes it okay, and what makes it offensive? Let’s compare two specific series in order to explore that. You and Gianni Versace.

You premiered on Lifetime in September to relatively little acknowledgment. However, when it moved to Netflix in December (Netflix will be making season 2) the show’s popularity exploded. . . Yet, while many fell somewhat in love with Penn Badgley’s (Gossip Girl) portrayal of charming sociopath Ben Goldberg, many also found the show deeply troubling, and not in a good way. The show came under a barrage of criticism for the way it glorifies its serial killer, promoting his view above all others, especially his female victim Beck (Elizabeth Lail).

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So, if these are all the things that make people angry about You, how is Gianni Versace any different? Its serial killer, Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), like You, is the show’s protagonist. We spend most of the series with him, following his arc. And yet, it feels different. For one thing, there’s a distance. Rather than the “in his head” approach You takes, you more feel like you’re watching Cunanan go through this journey, rather than experiencing it directly through his eyes. It helps that the show spends enormous amounts of time with Cunanan’s victims, even when Cunanan isn’t with them. It shows us their pasts, their families, their hopes and dreams, their fears. We honestly come to care about them, and we mourn them when they die.

Gianni Versace also doesn’t glorify its serial killer in any way. While it does make attempts to humanize Cunanan at times, and to try to give an explanation for why he is the way he is, and why he kills all those people, the audience is never meant to fall in love with him, or be charmed by him. Cunanan charms many people in the series into doing what he wants, but to the audience, on the outside looking in, we are never fooled. Cunanan’s lies seem over-the-top and ridiculous. We become used to his charade, and are not taken in by it. The characters, as well, one by one become skeptical of Cunanan’s stories, and attempt to distance themselves from him, with disastrous results.

It’s true. Gianni Versace makes a buck off of the pain and suffering Cunanan caused real people (something You, being fictional, has a pass on). However, it does it in such a nuanced and well done way, that it’s hard to be angry or offended. It never glorifies the killings, the killer, or objectifies the victims and their loved ones. It gives the victims a voice, and never hesitates to condemn their killer. You may be about not real people, and so, one might think, “no harm done,” right? But it goes about it all wrong, and in an era when we need stories that give back power to women who are abused, You takes great pleasure in objectifying, torturing, and killing its female lead. So, you be the judge: which show seems inappropriate, and which elevates its subject matter to the point of praise?

The Hollywood Reporter wrote:
Kate Walsh, Sarah Paulson Pay Tribute to Karl Lagerfeld at the Costume Designers Guild Awards

2/20/2019

The fashionable set arrived at the Costume Designer’s Guild Awards on Tuesday. . .

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On stage with Eyrich to present the award to [Ryan] Murphy, Sarah Paulson . . .

Paulson said of Murphy: “He has made an incalculable number of people feel seen, heard, held and celebrated by reminding us that we are so much more connected than we are divided.”

“The very fact that I have this career is a miracle,” said Murphy. “I was starting out in this business in the late 1990s, and it wasn’t easy for me. I was told not to follow my instinct, to be something else. I was too weird, too unusual. It was painful to be discriminated against and not liked because of what I wanted to do, which was very simply to see myself and my experience in life on television. I never saw a triumphant or, at the very least, a complicated gay character on television or in the movies as a child or a teenager. They were always marginalized, punch lines at best. They were beaten for who they were.”

He continued, “Back in 1999 when I first started, I decided I wanted to create representation and, wouldn’t you know it, my very first network argument was over a costume. Leslie Grossman was playing Mary Cherry and wearing a fur coat as a way to sum up her ambition and dreams. The costume is purely made of character, after all. The network executive responded, ‘Change that, we don’t do that on the WB.’ I asked why and he said, 'because [fur coats are] too gay.’ It was then that I began to clean up and pack my office and perhaps leave the cruel world of show business. But they asked me to please stay. I honestly believe that [it’s because] I didn’t back down from that one fight about vision and style that I’m here today.”