Ryan Murphy and His Work.

Ryan Murphy and His Work.

Javier Simons

KMP Entertainment.

Advanced Master Writer’s Course.

Michelle Murray.

January 15, 2021 Ryan Murphy and His Work.

Abstract.

Ryan Murphy has single handed created a new genre with his productions. From the early days of Nip/Tuck and , he dabbled into the world with a flair for the fabulous, the non- conforming and creating acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community. He wrote the stories we wanted to hear and told them in a way that even the most conservative of viewers would identify and understand the characters. It was not until the premiere of Pose that Ryan destroyed the boundaries that were holding back trans and Bipod actors in .

One of Ryan’s signature moves is to use the same actors in as many roles as possible, showcasing the versatility of the actor and, hence, creating a familiar feel that has become a way to know certainly a Ryan Murphy script. His raw take on the world, the way his characters come to life in the most visceral way is, to most, the secret to his success.

Ryan Murphy and His Work.

Ryan Murphy and His Work.

I became aware of the genius that is Ryan Murphy on episode one of Pose. I am not a fan of horror content so I can say I have not watched but one season of American Horror

Story. However, Pose, I was hooked. Pose is set in late 80’s early 90’s City. The vibe, the music, the fashion, the Balls! The story he brings to life is that of the underground gay, black and Latino community that regardless of all the obstacles brought onto them by their gender identity, race and social status, they remain hopeful that life will work out in their favour at some point.

One of the most poignant moments of the show is every time Elektra Abundance is on the screen, played by Dominique Jackson. Her delivery of every line, every read and every look is mesmerizing, you simply cannot look away. And in casting her, Ryan did break with the establishment. He sources her out of the pageant system, which is dear to the gay community, as it is one of the only original forms of entertainment for the LGBTQ+ community and a creative outlet to drag artists and female illusionist. Ryan would have had no issues booking an established trans artist like Laverne Cox, but he wanted raw, he wanted it real and he did good on this. The rest of the casting for Pose is incredible. Ryan Murphy has impacted Pop Culture in a very positive and responsible way. Ryan has single handed been responsible for creating safe and inclusive workspaces for all actors, no matter your race or how you identify yourself, which had long been an issue in the Hollywood television business. Unaware of his impact, but very much aware of his modus operandis, Ryan wanted to write content that told the stories that everyone talked about, but no one dared to write or produce. Ryan took full advantage of the woke movement brought to the forefront of the news and culture by the new generation, tweeting and posting about inclusivity and breaking gender norms and he saw the opportunity to create and to profit and went for it. Ryan has also Ryan Murphy and His Work. created roles for the establishment but cast non-traditional actors in said roles. Since his beginning as a journalist, Ryan Murphy has written relevant material. Overall, Ryan has always had a firm ear on what the pulse of the nation is. From Nip Tuck to Pose to his

Musical Prom, he has captivated audiences with stories that tell everyone’s stories.

Another masterpiece in the Ryan Murphy universe is Nurse Ratchet. The character first appeared in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1962, and although she was the main Antagonist, and the actress who originally played her, Louise Fletcher, earned an

Academy Award for best Actress, the character never really got its own movie nor series, but she became a cult favourite. Milos Foreman, the director of the film, casted her after several actresses turned down the role, Including . It is no surprise here that Murphy would use his muse, for this Role.

Paulson has made a lucrative living from Murphy. She originally only appeared on one episode of Nip tuck before signing on to be on pretty much every season of AHS. She is also expected to appear in the upcoming season of AHS, Ratchet Season 2 And possibly

Hollywood. I think Paulson, a graduate of the American Academy of Arts, is a well-rounded actress and that is what sets Ryan apart from the Hollywood swamp: he sees that special something and runs with it.

Ryan directs almost every episode in season one of Ratchet. Having that type of creative control has got to be an enormous privilege. To have your work directed and conceived the way you intended it to be is the type of dream many wish to have. But this type of creative control come with years of hard work dedication, and proven results.

Ryan Murphy and His Work.

Ryan has a 300-Million-dollar empire with alone, not counting his previous hit series and his shows contracted with Fox. Hollywood is in productions for Season 2.

Hollywood tells the story of every dreamer who goes to Hollywood and canters around the illicit prostitution ring operated out of a service gas station, which services only the

Hollywood elites. The story in Hollywood rings true today, even though the series is set in the 50’s, things were a lot different, but Murphy tastefully navigates the racial line accurately well, with dare I say, the proper level of accuracy and offensiveness not to trigger the sensitive youth of today.

The idea behind Hollywood was to unmask the never-ending overflow of sacrifices to achieve your dreams of fame and fortune. How far are you willing to go, and if this scenario was played in today’s world, how many sexual assault or harassment suits would be files. He created this world to showcase how things are different, and even though not taking a side on whether it is right or wrong, he states the case for the viewer to make their own decisions.

One of my favourite art works by Murphy is his depiction of the story of Gianni

Versace. He executive produces this and Feud- Joan vs Bette. Both stories are not credited to him in writing nor directing, only executive producer, but there is something about these series. They were limited releases, and they draw parallels. The soundtracks are made up of songs that were not quite hits at the time but have aged so well than when played can be said they defined the era, or a part of that era. The camera angles are also, even though he is not directing, very on brand with him. Cameras follow the characters and tend to pan out when a major plot point is about to hit, zoom in, then cut away. The casting for these was also exceptional. Both shows earned awards and added to his ever-evolving empire. I have to make mention that he did write, produce and directed the Show Feud, but not the inside look Ryan Murphy and His Work. at the show which was a limited release. The Assassination of Gianni Versace and The

People vs OJ Simpson are both part of his series; Where he dives into the most intricate scandals that have shaped pop culture and the world as we see it today.

His Third instalment of American Crime Story will be called Impeachment. And it will centre, obviously, in the disastrous presidency of Donald Trump and the events that lead to the first impeachments, the insurrection at the capitol, and now the on-going second impeachment. These stories will all be written, directed and produced by him. Where does he find the time?

Wrapping up with the American Crime Stories series, he then dives into the Inside

Look series, which takes a long hard look at the making of the series and is less scripted and more factual almost documentary like. This is where his journalist soul kicks in. He Majored in Journalism from The University of Indiana Bloomington and then interned at The

Washington Post, where they placed in in the style section. But he officially began his journalistic career working for the Miami Herald, Times, and Entertainment

Weekly among others. He began scriptwriting in the late 1990's, which probably explains why pose is so accurate for the times, but his big break came when he sold his script for Why can’t I be Audrey Hepburn. But it was not until 2009, when Glee Debuted, that he became a household name.

Murphy has also dived into the film universe. His films include: Running with scissors, Circus of books; A Netflix documentary that tells the story of an average white hometown America couple that own the largest distribution of pornographic material in the

US at the time of their prime, in the early 90’s, and . The latter was destroyed Ryan Murphy and His Work. by critics everywhere saying it lacked credibility. But 205 million dollars later, Murphy has had the last laugh.

His most recent film, Prom, Debuted on Netflix late 2020, to lukewarm reviews despite the all- cast. This is, in my opinion, due to the strong brand that Murphy has created, that the moment he steers away from it, it alters the balance of his followers. I think the main issue with this film was not the intent nor the message he tried to convey, but was the lack of support for gay actors, and casting a cis male in the role, James Corden. I think he was fabulous on the role, and if Ryan auditioned, as I’m certain he did, this was the right actor for the vision for this movie. The movie is streaming on Netflix, and I recommend it, as a background film while folding your laundry.

Ryan also created the Show, the Politician. This shows centers on the ambition of a high school senior who will not stop at anything to become class president, and then his ambition spills over to his real-life political aspirations. There are twists and turns, very wealthy family is broken. It also deals with self-discovery, human ambition and deceit, and who far will anyone go to achieve wealth. This show also features an all-star cast which

Includes , , Bette Middler and , this speaks volumes of Murphy’s reputation and the finding he has at his disposal for his projects.

Realistically speaking some of these projects, specially referring to and the politician, take a little bit getting adjusted too, and if these had not been a Ryan Murphy project, I highly doubt any of the A listers featured would have even thought about joining the cast.

Ryan Murphy and His Work.

Closing up the Ryan Murphy Netflix universe before we dive briefly into his Fox

Universe, he has 4 streaming projects in development with no release date as of yet: ,

Ratchet season 2, Hollywood Season 2, A Chorus line the series, and Monster: The Jeffrey

Dahmer Story all on Netflix; and American Horror Stories, a spin off from the series with the similar name, but this will be released on FX on Hulu.

Let’s talk Fox. My surprised Ryan Murphy show was . Which, you guessed it, features some of the same cast from AHS. Specifically, , who I have to add is another character actress Ryan Murphy has discovered and developed to her full potential. This series also features big names like Arianna Grande. Again, volumes for the amount of influence this individual has over celebrities, studios and casting. Jamie Lee Curtis is also an actor on this series. So, let’s take it from the top, Fox: Glee, Scream Queens, 9-1-1,

9-1-1 Lone Star. FX: Nip/Tuck, AHS, American Crime Story, Feud, Pose. Netflix: The

American Horror Story Freak Show: Extra – Ordinary- Artists, Inside Look: The people v.

O.J. Simpson - American Crime Story, Inside Look: Feud – Bette and Joan. Inside Look: The

Assassination of Gianni Versace – American Crime Story, Ratchet, Hollywood, The

Politician, with 3 more in development. This is an impressive body of work. I have not included his 9 feature films, but let’s do it: The furies in 1999, Running with scissors in 2006

Eat Pray Love in 2010, Glee: The 3d Concert Movie in 2011, The town that Dreaded

Sundown 2014, Circus of Books in 2019, in 2020, The Boys in the Band in

2020 and also the Prom that same year. Wow.

Over the course of his career, he has amassed and amazing 32 Emmy nominations and won 6, 2 Grammy nominations, and two Tony Award Nominations. I have to point out that as a writer myself I cannot fathom the idea of creating so much content. But when you have Ryan Murphy and His Work. been writing since your early years, for over 30 years, you do tend to amass a great number of materials. His story is inspiring to me. This story makes me want to work harder. The beauty of the Ryan Murphy body of work is that all his shows have pushed the envelope little by little, but somehow appropriately, even though they have created controversy, it has been done so to where he knows where to go, drop the hint, and let you run with it to where he is not seen as a revolutionary. Nor controversial. It was not until the release of Pose and Ratchet that he really pushed the envelope creatively and politically. Ryan Murphy, according to my research, is the first producer in Hollywood to cast nonbinary actors for gender roles. That Is a major step in the right directions. He also broke race boundaries by creating a prime time tv show with an all Bipoc cast. Never had been done before. So, the work that Rya is doing, and the positive message he is sending society in general is that of acceptance, tolerance and inclusivity. These are all things the world needs now. More than ever.

I could not think of any other author in the modern era this is creating this amount of content, pushing the envelope socially and politically, and creating quality entertainment. I think as I stated in the opening of this wonderful essay, Ryan Murphy has been defining pop culture for over 12 years, and unintentionally opening the country’s eyes to new ways of life, new art forms, new stories and new story telling. He has done so in a way that is socially responsible and acceptable in my opinion. Not all his work is great, we have analysed some of his best and some of his worse, but even at his worse, Ryan manages to come out on top, manages to continue to evolve and bring us series and entertainment that continues to catch out eye, and shape culture in general, not just pop Culture. Ryan is doing what Cervantes

Saavedra did to Spanish literature in the 1500’s: He is creating stories that will be able to be told 400 years from today and still ring true. The brilliance, I want to add, with the Murphy

Empire is that he is slowly moving away from Television and investing into the streaming Ryan Murphy and His Work. platforms, which are the future. Subscription services give the user more control over their entertainment and people love that. I foresee a day where television will be all on demand, not continuously streaming on a schedule, but we will be able to order what we want to want when we want to watch it. I do it now, already. I have no cable only streaming services. And it is work ng out for me. What I cannot find on streams I can find online or on YouTube.

Period.

So, in Conclusion, I do believe there Is no other author out here shaping the landscape of pop culture as fiercely as Ryan Murphy. The amount of content created, the topics discussed and the infrastructure behind al his projects are massive. This is the dream. Before I became a writer, I never knew was a creator, and knowing now what I know, and the amount of work he is putting into his craft, I will not complain over deadlines or workload anymore.

This has given me a new vision and a new understanding on how hard one has to work to achieve the dream. Live. Dream. Pose.

Ryan Murphy and His Work.

References

Ryan Murphy Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved February 08, 2021, from https://www.who2.com/bio/ryan-murphy/

Murphy, R., Photography by David Miller and Stephen Kent Johnson, & Reynolds, S. (n.d.). Inside Hollywood HITMAKER RYAN murphy's SERENE NYC and L.A. Homes. Retrieved February 08, 2021, from https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/ryan- murphy-nyc-and-la-homes

Rose, L. (2020, July 09). Ryan Murphy's Professional highs and Personal Lows: "I don't want to be that Person Anymore". Retrieved February 08, 2021, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/ryan-murphys-professional-highs- personal-831587

Lansky, S. (2019, September 03). How Ryan murphy built a $300 Million Netflix Empire. Retrieved February 08, 2021, from https://time.com/5667752/ryan-murphy-netflix/