The Assassination of Gianni Versace

Started by wilder, May 23, 2018, 04:21:42 AM

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wilder



Probably my favorite thing I've seen this year. Was on the fence for the first couple of episodes but after that it takes off running. The writing by Tom Rob Smith (one guy!) is very good, especially as it snowballs. Between this and Ingrid the Ripley renaissance is here.

Jon Jon Briones' performance blew me away:



wilberfan

I thought it was well done, but can't decide if the 'backspace' storytelling was effective, or more of a gimmick.  (Maybe a little of both.)

WorldForgot

Quote from: wilberfan on May 24, 2018, 12:06:34 AM
I thought it was well done, but can't decide if the 'backspace' storytelling was effective, or more of a gimmick.  (Maybe a little of both.)

If Season 1 was, in part, an indictment on racial and social double standards that fame or/and wealth can afford you -- Season 2's vitriol came from the weight, stability, and consequent orbit of the closet. Adored this season, but need to do a rewatch before I can type up all my thoughts.

Being in the closet begets a mask, often more than one, although they're all meant to look like you. I felt that the 'backspace' structure was the most honest way to convey that feeling of receding into yourself. Here with Versace, unlike OJ, we're allowed various seduction plots. Dreadful romance. Your identity, so bound to preference/orientation, can easily be equated with desire. This can be a prison (Cunanan) or a compass (Versace) but, emotionally, it's processed retroactively. Like a series of litmus tests you subject yourself to, was that me tonight or the best imitation yet?

This season topped the first, for me. I think the "Dont Ask Dont Tell" episode half into the season was the one that solidified the structure for me as the soundest form of introspection for each of the characters' relationship to their closet -- for us to see its aftermath first allows the tragedy not only of those caught in Cunanan's orbit, but also of how Jeffrey Trail, David Madson, and Versace had their own masks through which they could see Cunanan's past, or so they thought. 

wilder