Entertainment •

American Horror Story: Links Between Roanoke and Murder House

October 4, 2016 By Kevin Kopas Leave a Comment

American Horror Story (AHS): Murder House

Image Credit: Alissa Walker via Wikipedia

As all “American Horror Story” (AHS) fans know, the show often features links between the seasons. Despite the time shifts, different settings and brand new characters that come with the seasons, the show still manages to create links and an interconnected AHS universe for its avid fans.

Linking a Diverse Universe

Each season has been so incredibly different that viewers didn’t know they were linked until a character from season two suddenly appeared in season four. Since then, the links have been showing up with more frequency. Now that we’re on season six, the teasers have shown numerous links to past seasons. In particular, the September 14 premiere of the current season shows strong links between it and the show’s opening season: “AHS: Murder House.”

Little Angel

The first connection between the two seasons could be spotted even before the new season premiered. In a creepy teaser trailer, a freaky doll with an extra-wide, slashed-apart mouth was shown repeating the same garbled line over and over again. Her angelic voice sounds like gibberish to a casual listener, but if you pay attention, and maybe even give it another listen or two, the doll appears to be repeating the words “little angel.”

The AHS fandom noticed soon afterward that this was a line from the “Murder House” season. Constance called her young grandson (who is also the Antichrist) “little angel.” He was only a toddler at the time. Is this an old toy he stole from a little girl in 2011 and somehow possessed in 2016?

Opening Shot Coincidences?

When the September 14 debut finally occurred, the “Roanoke” season premiere’s opening scene showed an upward view of the trees above the camera. Then the camera view came downward toward the old farmhouse in front of the trees. We saw almost the same thing in the “Murder House” season. The same kind of focus on the trees before the camera settles in on the infamous old Murder House can be seen in rerun.

Haunted Houses

As the premiere episode went on, we realized that we are dealing with a modern-day haunting. There are spooky, supernatural inhabitants lurking in the Roanoke home and outside property. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

It hearkens back to the “Murder House” days. We had the spooky old Murder House, full of history, and it just seemed to attract spooks and evil in its suburb of Los Angeles. It’s ghostly inhabitants, and later even the Antichrist himself, occupied that home. The Roanoke House seems to be the 2016 North Carolina version of that. We don’t know that the Antichrist has moved in, but it certainly would fit in with the number six theme for season six.

Celebrity Culture

And let’s not forget the acting/fame theme. In a completely different take from the other seasons, we are watching a show taking place within our usual horror show. A couple appearing on a reality TV documentary special called “My Roanoke Nightmare” give interviews about their encounters with the supernatural in Roanoke. Interspersed throughout the interviews are what look to be dramatic reenactments of what the couple describe.

Throughout the “Murder House” season, the consequences of pursuing fame and an acting career in treacherous Hollywood came up again and again. We saw Constance, Travis and the Black Dahlia struggle and suffer dire consequences as a result of their preoccupation with celebrity culture. Perhaps the Roanoke couple’s participation in “My Roanoke Nightmare” will also lead to consequences.

Victoria’s Secret “Inside Out” Launch Stirs Outrage

October 1, 2016 By Kevin Kopas Leave a Comment

Sorbis / Shutterstock.com

Touted on their website as being “The New (Un)Dress Code,” Inside Out was a campaign slogan for a new line of lingerie. The photos used suggested that women show these sexy garments off, at home or out in public. This caused a public outcry against the company, which has not gotten this much criticism since the infamous “perfect body” incident.

“How to Get Fired”

Victoria’s Secret has since pulled the ads, but not before critics got a chance to voice their opinions online. Featuring their typical array of angels, the ad depicted women wearing various bras and negligees as the focal point for the ensemble. More than just a flash of a strap, it was suggesting that what women normally wear under their clothes – or under the sheets – could be an outward

Some of the images can still be seen here which prompted one shopper to comment “How to get fired by Victoria’s Secret.” Others suggested that the campaign must have been the idea of a man, and one commenter went as far as to say that the whole concept of wearing your underwear as outerwear was just dumb.

The ads are nowhere to be found on the Victoria’s Secret website now, suggesting that the lingerie legend takes its criticisms seriously. A habit it quickly developed after another public backlash back in 2014.

“The Perfect Body”

Known for their use of Barbie doll-like models, it came as no surprise when Victoria’s Secret lined up ten of them to advertise a new bra in November of 2014. Each wore a matching bra and panty set to highlight the various fits that the company offered. The picture was never an issue, but its overlaid message quickly became one. Written directly underneath this wall of angels was the phrase “The Perfect Body”.

While the smaller print made it clear that the lingerie the models were wearing was cut to fit any body type, thus the “perfect” part, the public did not see it that way. The majority felt that the ad was demeaning to women who did not fit in with that “perfect” body image, and a demand was made for Victoria’s Secret to pull the advertisement. They obliged, but only by changing the type to read “A Body For Every Body,” and using the same image of the ten models in underwear as the backdrop.

With stars like Amber Rose making women’s body issues a hot topic, companies are beginning to be more cautious with their branding campaigns. Victoria’s Secret may have made an error in judgement with “Inside Out,” but they were quick to respond to the public’s displeasure.

Pablo Escobar’s Son Jumps To Correct “Narcos” Series

September 29, 2016 By Kevin Kopas Leave a Comment

Kaspars Grinvalds / Shutterstock.com

Sebastian Marroquin, now a 40-year-old architect, seeks to set the record straight about his father

The second season of Netflix’ hit series “Narcos” has been met with overwhelming public acclaim and rave reviews from critics for its deep look at one of Latin America’s darkest periods. However, praise has not been universal for the show, which is based on notorious drug-lord Pablo Escobar’s rise to power and subsequent downfall. Most notably, Escobar’s own son, the 40 year old architect Sebastian Marroquin, has recently posted a list of 28 mistakes the series made when portraying his father.

Getting The Details Right Matters, Says Son

“Narcos” had a successful first run in 2015, which depicted Pablo Escobar’s story from his origins as a petty smuggler, his rise as a ruthless cocaine exporter, all the way to his position as one of the richest men on Earth and his epic escape from prison. For its second season, launched Sept. 2, the plot follows the tense months of his life as an outlaw, the ongoing turf wars between cartels, and his family life – which was the toughest pill to swallow for Alberto Marroquin.

In a massively-shared Facebook post, Marroquin accused the show of being “insulting” and of containing more fact than fiction. As part of his statement, Marroquin said that he wished to honor his country’s real history and the victims of the rabid violence that overtook Colombia in between the ‘80s and the early ‘90s.

Many of the inaccuracies pointed out by Sebastian Marroquin are actually major plot points of the season, and as such, the show’s creators defend them as part of the challenge of creating an enticing, vibrant story that can keep audiences entertained while remaining true to the overall plot arc.

However, other seemingly minor details – such as Pablo Escobar’s favorite team, or the scenes depicting his wife carrying a gun – while seemingly irrelevant, were key to showing Escobar as a real person and proof that the scriptwriters were not committed to accuracy, Marroquin said.

In addition, Marroquin showed special indignation at the portrayal of many real-life honest characters as criminals. For example, Pablo Escobar’s brother-in-law Carlos Henao is depicted in several scenes as one of the chief lieutenant of his drug empire, when in reality he was “a doctor and an honest man who was never involved in anything illegal” and had apparently cut off all contact with Escobar.

A Bloody Legacy He Seeks To Escape

Although he admittedly loved his father, Sebastian Marroquin has never shied away from condemning his actions, business, and methods. He points out that other major plot points shown in Narcos, such as Escobar’s especially gruesome targeting of the police, were real.

Forced to escape Colombia immediately after his father’s death, under threats from the Cali cartel, Marroquin, his mother, and sister left for Argentina when he was just 17. Now an architect, writer, and advocate for drug reform, Marroquin has publicly and repeatedly apologized for his father’s crimes.