Between FOX’s Glee and FX’s Pose, television writer, producer and director extraordinaire Ryan Murphy is no stranger to creating programs generally described as “positive” by critics and audiences alike. Nor, for that matter, has he been shy when it comes to making stories about much darker materials, like FX’s American Crime Story and American Horror Story anthologies. Now that he’s in the process of taking his menagerie to Netflix, it seems Murphy is no longer interested in what he called “shock value” at an event at the Beverly Hilton.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Murphy made his creative feelings clear while in conversation with celebrity journalist Ronan Farrow (who helped bring down Harvey Weinstein back in November) at an event on Wednesday. “I’m not interested in shock value anymore,” he said, adding that he has “gotten away from sexuality and violence and how far I can push the envelope” in his recent work. “The new thing I’m doing focuses on [projects] that aren’t just not in my view. I’m working with young talent, trying to get them in the system and trying to change the system.”
Unsurprisingly, Murphy’s work on Pose has had a big impact on his viewpoint. Billed as one of the biggest examples of LGBTQ representation on television, both in front of and behind the cameras, Murphy equated his latest FX series to “showrunning as advocacy.” He clarified that his ideas “started for me earlier,” but were “really kicked into high gear on Pose.”
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
