Emma Cianchette
Ms. Barklow
Monsters and Misfits
10 May 2019
Murder House Research Paper
I started watching American Horror Story; Murder House and thought it would be an interesting topic to adapt. I think the whole season has a deeper meaning to it than what people think when just watching the show. There was a large amount of gaslighting and manipulation in the show and I decided to analyze that for my research. The first example of gaslighting is Ben towards Vivian, he cheats on her and continues to see his mistress but gaslights Vivian into thinking she is crazy and that it is her fault that he cheated because she had a misscarriage. I want to analyze gaslighting in relationships and the traits of those people that do it to compare it to Ben’s actions. The last character I want to look at in my research paper is Tate, he is a complex character who is very manipulative the whole time. He manipulates Violet by pretending he is alive for half the season and by making her believe that he is a good person when he actually committed a mass school shooting and was killed by the FBI for it. I will be looking at other mass shooters and why they did it and the relation between the fictional mass shooting and the real one it is based off of.
‘‘It’s a filthy goddamn world’: Reimagining Columbine, Tate Langdon and the spectre of school shooters”
This article focuses on Tate and how the fictional shooting he committed in the show relates to the real Columbine High School massacre that happened in 1999. The location of Tate murdering the students in the library is the same as the columbine shooting where the majority of the students were also shot in the library. Both shooters were also dressed the same and the show mimics the way the students were shot as well. The article presents the similarities and the reaction of the viewers.
“You cannot watch the opening sequence of ‘Piggy Piggy’ without recalling the Columbine High School Massacre of 1999 and it is these similarities that caused many media outlets to state that the series, already known for transgressive depictions of rape and murder had ‘gone too far’.” The article also shows how Murder House was taking real life events and making them seem fictional. It shows that Tate was just as bad as the same people who committed the Columbine shooting.
“We Asked 12 Mass Killers: ‘What Would Have Stopped you?’”
In this article the author contacts 12 mass shooters to try and understand their mentality behind the shooting and why they did. Majority of their reasons for it was because they were mad at someone or they felt no one cared about them. Chad Escobedo the shooter behind the Springwater Trail High School shooting in Gresham, Oregon. He shot students at his own high school while he was a student there and this was the reason why and why he thinks other people do it “‘I think they’re ignored not listened to,’... There are many cases besides mine where they found the perpetrator was taking antidepressants or certain drugs. I wasn’t on any drugs. But I wasn’t trying to kill anybody; I was trying instill fear into the public.” When Tate committed his shooting he was going crazy being in the murdfer house because that is what it does to someone living there. He was vulnerable and let the spirits take over his mind. He is like the actual shooters in this article who commit the crime because they feel misunderstood and an outcast so they go to extremes because they are angry at everyone else.
“What is gaslighting? And how do you know if it’s happening to you?”
This article from NBC news gives an introduction about gaslighting and how it happens. A gaslighter uses techniques to manipulate someone else like not listening to anything they say, questioning the gaslightee’s memory of an event, changes the subject or questions the victims thinking, making their feelings seem unimportant, and denying events that have happened. Benm does all of these things to Vivian, he questions her sanity after she was raped, never listens to what she’s thinking, and denys seeing his mistress and having contact with her and actually goes to see her in Boston. Vivian ends uip not being able to get out of this cycle of gaslighting and everyone starts accusing her of being crazy. “It may start out with seemingly small offenses. But the problem is that even more-or-less insignificant instances of you questioning your own judgement or reality- thanks to the deliberate intent of someone else- can snowball. You can end up in a cycle of not being able to negotiate your daily life in a way where you are clear minded, can focus, can make sound decisions, and have a sense of well-being.” This is exactly what happens to Vivian she loses her ability to tell people what is happening with her and Ben just accuses her of being psychotic.
“7 Stages of Gaslighting in a relationship”
This article shows the stages of gaslighting in a relationship and how people try and convince people they they are insane and make them lose their self worth. It starts out by the gaslighter creating a negative narrative about the gaslightee. It leads to the victim being worn out by the attacker and starts to question his or her reality. They end up dominating and controlling the victim, “The ultimate objective of a gaslighter is to control, dominate and take advantage of another individual.” Eventually Vivian is put into a mental hospital which is a victory for Ben because he manipulated her the whole time so he would be seem as the innocent, good husband.
“Signs Your Spouse is Manipulating You (and how to stop it)”
This article focuses on how to know your being manipulated by describing the feelings you get from your spouse if he’s being manipulative. Ben makes Vivian feel small and like she is the problem in the relationship but also manipulates by being kind sometimes and acting like he is fixing his problems but is actually just gaslighting her even more. He also makes her feel guilty for his wrongs. One of the signs of manipulation is; “You consistently are made to feel guilty, whether you did anything wrong or not.” Ben did this by telling Vivian it was her fault that he cheated because she had a miscarriage. He tried to blame her for his actions and saying that he did not know how else to cope because she was being distant after losing her baby. That is one of the main signs of gaslighting and manipulation in a person.
“On Screen: American Horror Story- Murder House”
In this article the author writes her review of the series and specifically talks about the manipulation done to Vivian. She notes that,
“Perhaps the thing that scared me most about American Horror Story was the ease with which Vivien concerns about the house and hauntings were dismissed, to the point where she was institutionalized. It’s flat-out terrifying to think those closest to you could disbelieve your very real fears, but this too is based in reality. While the idea of malevolent paranormal forces are pretty scary, knowing this kind of gaslighting has happened to thousands of women for far too long is worse.”
The creators of Murder House bring a lot of real life events and problems into the season of Murder House. Women being manipulated is a big problem in society today and the creators of the show reflect on that problem and show how wrong it is no matter who you are man or woman.
DiGiulio, Sarah. “What Is Gaslighting?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 2018, www.nbcnews.com/better/health/what-gaslighting-how-do you know-if-it-s-happening-ncna890866.
Hannaford, Alex. L“We Asked 12 Mass Killers: 'What Would Have Stopped You?'.” GQ, British GQ, 15 Sept. 2018, www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/mass-shootings-in-america-interviews.
McMurdo, Shellie. “‘It’s a Filthy Goddamn Helpless World’: Reimagining Columbine, Tate Langdon and the Spectre of School Shooters.” European Journal of American Culture, vol. 38, no. 1, Mar. 2019
Michelle. “On Screen: American Horror Story - Murder House.” The Unfinished Bookshelf, 28 July 2018, theunfinishedbookshelf.com/screen-american- horror-story-murder-house/.
Preston. “7 Stages of Gaslighting in a Relationship.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/communication- success/201704/7-stages-gaslighting-in-relationship.
Sexton, James J. “Signs Your Spouse Is Manipulating You (and How to Handle It).” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/signs-your-spouse-is-mani_b_9077178.
Ms. Barklow
Monsters and Misfits
10 May 2019
Murder House Research Paper
I started watching American Horror Story; Murder House and thought it would be an interesting topic to adapt. I think the whole season has a deeper meaning to it than what people think when just watching the show. There was a large amount of gaslighting and manipulation in the show and I decided to analyze that for my research. The first example of gaslighting is Ben towards Vivian, he cheats on her and continues to see his mistress but gaslights Vivian into thinking she is crazy and that it is her fault that he cheated because she had a misscarriage. I want to analyze gaslighting in relationships and the traits of those people that do it to compare it to Ben’s actions. The last character I want to look at in my research paper is Tate, he is a complex character who is very manipulative the whole time. He manipulates Violet by pretending he is alive for half the season and by making her believe that he is a good person when he actually committed a mass school shooting and was killed by the FBI for it. I will be looking at other mass shooters and why they did it and the relation between the fictional mass shooting and the real one it is based off of.
‘‘It’s a filthy goddamn world’: Reimagining Columbine, Tate Langdon and the spectre of school shooters”
This article focuses on Tate and how the fictional shooting he committed in the show relates to the real Columbine High School massacre that happened in 1999. The location of Tate murdering the students in the library is the same as the columbine shooting where the majority of the students were also shot in the library. Both shooters were also dressed the same and the show mimics the way the students were shot as well. The article presents the similarities and the reaction of the viewers.
“You cannot watch the opening sequence of ‘Piggy Piggy’ without recalling the Columbine High School Massacre of 1999 and it is these similarities that caused many media outlets to state that the series, already known for transgressive depictions of rape and murder had ‘gone too far’.” The article also shows how Murder House was taking real life events and making them seem fictional. It shows that Tate was just as bad as the same people who committed the Columbine shooting.
“We Asked 12 Mass Killers: ‘What Would Have Stopped you?’”
In this article the author contacts 12 mass shooters to try and understand their mentality behind the shooting and why they did. Majority of their reasons for it was because they were mad at someone or they felt no one cared about them. Chad Escobedo the shooter behind the Springwater Trail High School shooting in Gresham, Oregon. He shot students at his own high school while he was a student there and this was the reason why and why he thinks other people do it “‘I think they’re ignored not listened to,’... There are many cases besides mine where they found the perpetrator was taking antidepressants or certain drugs. I wasn’t on any drugs. But I wasn’t trying to kill anybody; I was trying instill fear into the public.” When Tate committed his shooting he was going crazy being in the murdfer house because that is what it does to someone living there. He was vulnerable and let the spirits take over his mind. He is like the actual shooters in this article who commit the crime because they feel misunderstood and an outcast so they go to extremes because they are angry at everyone else.
“What is gaslighting? And how do you know if it’s happening to you?”
This article from NBC news gives an introduction about gaslighting and how it happens. A gaslighter uses techniques to manipulate someone else like not listening to anything they say, questioning the gaslightee’s memory of an event, changes the subject or questions the victims thinking, making their feelings seem unimportant, and denying events that have happened. Benm does all of these things to Vivian, he questions her sanity after she was raped, never listens to what she’s thinking, and denys seeing his mistress and having contact with her and actually goes to see her in Boston. Vivian ends uip not being able to get out of this cycle of gaslighting and everyone starts accusing her of being crazy. “It may start out with seemingly small offenses. But the problem is that even more-or-less insignificant instances of you questioning your own judgement or reality- thanks to the deliberate intent of someone else- can snowball. You can end up in a cycle of not being able to negotiate your daily life in a way where you are clear minded, can focus, can make sound decisions, and have a sense of well-being.” This is exactly what happens to Vivian she loses her ability to tell people what is happening with her and Ben just accuses her of being psychotic.
“7 Stages of Gaslighting in a relationship”
This article shows the stages of gaslighting in a relationship and how people try and convince people they they are insane and make them lose their self worth. It starts out by the gaslighter creating a negative narrative about the gaslightee. It leads to the victim being worn out by the attacker and starts to question his or her reality. They end up dominating and controlling the victim, “The ultimate objective of a gaslighter is to control, dominate and take advantage of another individual.” Eventually Vivian is put into a mental hospital which is a victory for Ben because he manipulated her the whole time so he would be seem as the innocent, good husband.
“Signs Your Spouse is Manipulating You (and how to stop it)”
This article focuses on how to know your being manipulated by describing the feelings you get from your spouse if he’s being manipulative. Ben makes Vivian feel small and like she is the problem in the relationship but also manipulates by being kind sometimes and acting like he is fixing his problems but is actually just gaslighting her even more. He also makes her feel guilty for his wrongs. One of the signs of manipulation is; “You consistently are made to feel guilty, whether you did anything wrong or not.” Ben did this by telling Vivian it was her fault that he cheated because she had a miscarriage. He tried to blame her for his actions and saying that he did not know how else to cope because she was being distant after losing her baby. That is one of the main signs of gaslighting and manipulation in a person.
“On Screen: American Horror Story- Murder House”
In this article the author writes her review of the series and specifically talks about the manipulation done to Vivian. She notes that,
“Perhaps the thing that scared me most about American Horror Story was the ease with which Vivien concerns about the house and hauntings were dismissed, to the point where she was institutionalized. It’s flat-out terrifying to think those closest to you could disbelieve your very real fears, but this too is based in reality. While the idea of malevolent paranormal forces are pretty scary, knowing this kind of gaslighting has happened to thousands of women for far too long is worse.”
The creators of Murder House bring a lot of real life events and problems into the season of Murder House. Women being manipulated is a big problem in society today and the creators of the show reflect on that problem and show how wrong it is no matter who you are man or woman.
DiGiulio, Sarah. “What Is Gaslighting?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 2018, www.nbcnews.com/better/health/what-gaslighting-how-do you know-if-it-s-happening-ncna890866.
Hannaford, Alex. L“We Asked 12 Mass Killers: 'What Would Have Stopped You?'.” GQ, British GQ, 15 Sept. 2018, www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/mass-shootings-in-america-interviews.
McMurdo, Shellie. “‘It’s a Filthy Goddamn Helpless World’: Reimagining Columbine, Tate Langdon and the Spectre of School Shooters.” European Journal of American Culture, vol. 38, no. 1, Mar. 2019
Michelle. “On Screen: American Horror Story - Murder House.” The Unfinished Bookshelf, 28 July 2018, theunfinishedbookshelf.com/screen-american- horror-story-murder-house/.
Preston. “7 Stages of Gaslighting in a Relationship.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/communication- success/201704/7-stages-gaslighting-in-relationship.
Sexton, James J. “Signs Your Spouse Is Manipulating You (and How to Handle It).” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/signs-your-spouse-is-mani_b_9077178.