I am a reluctant fan of both Ryan Murphy and Bret Easton Ellis for completely different reasons. But they don’t really strike me as two men whose work would go together well. But I guess we’re about to find out with The Shards.
Ellis is known for his work like American Psycho and Less Than Zero. The issue with Ellis is that many of us (myself included) think that adaptations of his novels fair better than the novels themselves. With American Psycho, Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner brought a necessary nuance to the story that Ellis’ novel lacked.
So it means that I’m not exactly excited to see how Ryan Murphy would tackle something like The Shards. The novel is described as follows: “A novel of sensational literary and psychological suspense from the best-selling author of Less Than Zero and American Psycho that tracks a group of privileged high school friends in a vibrantly fictionalized 1980s Los Angeles as a serial killer strikes across the city.”
Now, you may be thinking to yourself: That sounds like a great novel for Murphy to adapt. But have you watched a Ryan Murphy show? Or better yet, read a Bret Easton Ellis novel? They are always great ideas that fall apart in the middle and what makes adaptations of his work so great to see is that the creatives who tackle them bring layers that Ellis does not.
Yes, I am aware that that is insulting to Ellis but read American Psycho (my favorite piece of media) and then you will understand. And look, I think that Murphy can probably tackle The Shards and do a good job but my concern comes with the less than stellar aspects of Ellis’ work. Is Murphy going to still adapt things that probably should have been omitted or what is his approach to Ellis’ body of work going to be?
According to Deadline, the series will star Kaia Gerber and Max Winkler is reportedly linked to the project to direct. All that sounds great. It is the adaptation part of it all that has me a little worried.
Can Ryan Murphy fix Bret Easton Ellis’ work?
I have watched nearly every show that Ryan Murphy has brought to audiences. Most of them, I’ve found things that I really love. Others have made me angry and ruined the rest of the series for me. I’m looking at you, The Politician. “River” by Joni Mitchell is not about a MAN. It’s about CHRISTMAS.
But I also think that Murphy’s work has a level of camp to it that does work with a lot of what Ellis puts into his novels. But still, I think that there is a lot that could go very wrong with this kind of collaboration, especially if Ellis ends up involved in it. Sometimes, it is best to leave Ellis out of his own work if I’m being entirely honest.
Until we know more about this show, know that I am both furious and intrigued by it. So take that as you will.
(featured image: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
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