Excess, particularly around sex and violence, but also as a sort of narrative device. This aesthetic defines much of Ryan Murphy‘s work, and his tendency toward maximalism, is on full display in his latest series, “The Beauty.” Created in partnership with his long-time collaborator Matthew Hodgson, this is not a series intended to silence its critics.
This is supposed to delight Murphy fans. Adapting a graphic novel series of the same name, the FX series primarily follows FBI agent Cooper Madsen, played by Murphy’s frequent muse. Evan Peters. He investigates a mysterious new infection that transforms people into the best possible byproduct of their DNA: young, beautiful and fit. The only downside is that they spontaneously combust around 2 years after processing.
Naturally, an evil billionaire (played primarily by Ashton Kutcher) markets this disease by selling injections and boosters to stop ka-baoom. He also tries to curb its unauthorized spread – because yes, it can be sexually transmitted – via a mercenary, played by Anthony Ramoswho has a lot of fun with it.
The first few episodes in particular really lean into the idiosyncrasies and glitches of Murphy’s storytelling. They have so much style and very little substance. The long action sequences are more about recreating cool visuals from the graphic novels than moving the story forward. The same goes for many of the design choices: expect an array of Matrix-style sunglasses, artfully displayed corpses, and high-fashion outfits for Isabelle Rosselliniplaying Kutcher’s wife.
To open the series, Bella Hadid gets a long opening sequence, which ends in combustion. We’re also treated to repeated close-ups of the entire transformation process: minutes of bone-breaking noises, creepy bridge poses, ooze, and a primordial sac that the new belle must pierce like sexy baby birds – on repeat.
Then each of the reborn men flexes both arms and everyone touches their newly supple buttocks (there’s a lot of behind). Surely beauty must mean something different to some of these people? Or are we all really that basic?
“Beauty” doesn’t know it. It’s a show with a lot of ideas around attractiveness, but doesn’t delve deeply into any of them. Take all these transformation scenes, which continue throughout the first season (if not at the rate of one complete rebirth per episode like in the first installments). Apparently, they argue that “beauty is pain,” as the saying goes. And they make the audience sit in pain, stuck in the discomfort of these long, ugly sequences. But then what? What is there to explore beyond the cliché?
I don’t think much of this particular idea, but don’t come to “The Beauty” for ruminations on physical attractiveness and the currency that goes with it (I would suggest “Materialists” for this). At one point, Kutcher’s billionaire says, “beautiful people think the rules don’t apply to them,” and that’s really the extent of the thinking here.
Yet “The Beauty” poses many intriguing questions, even if inadvertently. For example, what is beauty? In this eleven-episode season, “beauty” is youth, health, and fitness, as well as the ability of Murphy’s camera to respectfully film the midriff. The series depicts beauty as biologically determined – the transformations are just a trick of mutated DNA. But obviously we’re really looking at the choices of a modern casting process.
And because beauty standards change (here all buttocks are round and plump, for example, but that hasn’t always been fashionable) and are often linked to racialized characteristics (lips, hair texture, etc.), these choices and their implications make us think, even if “Beauty” does not put forward a coherent idea about them.
For example, things get tricky for characters like Rebecca RoomIt’s Jordan Bennett. She is Agent Madsen’s love interest from the beginning and clearly an attractive woman. So what does it mean for someone like her to catch the beauty bug? Well, they replace her with Jess Alexander, as if the second woman is unquestionably more attractive than the first. I’m not sure that’s true, and as I watched, I couldn’t help but question that choice. I don’t particularly like to consider classifying these two women, but it’s interesting to think about the components of beauty: what we, as a society, have decided to call it and what that says about us.
The series tackles some of the thorny complications of its premise head-on. Murphy and Hodgson thoughtfully execute an episode with a trans character who takes drugs. What’s even more confusing is the show’s talk of ability, that disability is ugly, something that this new illness can cure. The implications are troubling and fuel dangerous ideas about the value of people with disabilities.
Overall, this show is best enjoyed as a wild ride. Murphy excels at world-building and his skills are on full display here. Yes, there are some annoying tics (like overusing the theme song), but the show, for all its faults, remains an immersive experience. A stylized reflection of our world that throws millions of ideas at the walls. And even if none of them stick, there’s still plenty to take in, to think about in a slower, more nuanced way, away from the chaos and bare behinds of “The Beauty.”
All episodes screened for review. Airing weekly on FX, streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
