Day 27 of 30: Write about something that kicking ass right now
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story season 2
Disclaimer: Spoiler alert!
The second season of American Crime Story. It ended last march, but it still is kicking ass right? I am obsessed with the show. Pretty pictures are one of my weak spot. The series open with Gianni Versace in his Miami mansion with pink sleeping robe on a majestic bedroom. The view of his mansion, the finest Italian marble, swimming pool, all the frescoed glass windows, velvet couches with rich colors and patterns. Damn, that’s what your mansion will look like when obsession with art runs in your blood.
The series itself focused more about the life of the killer than the Versace family. The show tried to parallel their life story, though, to emphasize the same dream of greatness but with such contrasting values. Darren Criss, who played the killer, Andrew Cunanan, was brilliant. He looked very psychopathic here. He could give a very terrifying look that definitely churn your blood. Cunanan was a half-Filipino, so as the actor. And in my opinion, they look similar. Andrew was thought to be narcissistic, self-loving, attention-seeker, pathological liar. He wanted people to see that he’s a big shot without wanting to build himself from the bottom. He wanted the finest things in life and want to boast to people around him by being generous. He hates people to see him in trouble or to take pity on him. I think biggest compliment that you can give him is “I want to be just like you.” What a character.
Apart from Versace, Cunanan has killed 4 people before him. This series also show the other four killings that he did. Two of them were his friend, Jeff Trail, and ex-lover, David Madson. In fact, his first and second victim. Somehow it suggested that the first two killing was the turning point of his killing spree of 1997. It is believed that David was his one true love, and the earlier murders were motivated by the unrequited love. By the way, the actor who played David is a new coming actor, Cody Fern. I don’t know how his performance compared to the real life David, but I liked his performance here. And did I tell you that he’s also very easy on the eye? Oh my poor heart.
For me, the most terrifying episode is the fourth, when Andrew had his first kill in front of David. This is where Andrew looked the most like a psychopath. He threatened David, who was his witness at that time very very subtly. He never said, “don’t call the police or I will kill you.” He never threatened to hurt him or anything, but the looks and the pleading “I care about you, I don’t want you to go to jail.” with pistols in his hand (undercover threat) is terrifying. Poor David, he had to endure that kind of terror for days.
I love the Versace family in this series. Penelope Cruz as Donatella was so cool! And Edgar Ramirez who played Gianni looked almost the exact copy as Gianni himself. They picture Gianni and Donatella relationship as siblings who built an empire. They empower each other in their own way. They’re loud and lots of shouting was involved. I don’t know, is that how Italians are? The loud part is very relatable to me. But they’re super sweet to each other. The older encourage the younger to grow and the younger provide loving attentions. It’s like they got each other’s back. Their sweetest moment is when Gianni and Donatella was working on a special dress and Gianni said, “this dress is not my legacy. You are.” It’s on the 7th episode, by the way.
I watched an interview of Donatella Versace and she said, “when Gianni died, the world lost a king of fashion but I lost a brother.” Behind all that powerful dresses, inside she’s just a person, with insecurities like all of us. It is depicted in the series, Gianni encourage Donatella so much and became her rock to rely on. I couldn’t imagine when she lost her, she lost part of her world. But, I heard that the series was not well-received by the Versace family.
Also on the 7th episode, at the very ending, Andrew was designing a house for his new rich older boyfriend. Two of them were standing on patio overlooking San Diego sunset. Andrew was so pleased with himself and said to himself, “oh, if they could see me now.” When his boyfriend asked him, “who?” he answered, “everyone.” With such satisfied tone. And thinking about it, it showed how intense his thirst for attention was. What if Andrew Cunanan still alive by now, or somehow from the dead, he knew people were making a series about him, how would he feel? Everyone can see him now.
image from link
Out of Words 