Ryan Murphy says the critics are ‘wrong’ about his shows after Monster and AHS backlash

For better or worse, Ryan Murphy is inescapable right now. Just a week after Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story landed on Netflix, American Horror Story season 13 premiered on FX – and that’s just the half of it.

The Shards dropped in August, All’s Fair season 2 is coming up, Murphy’s finished writing the script for a Glee reboot, and he’s working on a vampire tale called Brides of Blood.

But despite his huge output and widespread popularity, his recent projects haven’t exactly been embraced across the board (to put it mildly). 

Monster’s latest chapter once again faced backlash for fictionalising and sensationalising the crimes at the centre of its story, earning respective 38 percent and 33 percent critics and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes. 

American Horror Story season 13 has done considerably better with critics, earning an 86 percent Rotten Tomatoes score so far, but audiences have been much less forgiving, rating it just 41% at the time of writing. 

And let’s not forget All’s Fair, which earned a respectable 65 percent from audiences – but the headline-making critics rating is a measly six percent. But Murphy is well aware that his work divides opinion, and he’s got a pretty straightforward response to those who don’t rate it.

Ryan Murphy isn’t bothered by the critics anymore

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Murphy was asked how much he really cares, to which he replied, “First of all, I think the critics are wrong. If you look at my career since I started, which was Popular, almost everything that I have made was never embraced critically. 

“I always was astounded by that because I was like, Wait a minute! Is there no embrace of this person who came from nothing, and is trying to make things that are different and creative?”

The TV powerhouse went on to address All’s Fair, saying that he noticed there wasn’t anything being made like Dynasty or Knots Landing. 

“I made it for people like me who loved that heightened ‘80s soapy procedural thing. The critics called it camp, but camp is a lack of awareness. My work has awareness,” he continued.  

“The People vs OJ was the only time I felt embraced. I don’t rise or fall by [critics’ opinions] anymore.” Murphy recalled “feeling so devastated” when he first started out and saw negative reviews for Popular and Nip/Tuck. 

“A mentor of mine took me out to dinner and said, ‘You know what? Just because they put a chalice of delicious poison in front of you doesn’t mean you have to drink it,’” he said. “And the audience will ultimately have the final say, as they did in All’s Fair.”

Murphy also took the opportunity to highlight a big misconception about him. “It is a myth about me that I can just walk in and do whatever I want,” he explained. “I get 40 nos a day, and maybe a yes every one and a half of them. That’s show business.”

Plus, he acknowledged the fact that not every show he makes will be for everyone. “The shows this fall are all very different,” he added. 

“The Shards, Monster: Lizzie Borden, American Horror Story, and then All’s Fair, all of them feel like beloved children and parts of my personality…

“There’s always something for everybody. Maybe American Horror Story is not your cup of tea, but maybe you want to watch something that’s just like a white wine fun show, like All’s Fair. I’ve got something for you.”

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Featured image credit: Netflix/Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock/FX