10 Ways American Horror Story Cult Explores Mental Illness In America Through Ally
Creepy clowns? Check. Honeycomb? Check. An anxious, paranoid possible schizophrenic? Check.
No! Not the clowns! Yes clowns, and throw in some oddly shaped holes too.
Cult is the seventh season of the American Horror Story anthology and centers around the lives of residents in Brookfield Heights, Michigan following the 2016 presidential election.
Several months after the election, strange murders start occurring in their quiet suburban neighborhood, and a mysterious local leader begins his rise to power. The story primarily focuses on the experiences of Ally Mayfair-Richards, a wife, mother, and owner of a local eatery called The Butchery on Main, whose life begins to fall apart in the ensuing conflict.
Ally from suffers mercilessly from not only coulrophobia but trypophobia as well. While having some irrational fear is nothing to worry about, a line is crossed when someone starts seeing clowns committing sexual acts in public, pursuing them through grocery stores, and popping up in their backseats like the demonic spirit in Annabelle.
The line is completely left behind when the revelation comes that the person isn't even under the influence of heavy alcohol or illegal substances. Ally clearly suffers from some serious mental health issues, and her character tells the story of the prevalence and stigmatization of mental illness in America.
10. Ally Suffered A Breakdown After The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
A breakdown is a normal reaction to a traumatizing event. Individuals with strong and healthy minds, along with a good support network, usually recover quickly and adjust to a new normal. Ally developed several phobias instead and spent years recovering, crediting Ivy and President Obama’s term when discussing the recent return of her phobias with her therapist.
However, that brief discussion of her past hints at the real issue: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Experiencing or witnessing traumatic events can cause PTSD, and the sufferer may experience flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety.
The 9/11 terrorist attacks were (and still are) a tragic and traumatizing event, and Ally didn’t recover. Instead, she developed uncontrollable anxiety and crippling phobias.
She also didn’t recover in a reasonable time frame. Ally suffered from PTSD long before the current events of the story, and the fact that her PTSD stemmed from the 9/11 terrorist attacks indicates a broader concept: she wasn’t alone. Eight million people suffer from PTSD at any given time…That’s a lot, even in the context of over three hundred million people living in the United States. PTSD is a prevalent mental illness in the United States, especially among veterans, and Ally’s character depicts that reality.