The Assassination of Gianni Versace was landmark TV in its portrayal of the gay experience

The Muse

"It was so refreshing to see a show speak to queer people—namely, gay men and the people who understand them—so directly, so boldly," says Rich Juzwiak. "Even though Versace was built to look back (and then, via its reverse-chronological structure, back and then back some more), I can’t imagine this show being possible before right now. It takes years to build up this kind of confidence. The story that show runner Ryan Murphy and writer Tom Rob Smith chose to tell—about serial killer Andrew Cunanan’s murder spree in 1997 that culminated with the titular assassination—turned out to be a goldmine of issues that have faced gay men in the past 20 years, many of them still relevant today. HIV. Coming out. Being outed. Don’t ask don’t tell. Homophobia. Casual homophobia from fellow gay men. Aggressive homophobia from fellow gay men. Racism (specifically anti-Asian). Religion. Gay panic. Suicide. The way you put your life in someone’s hands when you make yourself so vulnerable as to hook up with a stranger in a private setting."

ALSO:

• Ryan Murphy talks The Assassination of Gianni Versace finale and Darren Criss' "nine-hour descent into madness"
• Darren Criss: “People constantly ask us, ‘Did that really happen?!’ I don’t know. But that’s irrelevant to me..."
• Writer Tom Rob Smith says the finale "works as a retrospective on loss"
• Versace never caught on like The People v. O.J. Simpson because it was something darker
• Many TV critics missed the point in dismissing The Assassination of Gianni Versace