Ryan Murphy's Controversial New Series 'The Beauty' Sparks Outrage
Just months after his previous project All's Fair was widely panned, uber-producer Ryan Murphy returns with another divisive offering. The Beauty, an eleven-part Disney Plus melodrama, has already generated significant controversy for its problematic themes and execution.
A Premise That Promised More Than It Delivers
The series revolves around an 'injectable Instagram filter' that transforms recipients into enhanced versions of themselves after enduring a painful, bone-cracking rebirth process involving a gloopy cocoon. However, this miraculous transformation comes with devastating side effects, most notably spontaneous human combustion.
The drama opens with supermodel Bella Hadid's character experiencing this fiery fate during Paris Fashion Week, setting in motion an international investigation led by FBI agents Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall). The duo soon discover that The Beauty serum has a two-year expiration date for recipients and has mutated into a sexually transmitted virus described as 'more virulent than Ebola'.
Problematic Portrayals and Inconsistent Execution
Despite drawing comparisons to films like The Substance and Death Becomes Her, and featuring Isabella Rosselini in a nod to the latter, The Beauty fails to deliver coherent social commentary. The series wildly vacillates between different tones, attempting humour, romance, body horror, and introspection about modern beauty standards without mastering any.
Particularly troubling are the show's contradictory messages about body image. One scene mocks career dieters while another cruelly labels overweight people as 'unf***able'. Characters deliver speeches about embracing imperfections while simultaneously being tormented by nightmares of facial deformity.
Production Issues and Misleading Marketing
The production suffers from numerous structural problems. Episodes vary inexplicably from 20 to 50 minutes in length, while expensive musical needle drops accompany insignificant scenes. Perhaps most frustrating for viewers is the misleading marketing that billed Ashton Kutcher as the lead, despite his character appearing only briefly as a megalomaniac pharmaceutical boss.
Instead, the narrative focuses primarily on FBI agents Madsen and Bennett, with additional screen time devoted to Kutcher's top assassin (Anthony Ramos) and his protegee Jeremy (played by both Jaquel Spivey and Jeremy Pope at different points). The practice of replacing characters who succumb to The Beauty with younger actors feels particularly disrespectful to both the performers and audience expectations.
A Missed Opportunity for Meaningful Commentary
Given current cultural conversations around weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, cosmetic injectables, and celebrity procedures like Kris Jenner's facelift, The Beauty could have provided timely commentary. Instead, critics argue it delivers 'shameless claptrap' that ultimately reinforces harmful beauty standards rather than challenging them.
The series leaves viewers with a depressing worldview that seems to suggest fatness and ageing should be feared while conformity to beauty ideals should be celebrated. With an ending that hints at potential future episodes, many hope Murphy will reconsider his approach to such sensitive subject matter.
The Beauty represents a significant disappointment from a producer known for boundary-pushing television, leaving audiences wondering if this was accidental misfire or calculated controversy designed to generate buzz through notoriety.
