Since having published my essay on how “The Russian Radical Eludes Ayn Rand’s Critics,” I have been catching up on several shows. I am just getting to Season 13 of “American Horror Story: 13.” Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, the horror anthology series is known for its dark, over-the-top campy humor when it’s not trying to scare the daylights out of you. Some seasons have been good, others meh. The current season reunites many regular cast members, including Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, and Angela Bassett, among many others.
I’m not up to date yet, and I won’t include or invite any spoilers, but I just got up to Episode 4 of the thirteenth season, “Is That All There Is?” (the title of a classic hit recording by Peggy Lee). In this episode, Jessica Lange (as the character Elsa Mars) gives her own rendition of the song before introducing 13 women to be sacrificed during “The Jezebel Ball” to the demonic figure, Mr. Nas.
The writers of this episode are Ned Martel and Charlie Carver. They are not just mocking criminality here; they are satirizing several polarizing, controversial women. Among “Mr. Nas’s favorite bad girls”—those “taken before they could reach their full potential”—are such luminaries as Eva Braun, Wallis Simpson, Brigitte Badot, Catherine the Great, Mamie Eisenhower, Elena Ceaușescu, Margaret Thatcher, and … you guessed it, Ayn Rand (portrayed by Mary Bacon). Mars describes her as a “selfish writer and welfare queen,” before the “frightened” Rand goes toppling into the fires of Hell. (My friend James Peron has addressed the “welfare queen” charge in this essay.)
This wouldn’t be the first time Rand was mentioned in the context of the demonic. Anton Lavey once said that his Satanic Bible was inspired by “Ayn Rand’s philosophy with ceremony and ritual added.” These are the kinds of cultural references that keep Rand in the headlines, for better or for hellish worse.
For those who believe that any press, even bad press, is good press, take this scene with a grain of witch’s salt —
This post also appears on Substack.
