In the hit Netflix series American Horror Story: Roanoke, directed by Ryan Murphy, a growing family of two (Shelby and Matt Miller) decided to start a new life on a farmstead in North Carolina. The choice to move here from California was made easily due to a brutal attack that left Matt hospitalized and Shelby to suffer a miscarriage. Weeks after moving to the North Carolina farmstead, Matt asked his sister and former police officer Lee Harris to move in following erratic allegations from his wife involving the house. Lee Harris had a severe drug addiction after being wounded in a gun fight while she was working. This addiction resurfaced once her husband took their daughter from her custody. This connects to our modern day society because we tend to try to take people away from those who suffer from drug abuse or mental health issues in order to protect or try to protect them. In other words, people want to be perceived as the hero in their society. Society saw Lee Harris as an unfit parent due to her drug addiction. Lee loved her child and would have done/did anything she could to protect her. Therefore, her daughter being taken away from her, only digressed her mental state.
In my own adaptation, I will be altering the theme, certain personalities of the characters, and the setting. In the original series, the main theme was presented at the end of the last episode as being the message that a mother’s love never dies. This was acted out as Lee Harris killing herself, in order for her daughter to live. However, in my adaptation, I will be making the theme more geared towards drug addiction and mental health. I will have a theme that is how drug addiction does not change a persons morals, it only alters the persons actions. In addition, I will be adapting certain personalities of the characters. In the original series, there were not many people willing to help Lee with her addiction. In my adaptation, I will be changing the personalities of Matt and Shelby Miller, in order to make them seem more empathetic and to also give Lee a better chance at recovery. Furthermore, I will be altering the setting to be in a more populated area. Unlike the isolated farmstead in the original, the more populated area will give the reader more of an insight as to what drug addicts realistically go through on a day to day basis.
I will be commenting on contemporary society by implicating the hardships and struggles that drug addicts and mental health victims go through. The philosophical question that is propelling my creation would be: is it ethically correct to leave a child in the care of a parent or parents that are suffering from drug addiction? I believe that it varies depending upon the situation and/or level of addiction. Also, they should be given a chance to be rehabilitated and not let one mistake ruin the chance of being a parent. Everyone deserves to be happy and healthy; as long as they genuinely want to get help. I hope my audience thinks about how drug addiction and mental health affects people. The people that society sees who are addicted to drugs, may be trying to get help. It is not fair to judge someone solely based on their current situation.