Ryan Murphy Has Finally Gotten Around to Seeing Rushmore

When Ryan Murphy loves a classic movie very much, something special happens, and after a brief gestation period, a 50/50 genetic mashup of Murphy’s delightfully batshit, frenetic television sensibilities and the aesthetic of whatever movie he just saw is birthed unto the world. Show Ryan Murphy Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, and a year later, Feud is born. Rent him a few Kevin Williamson horror movies? We get two years of Scream Queens.

Now, it would appear that Murphy has mated with the 1998 Wes Anderson film Rushmore, which centers on a geeky, yet clever kid battling adults for power at an elite private school. Murphy’s version is called The Politician, and it’s got everything that’s gone missing from Wes Anderson movies since they became animated: millennial pink, monotones, rich people, mansion symmetry. It’s even got Margot Tenenbaum and adds Jessica Lange in the Anjelica Houston role.

There is a lot to digest in the just over two-and-a-half-minute trailer we have been graced. But the text spliced between scenes of adults feuding with children battling each other over control of school government reads: “We promise you strong leadership, inalienable rights, civil discourse, political correctness. We promise to promise you everything,” which suggests Ryan Murphy may have recently spent some time with Election as well.