Ally's Exaggerated Phobia in 'American Horror Story: Cult'

Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story: Cult” has premiered and it shines a light to people’s common phobias.
“AHS: Cult” centers on Ally (Sarah Paulson), a white Michigan suburban liberal who is suffering from anxiety following the 2016 elections. Like any American who hates the idea of Donald Trump in the White House, she feels hopeless. But in the show’s case downright neurotic and hallucinates her worst fears.
Clowns, holes, and The President of the United States. The first episode of the seventh season was confusing and disgusting. To the point that there should be a trigger warning before watching an episode. If you have the following fears it’s better to prepare your mindset before watching “American Horror Story: Cult.”

American Horror Story: Cult Takes On Trypophobia

Ally takes a visit to her therapist (Cheyenne Jackson) following a panic attack only to be greeted with another triggering image. The coral reel sitting on a bookshelf. She recoils in the corner close to tears.
She tells him the coral reef is staring at her because of its many holes. In another scene, the holes on her souffle caused her to hallucinate blood pouring out of it.
Ally lives with the fear of holes, it is called trypophobia. Trypophobia is a fear or disgust of closely-packed holes. People who have it feel queasy when looking at surfaces that have small holes gathered close together. The phobia of holes can be explained by how the image is presented. It is a visual fear. According to a study conducted by Psychological Science, 16 percent of people have this fear.
The effects of trypophobia when triggered is nausea, eye strain, and worse case scenarios a panic attack. But not hallucinations in Ally’s case. Her fear could be metaphorical and related to “AHS: Cult’s” recurring theme of honeycombs. Honeycombs have holes.
Can Ally’s fear be a metaphor?

American Horror Story’s Creepy Clown Fascination

Many people are afraid of clowns. In theory, clowns are supposed to be the embodiment of fun and amusement. But in recent years they have been demonized to everyone’s worst nightmare. In Cult, they take it on a whole different level of creepy.
Because of Ally’s post-traumatic stress caused by the 2016 elections her Coulrophobia is back. To a higher degree. In a scene where her son Oz was reading a comic about Twisty the killer clown, Ally has a panic attack. This reaction is normal. People with Coulrophobia report feeling “shaken and traumatized” at the sight or even the mere thought of clowns.

So Ally’s reaction is justified until the next few scenes in the first episode. While doing the groceries she meets a Trump supporter which causes her to feel uneasy.  As she walks through the produce section she hallucinates two disturbing looking clowns engaging in coitus behind the apples. One of them even chased her in the parking lot.
Then again during a dinner with her partner, Ivy (Alison Pill) she sees one of the clowns in the kitchen taunting her. It looks like Ally might go insane because her fears shouldn’t cause hallucinations to this degree.
But it might not be hallucinations if what her son OZ saw was true. Because like mother like son, he too saw a group of clowns killing their next-door neighbors.

The Trump Hysteria Takes A Toll On Ally

Just like Ally, America has been in a state of fear ever since Donald Trump was announced as the President of the United States. Ryan Murphy, creator the horror anthology, has said during promotions of season 7 is that Cult would be satirical in nature.
AHS: Cult then presents an exaggerated level of Trump hysteria with Ally. As seen in the opening scene of the first episode, Ally reacted the same way she does with her other fears. Recoiling in a corner crying and screaming. Though her fear was not Donald Trump himself but the outcome of his presidency.
Ally is afraid that her marriage with Ivy will no longer be valid. She is afraid of losing her basic rights because of a political figure. And this fear has a name Tyrannophobia. It is the belief that the overwhelmingly important political issue is the threat to a state’s liberal freedoms and institutions.
In this case, Trump hysteria which was the inspiration of American Horror Story: Cult—because nothing is scarier than politics.