Longlegs Director Boycotts True Crime Series Dramatizing His Father's Life

According to a recent report, Osgood Perkins, the director of the film Longlegs, has no intention of watching the latest season of the true crime anthology series created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. Perkins told TMZ that he "wouldn't watch it with a 10-foot pole," and he has good reason for his stance.

The second episode of the new season largely focuses on the story of killer and body snatcher Ed Gein, and the various Hollywood horror hits he inspired. In this episode, Perkins' late father, acclaimed actor Anthony Perkins, is portrayed by actor Joey Pollari. The portrayal depicts Anthony as a closeted gay actor who was in a secret relationship with Tab Hunter when he learned he had been cast as Norman Bates in the iconic Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, which was loosely inspired by Gein's crimes.

The episode also shows Anthony meeting with a psychologist who suggests conversion therapy. In reality, Anthony Perkins never publicly opened up about his sexuality and remained married to his wife, Berry Berenson, until his death from AIDS-related complications in 1992 at the age of 60.

Perkins told TMZ that he is concerned about the "Netflix-ization of real pain," where streamers have turned true crime into an industry that often tries to give it "glamourous and meaningful content." He worries that modern culture is being "reshaped in real time by Overlords" and that the "Netflix-ization of real pain" is playing for the wrong team, rather than protecting the truth without simplifying it.