People Are Pretty Angry About The 'Game of Thrones' Team's Next Show
Yesterday, HBO announced their newest, and very questionable new series: Confederate, a show written by two white men and set in an alternative future in which the South won the Civil War and slavery was never abolished. Here's the official synopsis for this upcoming project from Game of Thrones producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, as released by HBO last night.
"Confederate chronicles the events leading to the Third American Civil War. The series takes place in an alternate timeline, where the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution. The story follows a broad swath of characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone - freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists, the executives of a slave-holding conglomerate and the families of people in their thrall."
...Mmm. Yup. Though the announcement was frontloaded with Benioff and Weiss, they will be partnering with two non-white executive producers: Nichelle Tramble Spellman (The Good Wife), and Malcolm Spellman (Empire). Still, the Twitter response last night was swift and decisive, and leads you to wonder whether anyone involved had stopped to consider how this synopsis might play, in a political climate where the country is already regressing to Reagan-era levels of white male dominance.
REALLY? A show by two white men called Confederate where Black people are still slaves.
Who asked for this? https://t.co/hSVPJWPev7- Jasmyn Lawson (@JasmynBeKnowing) July 19, 2017
Dear @HBO, if you want to spend millions on a show about slavery, pick up @UndergroundWGN. Not this #Confederate shit. Signed,ALL the Blacks
- Kellee Terrell (@kelleent) July 19, 2017
The fandom for the new #HBO show #Confederate is gonna be Tragic. Can you imagine how much harmful imagery they're gonna produce? pic.twitter.com/P9xbxfQQtv
- Zora Neale Hustlin' (@MarsinCharge) July 19, 2017
remind me to stay off the internet the day when Ed Sheeran cameos as a slave trader in CONFEDERATE.
- david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) July 19, 2017
"...in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution"
Fam. pic.twitter.com/lzwZrsQkki- lauren warren™️ (@iamlaurenp) July 19, 2017
Confederate, Man in the High Castle, whatever -- alt histories where genocide wins are boring. Genocide has already won, like, a lot.
- Connor Goldsmith (@dreamoforgonon) July 19, 2017
Like even if Confederate is critical of current day racism, do we need another series about the suffering of POC, written by white men?
- splatussy daddy (@kamilumin) July 19, 2017
HBO was like, "We gave y'all a 2nd season of Insecure..now you'll deal with the Confederate.."
- Yesha (@YeshaCallahan) July 19, 2017
Dear White Male Dude Bros "Critics" and "industry insiders" perhaps fall back and listen to PoC about Confederate.
- Shanelle Little (@ShanelleLittle) July 19, 2017
Is it possible that Confederate will be phenomenally nuanced and insightful? Sure. Is it possible to spin a compelling story out of the premise of the South winning the Civil War? Absolutely. But is speculative fiction about white supremacy really the kind of story America needs to be telling right now? Probably not.
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