HBO’s original series tend to like to reach out and grab you by doing things you’d never see on commercial television. The titillation on “Game of Thrones,” for example, exceeds the sex contained within the best-selling novels — though the violence is pretty faithful to the source material.
David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the creative team behind that hit fantasy series, now in its final stretch, have announced their latest project — and it’s already grabbing attention.
Joining the chorus in condemning “Confederate” is the Women’s March.
We saw what happened when we demanded advertisers #DropOReilly. Now it’s time to use our collective voice to say #NoConfederate. https://t.co/I8ZttOxj5a
— Women's March (@womensmarch) July 30, 2017
Keep in mind this show has only been announced. There’s no series of scripts, no actors have been hired, nothing. It’s merely the premise — that the Confederate States of America seceded from the union successfully — that riles them up.
Amazon Prime was able to film “The Man in the High Castle,” where the Nazis won, and there wasn’t all that outrage, but the idea that the South managed a win somehow? That’s the abomination? Don’t get me wrong, slavery is something I wish we could make un-exist, but it did exist. It happened, and it’s not off-limits because it makes people feel a little uncomfortable.
It’s not like this team is going to show slavery in a positive light. I promise that it’ll show all the horrors of slavery as normal, and it’ll show the callous nature of white folks in the Confederacy.
In other words, the odds of this portraying the South as sympathetic are practically nil.
Further, as Hollywood in Toto notes:
Those voices are ignoring the fact that two black producers are heavily involved with the show — husband and wife team Malcolm Spellman and Nichelle Tramble Spellman. Plus, the interviews given by those attached to the project hint it will lean hard-left. They even revealed the show may be yet another anti-Trump product.
That, on paper, should delight The Women’s March and fellow travelers. Apparently not.
Which is odd since the organizers of the Women’s March include a Sharia law advocate (Linda Sarsour) and someone who spent time as a fugitive on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list (Angela Davis). They’ve also used their Twitter feed to wish a happy birthday to Assata Shakur, a convicted cop killer currently residing in Cuba after escaping prison.
You’d think that such a crowd would be willing to extend a bit of understanding along the way…but no. Clearly not.
It’s funny, though. A lot of people I know are less than thrilled about the show as well because we Southerners are more than a little tired of being painted as racist backwood hicks. This show seems primed to portray us just that way, so we’re worried.
Unlike the Women’s March and company, we’re more than willing to wait and see first. Maybe there’s a lesson in there for them.
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