<p><span>The topic was sure to be controversial and provoked an immediate outrage online, perhaps more than the Emmy-winning Benioff and Weiss or HBO bargained for. “Game of Thrones” has been accused of being </span>misogynistic and overly violent and many didn’t believe its creators would be able to handle a sensitive topic well. Some wondered whether the show would represent some kind of wish-fulfillment fantasy for white supremacists or become “slavery pornography.”</p> <p>On Twitter, journalist <strong>Pilot Viruet</strong> did not mince words, calling out “white showrunners telling hbo they wanna write slavery fanfic.”</p> <blockquote></blockquote><p dir="ltr" lang="en">give me the confidence of white showrunners telling hbo they wanna write slavery fanfic</p> <p>— pilot (@pilotbacon) <a href="https://twitter.com/pilotbacon/status/887780993687576578" target="_blank">July 19, 2017</a></p> <p><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"> </p><p>Sociologist <strong>Crystal Fleming</strong> saw no redeeming value in such a project, finding in it nothing but crass commercialism:</p> <blockquote></blockquote><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Regarding <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Confederate?src=hash" target="_blank">#Confederate</a>: I'm still in disbelief at the media's response to the rise of overt white nationalism. They're monetizing this shit.</p> <p>— Professor Fleming (@alwaystheself) <a href="https://twitter.com/alwaystheself/status/888068616498929664" target="_blank">July 20, 2017</a></p> <p><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"/> </p><p>Others, like the journalist and speaker <strong>April Reign,</strong> have already called for cancelling the show.</p> <blockquote></blockquote><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Right. As if we're going to let CONFEDERATE get that far. It needs to be shut down NOW, not after a premiere. <a href="https://twitter.com/HBO" target="_blank">@HBO</a> <a href="https://t.co/OX7JRtIo6S" target="_blank">https://t.co/OX7JRtIo6S</a></p> <p>— April (@ReignOfApril) <a href="https://twitter.com/ReignOfApril/status/888433322937917440" target="_blank">July 21, 2017</a></p> <p><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"/> </p><p>HBO has described the plot of the series <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/hbo-confederate-tv-show-game-of-thrones-creators-david-benioff-db-weiss-1202500538/" target="_blank">in a statement </a>as chronicling the events that lead up to the Third American Civil War. The story follows a group of characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone. These include freedom fighters, slave hunters, abolitionists, and execs in charge of slave-owning conglomerates. </p> <p><span>The network has praised the creative duo of Benioff and Weiss, stating that “</span>their intelligent, wry and visually stunning approach to storytelling has a way of engaging an audience and taking them on an unforgettable journey.” To address the brewing controversy head on, the pair gave an <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/hbo-confederate-producers-exclusive-interview.html" target="_blank">extensive interview to <em>Vulture</em>,</a> where they explained more about the project. </p> <p><span>D.B Weiss pointed to how seriously they take slavery, <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/hbo-confederate-producers-exclusive-interview.html" target="_blank">stating</a> that “</span>it goes without saying slavery is the worst thing that ever happened in American history. It’s our original sin as a nation. And history doesn’t disappear. That sin is still with us in many ways.”</p> <p>Their vision for <em>Confederate </em>is to make a <strong>science fiction, alternative-history show.</strong> The goal is to use science fiction as a vehicle to “show us how this history is still with us in a way no strictly realistic drama ever could, whether it were a historical drama or a contemporary drama.” Weiss also called the show a “ potentially valuable way to talk” about the country’s tensions.</p> <p>On the subject of whether they can handle such an emotionally raw topic, Weiss explained that their approach will be very different than on <em>Game of Thrones.</em></p> <blockquote>
<p>“We know that the elements in play in a show like <em>Confederate</em>are much more raw, much more real, and people come into them much more sensitive and more invested, than they do with a story about a place called Westeros, which none of them had ever heard of before they read the books or watched the show,” <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/hbo-confederate-producers-exclusive-interview.html" target="_blank"><span>said Weiss.</span></a> “We know they are different things, and they need to be dealt with in very, very different ways. And we plan, all of us I think, to approach <em>Confederate</em> in a much different spirit, by necessity, than we would approach a show named <em>Game of Thrones.”</em></p>
</blockquote> <p><strong>Malcolm Spellman,</strong> who is African-American, and along with his wife <span>Nichelle Tramble Spellman will work as a</span> writing partner and executive producer on the show, assured that the project will handle slavery sensitively.</p> <blockquote>
<p>"This is not a world in which the entire country is enslaved. Slavery is in one half of the country. And the North is the North," <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/hbo-confederate-producers-exclusive-interview.html" target="_blank"><span>said Malcolm.</span></a> "The imagery should be no whips and no plantations."</p>
</blockquote> <p>He was even more forceful than talking about the need for such a show in this day.</p> <blockquote>
<p>"People have got to stop pretending that slavery was something that happened and went away. The shit is affecting people in the present day," <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/hbo-confederate-producers-exclusive-interview.html" target="_blank"><span>he said.</span></a> "But everyone knows that with Trump coming into power, a bunch of shit that had always been there got resurfaced."</p>
</blockquote> <p>At the moment, HBO has not changed any of its plans for the show and the creators are going to start on it as soon as <em>Game of Thrones</em> finishes later this year. It remains to be seen whether the backlash will grow. Interestingly, Amazon’s “Man in the High Castle”, another alternative-history show where Nazis won World War 2, has not faced similar issues in public perception. </p></script></p>
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