Posted in: HBO, TV | Tagged: confederates, D B Weiss, david benioff, game of thrones, HBO, HRL, twitter

With Such Severe Backlash, Is 'Confederate' HBO's 'Secret Empire'?

Ever since HBO announced Confederate, an alt-history show wherein the South wins the Civil War, by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the pushback against the show hasn't seemed to stop.

In the announcement, it was made clear that a part of the premise will be that slavery will still exist in the show. Many people have firmly framed it as fan fiction for racists, and activist April Reign, originator of the #OscarsSoWhite Twitter hashtag, started the hashtag #NoConfederates in defiance of the show.

It seems like this has become the Secret Empire of HBO, with everyone ready to sink this ship before it even leaves the port.

It's hard to blame anyone for this blowback. Game of Thrones, for all its successes, has been the subject of criticism for its handling of race and gender. The show added the controversial incestuous rape scene between the Lannisters. The show often behaves like an exploitation film, with the camera often focusing gleefully upon its more sex-oriented scenes, as well as the ultra-violent.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that idea, but that does call into question whether or not these creators are equipped to deal with the historical and cultural minefield that is confronting the deeply ingrained racism of the United States — a nation built by slaves and upon the graves of indigenous peoples.

Furthermore, it doesn't look great that the first thing these two creators have done with the success of Game of Thrones is move onto Confederates. This makes it look like their "real passion project," and it's constructing a world wherein African-Americans are still in chains.

Personally, I'm not convinced that Weiss and Benioff are racist or are inherently bad people. I'm more inclined towards the wait-and-see approach for the show itself. I want to see how it actually handles its subject matter before casting judgement.

However, that doesn't change the fact this was all a questionable decision. We live in very charged times. We have police shootings of unarmed black suspects, a president who capitalizes on xenophobia and our base racist instincts, and a resurgence of white nationalism that really highlight how the times of Jim Crow and slavery are recent history for us. Whether they knew it or not, HBO was just throwing fuel into a fire here.

Even if the show is intending to criticize the Confederates, that doesn't mean that the white nationalist crowd won't glom onto it with loving affection. American History X and Cabaret, both of which are works that heavily criticize racism and racist regimes, have given the white supremacy crowd some figures to idolize, whether they intended to or not. You can watch this video by Lindsey Ellis for a longer discussion on that idea, as well as the tendency to use Mel Brooks as a shield whenever someone makes a shitty racist joke and claims it's satire.

Sometimes intentions are meaningless in the public forum. Whatever Confederate intends to do with its premise, it may not save it when the show finally airs and the ratings come in. I'm cautious about the idea of something like this possibly being killed in its conception, but I can't blame people for being apprehensive and even critical of it. Like Secret Empire, I don't think that this is a vision of how its creators want the world to be. I just think it's a what-if scenario that they want to play with. That doesn't make it a good idea, mind you.

I know I sound like I'm hedging my bets here, but it's hard for me to land on a yes-or-no in regards to whether this should exist. I don't think I should personally have the right to decide that. I'm aware of my own biases and subjectivity in regards to how I see the world. Again, I think it was a questionable idea in the first place, but I'm willing to see how the show handles the subject matter before casting judgement. I guess that's the best evaluation I can give.

The Guardian just put out an article on this subject matter, which was the primary catalyst for this piece. Give that article a read, too.

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