link: http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/19/media/confederate-hbo/index.html

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HBO draws ire after 'Confederate' announcement
by Sandra Gonzalez @CNNMoney
July 19, 2017: 9:42 PM ET

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Creator/Executive Producers David Benioff (L) and D. B. Weiss attend the premiere for the sixth season of HBO's 'Game Of Thrones' at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 10, 2016 in Hollywood City.
The announcement of a new alternate history drama in the works at HBO from the creators of the "Game of Thrones" television series is already spurring a war of opinions.
On Wednesday, HBO announced "Confederate," a series from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss that takes place in a reality where the southern states successfully seceded from the Union, "giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution," according to the network's description.
The show "chronicles the events leading to the Third American Civil War," with characters ranging from freedom fighters and abolitionists to slave hunters and politicians, HBO said.
Nichelle Spellman ("Justified," "The Good Wife") and Malcolm Spellman ("Empire") are also among the executive producers.
The series is set to be Benioff and Weiss' first post-"Thrones" project and production will not begin until after the final season of "Game of Thrones."
The epic fantasy series is set to conclude after its eighth season, scheduled to air next summer.
Its departure will leave a huge hole at HBO, where the recent Season 7 premiere garnered a record 16.1 million viewers.
HBO did not provide any more information about Weiss and Benioff's approach for the new show.
Still, on social media, backlash to the idea began almost immediately, with many objectors decrying what they said was the potentially harmful nature of the premise, considering the divisions that already exist in American politics.
To HBO, the allure of reteaming with Benioff and Weiss, combined with the provocative concept, surely made "Confederate" a fairly easy sell.
Some recalled the recent cancellation of WGN's "Underground," a much-praised drama that centered on key figures involved in the Underground Railroad, in light of the "Confederate" announcement.
That series, which was axed just weeks after TV station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group agreed to buy WGN owner Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, was seen as a breath of fresh air as it explored -- not exploited -- people from black history.


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Azalea Dunn 🇯🇲🇳🇬 @AzaleaDunn
It's so messed up that a show like Underground gets cancelled but @HBO green lights this Confederate mess. Keep it.
6:45 PM - 19 Jul 2017
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American Pessimist @Phllp_Wnslw
HBO didn't wanna pick up Underground, but Confederate sounded like the next best thing. Ok
5:53 PM - 19 Jul 2017 · Richmond, IN
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At the time, Tribune Media president and CEO Peter Kern said the series "no longer fits with our new direction."
Despite being shopped around, "Underground" has not been able to find a new home.
The alternate history premise for "Confederate" has also drawn comparisons to a 2004 mockumentary by director Kevin Willmott, called "C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America."
The satirical film is presented as a Ken Burns-type documentary and depicts a world in which the majority of the Western Hemisphere is a land known as the Confederate States of America.
On television, alternate history remained a dormant genre until Amazon premiered "Man in the High Castle" in 2015. The show was based on the Philip K. Dick novel about a world in which the Axis powers won World War II.
CNN has reached out to HBO for further comment. (HBO, like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner.)
CNNMoney (Los Angeles)
First published July 19, 2017: 9:42 PM ET

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

Why is this going to be a TV show? And why are these assholes running a show about slavery?

If the creators are able to link the anti-black sensibilities of modern society today to the sickness of the culture of the South of that time period than I would be on board. It would cast a mirror to today in a way that some White folks may not recognize.

But there was a voice in my head that questioned the point of this. Are people really so clueless about modern-day racism that a fictional show about slavery is necessary to show the depth of disconnect between the values of White society and their treatment of the Black community?

I don't watch Game of Thrones but all of the reviews of the show are glowing so I'm inclined to give Benioff the benefit of the doubt here. You wouldn't think he'd risk his career on something as potentially toxic as this without having a sound concept. But this could turn into a dumpster fire REALLY quickly.

>If the creators are able to link the anti-black sensibilities
>of modern society today to the sickness of the culture of the
>South of that time period than I would be on board. It would
>cast a mirror to today in a way that some White folks may not
>recognize.
>
>But there was a voice in my head that questioned the point of
>this. Are people really so clueless about modern-day racism
>that a fictional show about slavery is necessary to show the
>depth of disconnect between the values of White society and
>their treatment of the Black community?
>
>I don't watch Game of Thrones but all of the reviews of the
>show are glowing so I'm inclined to give Benioff the benefit
>of the doubt here. You wouldn't think he'd risk his career on
>something as potentially toxic as this without having a sound
>concept. But this could turn into a dumpster fire REALLY
>quickly.

Everything so far about this show, including the way HBO decided to reveal the news of it is highly questionable. It probably would have served HBO better to have the show runners divulge their intentions with the show rather than just just it themselves. I just hope they don't treat this subject as pure fantasy since like you said, things could get ugly very quickly for everyone involved with the show, including HBO. I wonder how long of a leash HBO is going to give them since they are pretty much printing dollar bills with Game of Thrones. I would hope HBO is well aware that just because Game of Thrones worked out doesn't mean that this will. Seasons one and two of True Detective should illustrate greatly have success doesn't come automatically for show runners.

I have to wonder what those auditions for the black characters will look like for this show; and of course I have to wonder how many black folks will be in the writer's room and behind the camera in general.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

>I have to wonder what those auditions for the black characters
>will look like for this show;

like django unchained


>and of course I have to wonder
>how many black folks will be in the writer's room and behind
>the camera in general.

like django unchained

>>I have to wonder what those auditions for the black
>characters
>>will look like for this show;
>
>like django unchained
>
>
>>and of course I have to wonder
>>how many black folks will be in the writer's room and behind
>>the camera in general.
>
>like django unchained


But the proposed storyline for this sounds a lot more dreadful than Unchained; at least in Unchained, it was a given that the main black character was going to be empowered and in a sense defeat the subjugation that came as a result of slavery. I don't get that sense from this proposed show.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

i was giving my impression of the "casting couch" drawing a comparison to the black characters in that movie other than the title role

(because i agree with Reg that they "have a vulgar pornographic side," and the show has a nasty streak no matter how titillating it can be)

Based on the demo of most writing rooms, this show could easily become a show about slavery featuring very few black men and women.

A show deconstructing some of the myths of the Civil War that still live on today that also explores the ways in which we really aren't *that* different in 2017 would be good.

But there's hundreds of other ways this could go sideways. I'll probably check for it, but I'm cautious.

------

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Really great piece highlighting this:

https://www.vox.com/2015/6/29/8847385/what-i-learned-from-leading-tours-about-slavery-at-a-plantation

As far as Confederate... ugh. There needs to be a really delicate hand to cover this material but, to be fair, HBO isn't exactly a bastion of right-wing entertainment.

While Civil war alt-history isn't a new fiction trope recently a book, Underground Airlines, that did a pretty bang up job of tackling the subject feat. an undercover black runaway slave capturer forced to work in the 'free' north . The south was pretty dystopic (similar to Handmaid's tale) and the books critique of the what would be considered northern liberal based racism was spot on so it could be done.

Only thing is that while the GOT showrunners seem to have a great handle on complex plotting and quippy dialogue, they also have a vulgar pornographic side. Plus no one wants to see GOT's "Evil/Good are rarely black and white, but usually grey" character work applied to modern slavery.

>Plus no one wants to
>see GOT's "Evil/Good are rarely black and white, but usually
>grey" character work applied to modern slavery.


It's an hbo "prestige" drama, it's not going to present stark moral positions.

people aint seen nan one trailer or casting info or anything yet and they already losing their shit over it.

<--- Big Baller World Order

will agree to act in this. It would be interesting if the cast was a majority of European folks similar to Game of Thrones, including the black folks. With the train wreck that was the second season of True Detective, I wonder if stars are leary of blindly jumping onto a HBO show strictly based off the show runner's prior success.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

>With the train wreck that
>was the second season of True Detective, I wonder if stars are
>leary of blindly jumping onto a HBO show strictly based off
>the show runner's prior success.

nah.

___

it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

no tolerance for Game of Thrones either

is this show still going down? I remember this got a fair amount of clowning when it was announced, but then I remember the two black writers that got attached to this defending it pretty hard.

Is this trash of an idea show still going down?

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

---------------------------------------

"The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in." - James Baldwin

After they've done fucking up Star Wars, they're doing a this shitshow.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.syfy.com/syfywire/hbo-says-alt-history-series-confederate-still-in-the-works-from-got-team-despite-backlash%3famp

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America from 9:00 on: https://youtu.be/GUwLCQU10KQ

My mind is blown. Gotta wonder how many top name black actors/actresses will sign up for this disaster. HBO tends to reuse actors from its prior shows, so I wonder if this means Omar will be coming for this trash.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

They're spending at least the next six years working on Star Wars. HBO waiting for "Confederate" with baited breath or anything. And if the Star Wars movies are mega-hits, no way the use their capital on Confederate of all things. It's going to quietly go away.

-----------------

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HBO still loves Benioff and Weiss, so I doubt they ever pull it officially. It'll just keep getting pushed back due to scheduling conflicts and then quietly disappear.

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