HBO continues to develop controversial slavery show ‘Confederate’ despite fiery backlash

 

Imagine a world where the South won the Civil War and slavery is now incorporated into modern society. Slavery in a modern context is a scary thought and HBO thinks that will make for compelling TV. 

The controversial HBO show Confederate has not been canned as previously thought and the show, which re-envisions that the South won the Civil War, is still being developed despite the fiery backlash reports Shadow and Act.

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 On Wednesday, at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, HBO president Casey Bloys told TVLine that the series will move forward as planned.

“There’s no change. They haven’t written anything. (David and D.B) still have to finish digital effects work on (Game of Thrones‘ final season)… and they obviously now have the Star Wars movie. But at a certain point, they’ll tell us when they are ready.”

According to the series official description, the controversial show would chronicle “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.”

Benioff and Weiss are both white but Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman are Black and will also reportedly be producing the show.

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In an interview the four producers discussed the backlash they have gotten over the series already.

“This is scary, for all of us,” said Benioff. “It’s scary for different reasons. But it is a pretty terrifying prospect getting into it. We knew it would be, and now it’s come true. It’s obviously creating a lot of controversy before anything’s happened just on the basis of a press release, and that will only continue as we get closer. But even aside from that outside part of it, there’s just the frightening part of — we’re all gonna put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get it right.”

The two Black producers on the project also spoke up about the early jabs at Confederate.

“I do understand their concern. I wish their concern had been reserved to the night of the premiere, on HBO, on a Sunday night, when they watched and then they made a decision after they watched an hour of television as to whether or not we succeeded in what we set out to do. The concern is real. But I think that the four of us are very thoughtful, very serious, and not flip about what we are getting into in any way,” said Nichelle Tramble Spellman, writer and producer of The Good Wife.

No thanks, HBO.

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