There has been a good deal of controversy around HBO’s new project fromGame of ThronesshowrunnerDavid BenioffandD.B. Weiss, an alternative history series titledConfederatewhere slavery is legal and has even become institutionalized. Perhaps you can see why that premise has ruffled some feathers, to put it mildly, well before the show even enters production; or perhaps not. However, it’s easier to see HBO’s cultural/political/social-media missteps when compared to the idea behind the new Amazon series,Black America.
AsDeadlinereports,Black Americahails from Emmy-nominated producerWill Packer, known forThink Like a Man,Ride Along, andStraight Outta Compton, not to mention the recentRootsminiseries and the currently playing comedy,Girls Trip. His Hollywood hits have made him one of the industry’s only African-American producers to see a number of his films open at the top box office spot. His pedigree is complemented by Peabody-winnerAaron McGruder, creator ofThe Boondocksand co-creator ofBlack Jesus. If their involvement isn’t enough to compare and contrast HBO and Amazon’s alt-history series, perhaps this will help clarify things.
Here’s the synopsis for each:
Confederate"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.”
Black America"envisions an alternate history where newly freed African Americans have secured the Southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama post-Reconstruction as reparations for slavery, and with that land, the freedom to shape their own destiny. The sovereign nation they formed, New Colonia, has had a tumultuous and sometimes violent relationship with its looming ‘Big Neighbor,’ both ally and foe, the United States. The past 150 years have been witness to military incursions, assassinations, regime change, coups, etc. Today, after two decades of peace with the U.S. and unprecedented growth, an ascendant New Colonia joins the ranks of major industrialized nations on the world stage as America slides into rapid decline. Inexorably tied together, the fate of two nations, indivisible, hangs in the balance.
If it’s still not clear to you, allow me to simplify things:Confederateseeks to put Black people back in chains;Black Americaexplores what happens when Black people are empowered and free of shackles. If nothing else, one of these ideas is far more interesting.
Be sure to head over to Deadline for more from Packer on the state ofBlack America, how the project came to be, the intention to strive for historical accuracy, and the intended tone of the final project.
