HBO recently announced its new show “Confederate,” and the reaction on the internet is pretty much exactly what people have come to expect.
The plot of the show, according to HBO, is, “CONFEDERATE chronicles 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.”
That plot sounds very intriguing, but people on Twitter seem to have a very different take on the situation.
Dear @HBO, if you want to spend millions on a show about slavery, pick up @UndergroundWGN. Not this #Confederate shit. Signed,ALL the Blacks
— Kellee Terrell (@kelleent) July 19, 2017
if hbo is really going to make a godawful show about confederate slaves in an alt-2017 let me save you the trouble here is what happens pic.twitter.com/u5ycC5t2IS
— DOCFUTURE (@topherflorence) July 19, 2017
Handmaid’s Tale was written by a woman. Confederate is written by white men who panned the camera so they could rape Sansa. https://t.co/QkxvAOfrJA
— Jordan Calhoun (@JordanMCalhoun) July 19, 2017
The fandom for the new #HBO show #Confederate is gonna be Tragic. Can you imagine how much harmful imagery they’re gonna produce? pic.twitter.com/P9xbxfQQtv
— Zora Neale Hustlin’ (@MarsinCharge) July 19, 2017
“HBO’s new series CONFEDERATE is-”
Nope. Nope. Nope. Whole lotta nope. Noppity Nil. Leslie Knope. Nah. pic.twitter.com/2FzsAI2DBd— Alan Kistler@SDCC (@SizzlerKistler) July 19, 2017
80% of my timeline is pissed off about that HBO Confederate show. pic.twitter.com/odwoQFTwol
— Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) July 19, 2017
Every pop culture writer I know, upon being asked about HBO’s Confederate. pic.twitter.com/Pa5MeMe4eK
— Kayleigh Donaldson (@Ceilidhann) July 19, 2017
Dear White Male Dude Bros “Critics” and “industry insiders” perhaps fall back and listen to PoC about Confederate.
— Shanelle Little (@ShanelleLittle) July 19, 2017
Confederate, Man in the High Castle, whatever — alt histories where genocide wins are boring. Genocide has already won, like, a lot.
— Connor Goldsmith (@dreamoforgonon) July 19, 2017
I’m not even sure where to begin here. It should be noted that HBO has a history of producing outstanding television. Its shows “Eastbound and Down,” “Entourage,” “Game of Thrones,” “Westworld” and “Silicon Valley” are all absolutely incredible shows. So, only a true moron would brush aside the potential of an HBO show.
More importantly, people seem really upset about the fact a show would dare pretend the Confederates won the Civil War. Can you imagine how disgusting it is for writers, actors and studios to make things up for entertainment purposes? I am horrified by the fact not every single thing on television and in the movies is entirely true. What a sad society we’re living in.
In reality, this show’s premise sounds an awesome and unique. Nobody has any idea how the characters or plot will be portrayed, so it’s foolish to prejudge a network with a history of keeping things interesting and unpredictable.
This is also a reminder that some people can never be satisfied. There could be an entire plot line of people killing slave masters, which seems likely given the fact that the plot specifically mentions “freedom fighters.”
Perhaps people should wait for the show to come out before spouting off nonsense on Twitter. Then again, that just makes way to much sense.