HBO is no stranger to controversy, but it’s not often that a press release for a show that hasn’t even been written, sparks the kind of outrage “Confederate” generated. The new series from “Game Of Thrones” duo David Benioff and D.B. Weiss takes place in an alternate timeline, in which 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.
It’s easy to see why many bristled at the premise, particularly coming from two white men. However, what some might have missed is that Nichelle Tramble Spellman (“Justified,” “The Good Wife”) and Malcolm Spellman (“Empire”), who are both black, are also on board as as executive producers and writers. And don’t expect them to be token members of the staff.
Vulture sat down with all Benioff, Weiss, and the Spellmans to talk about the show, and you can expect that “Confederate” will be a true collaboration.
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“There are all these assumptions about what happens when the four of us are talking, as if Dan and I are running the room and bossing them around. And I’d say anyone who thinks that Malcolm and Nichelle are props have never met Malcolm and Nichelle. The idea that we would tell them anything — neither one of them is afraid to call us an asshole. Believe me. That’s happened many times before. [Laughter.] And it’ll happen again. It’s a partnership,” Benioff said.
The big question for many is why did Benioff and Weiss — who could make any show they wanted at this point thanks to “Game Of Thrones,” which is something they concede — decided on this one. Well, the simple reason is that they are both huge history dorks, but they also view the series as a way into tackling major issues and themes the way the best genre fare does.
“…it goes without saying slavery is the worst thing that ever happened in American history. It’s our original sin as a nation. And history doesn’t disappear. That sin is still with us in many ways. ‘Confederate,’ in all of our minds, will be an alternative-history show. It’s a science-fiction show. One of the strengths of science fiction is that it can show us how this history is still with us in a way no strictly realistic drama ever could, whether it were a historical drama or a contemporary drama. It’s an ugly and a painful history, but we all think this is a reason to talk about it, not a reason to run from it. And this feels like a potentially valuable way to talk about it,” Weiss said.
Expanding on what was originally a film script, many are worried that a show which shows the South victorious will be celebrated for the wrong reasons by the alt-right or white supremacists. However, Malcolm Spellman says “Confederate” will only reinforce the issues that are still present in the country today.
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“This is not a world in which the entire country is enslaved. Slavery is in one half of the country. And the North is the North. As Nichelle was saying, the imagery should be no whips and no plantations,” he said.
“[In the world of Confederate the Civil War] was a standstill. [The South] maintain their position, the North maintains theirs. What people need to recognize is, and it makes me really want to get into the show: The shit is alive and real today. I think people have got to stop pretending that slavery was something that happened and went away. The shit is affecting people in the present day,” Spellman added. “And it’s easy for folks to hide from it, because sometimes you’re not able to map it out, especially with how insidious racism has become. But everyone knows that with Trump coming into power, a bunch of shit that had always been there got resurfaced. So the idea that this would be pornography goes back to people imagining whips and plantations. What they need to be imagining is how fucked up things are today, and a story that allows us to now dramatize it in a more tangible matter.”
It seems like everyone involved is fully aware of what Malcolm Spellman calls, “weapons-grade material.” While there are other alternate reality shows on TV like “The Man In The High Castle” or “The Handmaid’s Tale,” few seems as potent as what “Confederate” might bring to the table.
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