Ta-Nehisi Coates thinks the premise of "Confederate" is still just a little too close to reality
So, you’ve probably heard a little about Confederate by now, the controversial new show from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The premise offers an alternate reality where slavery is a thriving industry, and…yeah. The show has already faced backlash from the #OscarsSoWhite founder, and now journalist and comic book writer, Ta-Nehisi Coates also took a stance against Confederate.
In an article for The Atlantic called The Lost Cause Rides Again, he basically advised people not to watch the show, explaining that even in the actual reality we’re living in, many people are still experiencing a racial hierarchy — even despite slavery being outlawed and the Confederacy defeated over a century ago.
"Confederate is the kind of provocative thought experiment that can be engaged in when someone else’s lived reality really is fantasy to you, when your grandmother is not in danger of losing her vote, when the terrorist attack on Charleston evokes honest sympathy, but inspires no direct fear," Coates writes in the article.
He goes on to reference an interview that the Confederate creators gave to Vulture, where they explained that the goal is to “show us how this history is still with us in a way no strictly realistic drama ever could.”
But Ta-Nehisi Coates notes that that is the problem.
"African Americans do not need science-fiction, or really any fiction, to tell them that that 'history is still with us,'" he says.
Unsurprisingly, his perspective has sparked many conversations on the internet from people who feel similarly unsure about Confederate and its message.
Of course, there’s the argument that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
No one has actually seen Confederate — because it hasn’t aired yet or even been made (it’s in very early stages of development). Judd Apatow argues that we should wait to see things out — and not silence an artistic story.
But a show that audiences don’t want not making it to air isn’t censorship — and if you’re looking for an alternate-history about racism in America, might we suggest Amazon’s Black America?