The firestorm surrounding the future HBO series “Confederate,” which depicts an alternate history in which the South won the Civil War and slavery persists to modern times, continues unabated. According to Hot Air, HBO is starting to offer a mea culpa about how the project was announced if not the project itself. In the meantime, a piece in IO9 provides a window into why so many on the left are being triggered by the very idea of such a program.
HBO has a public relations mess on its hands
HBO is not unaccustomed to controversy caused by its programming.
The difference is that the outrage usually comes from the right, almost always about something Bill Maher said on his “Real Time” show. The cable network is not used to being excoriated by the left. People are genuinely outraged by the very idea of an alternate history in which the Confederacy still exists, and slavery is run by modern corporations. The reaction, using hindsight, is not hard to understand. A large number of people are being triggered by the very sight of the Confederate battle flag and bronze monuments to Robert E. Lee. The idea of a world in which the Confederacy exists is intolerable.
Ironically, HBO likely envisioned “Confederate” as a bit of social satire. To be sure, slavery was a bad thing, but is it so much different than the state of affairs in the real world?
A lot of people in Black Lives Matter and the Antifa movement really believe that. Indeed the suits at HBO think this is the case and would like to profit from it and well as beat up on their viewers.
Why do people really object to ‘Confederate?’
Most casual observers wonder what the fuss is all about. Amazon is running “The Man in the High Castle” based on the novel by Philip K.
Dick depicting a world ruled by the Nazis. Despite the fact that such a world would have been considerably worse than a Confederate world, the series is not controversial.
A recent article in IO9 notes the notion that the world of “Confederate” is not unlike our own and considers it a feature and not a bug. The piece has sparked an angry debate in the comments section about why people are being triggered by this show and not others like “The Man in the High Castle.”
Should HBO proceed with “Confederate?” Of course, it should.
The first amendment still adheres in the United States. An angry social media mob should not be allowed to stop a TV series even before it has been developed. People always can exercise the right to watch something else.
