Last night, during the the third episode of Game of Thrones, a grassroots Twitter campaign became the No. 2 trending topic on the social media site. Users tweeted #NoConfederate, launched by April Reign (who started the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag), in response to HBO's plan to develop Confederate with Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The premise of the series centres around an America that exists in an alternate timeline—one in which the South won the Civil War and slavery is still legal.
The show faced immediate backlash when HBO announced its development—the outcry was so extreme that Benioff and Weiss, as well as their producing and writing partners Malcolm Spellman and Nichelle Tramble Spellman, explained their vision and ensured that the show would treat its complex and controversial subject matter with care.
Last week, during a panel at TCA, HBO programming president Casey Bloys admitted that HBO bungled the announcement, but ultimately repeated what the show's creators suggested: We should sit tight, let them make the show, and then judge the final product once it airs.
Which brings us to this morning, hours after the #NoConfederate campaign launched, and HBO is still adamant that the show is a brilliant idea. In a statement responding to the continued backlash, HBO doubled down. Per The Hollywood Reporter:
We have great respect for the dialogue and concern being expressed around Confederate. We have faith that [writers] Nichelle, Dan, David and Malcolm will approach the subject with care and sensitivity. The project is currently in its infancy so we hope that people will reserve judgment until there is something to see.
Reign spoke to THR about the controversy and the hashtag she created, explaining, "What confidence should we have in two gentlemen who can't talk about race on their own show and have had seven seasons to introduce significant characters of color?" It's a valuable question, and one raised by a striking image from Game of Thrones itself—which ultimately serves as a powerful symbol for white showrunners' bungling of racial issues on television:
