If anyone should have complete creative control over a TV series it’s D.B. Weiss and David Benioff.
Who are they? The duo serves as “showrunners” for “Game of Thrones,” only the most celebrated series since Tony Soprano sought counseling.
The chill winds of political correctness say otherwise.
Weiss and Benioff’s latest project is under serious cultural fire. There’s no finished script or even character sketches yet. That isn’t stopping some progressives from tarnishing it sight unseen.
Why? Their HBO series “Confederate” offers an alternate reality where the South seceded from the U.S. during the Civil War. Southerners clung to the Peculiar Institution during the split. And never let go.
The tale is set in modern-day America, where the North and South continue to fight. And slavery is a firmly entrenched way of life for Southern Americans. It’s a provocative concept, to say the least, but hardly outside the bounds of storytelling reason.
Amazon currently produces “The Man in the High Castle,” an alternate history where the Axis of Evil triumphed over the Allies in World War II.
That precedent didn’t assuage social media users. They pounced on the HBO project. Many suggested the show’s creators, who are white, cannot be trusted to handle racially-charged material.
The Daily Beast joined the fray with this infantile headline: “The ‘Game of Thrones’ Creators’ Next Show Sounds Stupid as Hell.” The article went on to call the project “white nonsense,” arguing a show about modern slavery sounds too much like Trump’s America.
Let that silliness sink in. Or just ask the previous president about racial progress.
Even voices supporting the show start with serious reservations:
“HBO has chosen a curious time in American history to fulfill every white supremacist’s dream…”
HBO, stung by the backlash, immediately announced two additional “Confederate” producers/writers and let them speak to the press. Both happen to be African-American – show business couple Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman.
HBO suits clearly hope their participation will calm “Confederate” critics. It shouldn’t be necessary.
{mosads}Does anyone think two smart, accomplished white show producers wouldn’t do their homework for a story like “Confederate?” Or that they might be callous to the horrors of slavery just because of their skin color? Isn’t that prejudging them?
It’s just one kerfuffle over a single TV show, right? Wrong. It speaks to a growing problem in our creative culture, one that threatens to undermine artists across media outlets. Simply put, we cannot restrict the stories artists can tell based on skin color or life experience. Social Justice Warriors, and those who appease them, want to restrict the stories artists tell based on their skin color, gender and life experiences.
Female superhero stories must be told by female directors, for example. Marvel made it a top priority for a woman director to helm “Captain Marvel” starring Brie Larson (they ended up choosing a male/female due to shoot the 2019 movie).
Imagine Quentin Tarantino throwing his hat in the Marvel ring and the suits saying, “Sorry, we’re looking for something … else.”
Director Patty Jenkins got the nod to oversee “Wonder Woman,” but that wasn’t enough for some since a trio of men wrote the screenplay:
“When a film’s story is about a powerful woman surrounded by powerful women, that story demands some input from at least one person who knows what it’s like to be a woman.”
Perhaps those writers were raised by powerful women and intimately know what makes them tick? Maybe they married one?
A respected Forbes.com contributor recently whined that while Joss Whedon is ridiculously qualified to direct a “Batgirl” feature the gig should still go to a woman all the same.
Earlier this month, an advocate for the blind took to The LA Times to bemoan how Alec Baldwin was cast as a blind professor in the film “Blind.” That role should have gone to a blind actor, the activist argued.
Let’s look past one obviously flaw in that argument — the film’s director said “Blind” would never have been made without Baldwin’s Hollywood clout. Shouldn’t actors be able to become different people with different life experiences on screens large and small? The same holds true for creators. Or at least it used to be.
Woody Allen has written some of the richest, most complex female characters in modern movie history. S.E. Hinton’s iconic 1967 novel “The Outsiders” perfectly captured the angst of wayward male teens.
The best artists have always shown empathy for others.
Diversity, on paper, is overdue in Hollywood. The industry hasn’t given enough opportunity to women and people of color. That’s changing, and three cheers for that. Given how good “Wonder Woman” turned out Jenkins should have carte blanche to helm any super project she wants, regardless of the main character’s gender.
Forced diversity, where identity politics trump artistry and storytelling, is another matter. It assumes men cannot write three-dimensional roles for women and that artists must only share stories reflecting their life experiences.
That shallow thinking will only hurt the push for true diversity, not help it.
Christian Toto is editor of HollywoodInToto.com and the host of the Hollywood in Toto Podcast.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.