Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Major Backlash Over ‘Game Of Thrones’ Creators’ New Series About Slavery

HBO announced yesterday that it will be producing “Confederate”, a show that will imagine a world in which the South won the Civil War and slavery is still a legal institution. The series is the brainchild of “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

The hype, however, was overshadowed by major ire as the masses took to Twitter to let HBO know exactly what they thought.

“Confederate” is the latest of its kind that networks have recently been producing. “The Handmaid’s Tale”, “Man in the High Castle”, and “Black Mirror”, three shows that take place in an alternate dystopian universe, have all enjoyed stellar ratings so it’s no surprise that HBO would race to green light yet another show that relies on this theme.

But much of the backlash “Confederate” is getting focuses on the race of the showrunners who have conceived of the show — two white Jewish men. This is what sets the show apart from that of “Handmaid’s Tale”, based on a book written by a woman, and “Man In The High Castle”, created by a Jewish man (the former is about female slavery, the latter is a depiction of a world in which the Nazis had not lost). When it comes to identity politics, these two series get a pass.

“Confederate”, however, is being taken to task.

Neither HBO nor Weiss or Benioff have as of yet responded to the outcry.

Becky Scott is the editor of The Schmooze. Follow her on Twitter, @arr_scott

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.