- "'C.S.A.' tells a counter-story of how slavery survives to the present day-and it uses traces of contemporary pop culture to show that the notion isn't really even such a stretch." - Richard Brody (New Yorker)
- "A piece of well-crafted righteous indignation." - Ann Hornaday (Washington Post)
- "By slyly nudging both history and the language of television, this mock documentary about an America won by the Confederacy ... manages to be both shocking and strangely banal in equal measure." - Geoff Pevere (Toronto Star)
- "A sometimes incisive, sometimes amateurish look at race in America, the things we do and tolerate as a nation that are really no different from an America ruled by unrepentant slave-holders." - Roger Moore (Orlando Sentinel)
- "[Writer/Director] Willmott could have easily stumbled over his own cleverness but, as with the rest of the movie, his fantasia is intellectually rigorous and makes for stimulating debate." - Tom Keogh (Seattle Times)
No, these reviews aren't in relation to the upcoming HBO series, Confederate; they're in regard to the 2005 film, CSA: The Confederate States Of America. The critics consensus of the film on Rotten Tomatoes is as follows:
"Through the eyes of a British 'documentary,' this film takes a satirically humorous, and sometimes frightening, look at the history of an America where the South won the Civil War."
I only mention this film and the positive reviews surrounding it due the Twitter outrage directed toward the upcoming HBO series, Confederate, whose preview sounds awfully similar to the before-mentioned movie:
"Confederate chronicles events leading to the 'Third American Civil War'. It takes place in an alternate timeline, where the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution. The story follows a broad swath of characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone - freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists, the executives of a slave-holding conglomerate, and the families of people in their thrall."
Not long after HBO announced the airing of this show, they felt the brunt of it on Twitter, as the hashtag #NoConfederate trended on Twitter for several hours thereafter. As a fellow liberal, while I can understand some progressives' complaints about HBO airing a show containing such sensitive subject matter, aren't we jumping the gun a bit here? Two of the show's four writers are black, as in addition to David Beinoff and D.B. Weiss, whom are both white, husband and wife Malcolm and Nichelle Tramble Spellman will be contributing mightily to the show. Slavery is one of, if not the saddest chapter in this country's history. Often times I hear conservatives try to deny it ever happened (or for their black brothers and sisters to "get over it"), while I hear liberals say, "Why make people go through that again?" The fact is it's a difficult topic to discuss for all parties involved, racism is still prevalent in today's society, and unfortunately, we too often times ignore race-related issues and, instead of confronting them head on, we walk away, naively hoping, like the dinosaurs, they'll go extinct. Look, I'm in no way endorsing this show, but I think it's a mistake to write it off as racist before it's been seen by the public. Like with the before-mentioned British mockumentary, this HBO series has the potential of bringing to light race issues in contemporary society, prompting civilized discussion regarding these matters, and inciting (positive) change as a result. Of course, its impact will largely depend on its tone and we have no idea how the show is going to come across when it finally airs. However, I still say we give it a chance, for while no one may want to admit nor relive slavery and the affects of it, how can we fully learn from the past and improve upon it if we continually attempt to deny its existence?
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/csa_the_confederate_states_of_america/
http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/hbo-confederate-producers-exclusive-interview.html
- "A piece of well-crafted righteous indignation." - Ann Hornaday (Washington Post)
- "By slyly nudging both history and the language of television, this mock documentary about an America won by the Confederacy ... manages to be both shocking and strangely banal in equal measure." - Geoff Pevere (Toronto Star)
- "A sometimes incisive, sometimes amateurish look at race in America, the things we do and tolerate as a nation that are really no different from an America ruled by unrepentant slave-holders." - Roger Moore (Orlando Sentinel)
- "[Writer/Director] Willmott could have easily stumbled over his own cleverness but, as with the rest of the movie, his fantasia is intellectually rigorous and makes for stimulating debate." - Tom Keogh (Seattle Times)
No, these reviews aren't in relation to the upcoming HBO series, Confederate; they're in regard to the 2005 film, CSA: The Confederate States Of America. The critics consensus of the film on Rotten Tomatoes is as follows:
"Through the eyes of a British 'documentary,' this film takes a satirically humorous, and sometimes frightening, look at the history of an America where the South won the Civil War."
I only mention this film and the positive reviews surrounding it due the Twitter outrage directed toward the upcoming HBO series, Confederate, whose preview sounds awfully similar to the before-mentioned movie:
"Confederate chronicles events leading to the 'Third American Civil War'. It takes place in an alternate timeline, where the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution. The story follows a broad swath of characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone - freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists, the executives of a slave-holding conglomerate, and the families of people in their thrall."
Not long after HBO announced the airing of this show, they felt the brunt of it on Twitter, as the hashtag #NoConfederate trended on Twitter for several hours thereafter. As a fellow liberal, while I can understand some progressives' complaints about HBO airing a show containing such sensitive subject matter, aren't we jumping the gun a bit here? Two of the show's four writers are black, as in addition to David Beinoff and D.B. Weiss, whom are both white, husband and wife Malcolm and Nichelle Tramble Spellman will be contributing mightily to the show. Slavery is one of, if not the saddest chapter in this country's history. Often times I hear conservatives try to deny it ever happened (or for their black brothers and sisters to "get over it"), while I hear liberals say, "Why make people go through that again?" The fact is it's a difficult topic to discuss for all parties involved, racism is still prevalent in today's society, and unfortunately, we too often times ignore race-related issues and, instead of confronting them head on, we walk away, naively hoping, like the dinosaurs, they'll go extinct. Look, I'm in no way endorsing this show, but I think it's a mistake to write it off as racist before it's been seen by the public. Like with the before-mentioned British mockumentary, this HBO series has the potential of bringing to light race issues in contemporary society, prompting civilized discussion regarding these matters, and inciting (positive) change as a result. Of course, its impact will largely depend on its tone and we have no idea how the show is going to come across when it finally airs. However, I still say we give it a chance, for while no one may want to admit nor relive slavery and the affects of it, how can we fully learn from the past and improve upon it if we continually attempt to deny its existence?
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/csa_the_confederate_states_of_america/
http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/hbo-confederate-producers-exclusive-interview.html
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