Them premiered on Amazon Prime Video last week, and as viewers worked their way through the episodes, many were taken aback by the constant racial violence and trauma faced by the Emorys, a black family who integrated a white neighborhood in the early ’50s. Following the backlash, the show’s creator, Little Marvin, sat down with theGrio for their podcast Acting Up to set the record straight on the show’s true intentions.
We reported earlier this week that many fans felt that the horror series was too traumatic, with several scenes depicting racially motivated sexual assault, harassment and murder. Lena Waithe, an executive producer on the show, was also dragged on Twitter for her involvement.
Viewers also brought up Waithe’s history with projects deemed “black trauma porn.” Prior to the show’s release, she spoke with VOGUE India about Little Marvin’s first television show and admitted “It’s going to trigger some people.” Waithe also said that Them isn’t meant to exploit black pain, but rather show the reality of it.
Little Marvin spoke with theGrio’s Cortney Wills Thursday about wanting to depict what life was like for Black Americans during segregation and Jim Crow laws, which he refers to as a “domestic terror regime.” He explained on Acting Up, “The show wasn’t interested in coddling or placating anybody. And, by the way, I mean white and Black. I wasn’t interested in doing that. I think a lot of things coddle, and I think there’s a time and a place for that.”
Speaking on the idea that the show strictly depicts black trauma, he continued, “We never set out to make a show about trauma, about Black trauma. We set out to make a show with Black folks that centered Black folks, that was complex, that was nuanced, that was emotionally rich. But the show was always about navigating the terror of whiteness.”
Let us know what you think about the show in the comments.
