Only real OGs who grew up with their momma or big momma watching Charleston Heston movies (The Ten Commandments) know what I’m even referencing with this title. However, after the announcement that not only would the Game of Thrones prequel be getting more diverse, but that Black British actress Naomi Ackie, would be in a lead role; it’s the first thought that came to my mind.
I’m a GoT fanatic — show and books — and it’s one of the most popular cable network series to ever run. Despite this popularity, one major knock against it is its lack of diversity. There’s approximately 15,596 white dudes with dark hair and beards and a couple of gingers on the screen at any given moment. Then there’s like two of us “Nubians” relegated to supporting roles. Which to be fair, other than the Summer Islands and my MAIN boo thang‘s (Prince Obyern Martell) daughter Sarella Sand — who has a pretty interesting story — there isn’t a ton of diversity in the books either. I mean, writers write what they know. When I write my fantasy series, it’ll be full of chocolate-ass, stocky black girls with 4B hair, ruling a kingdom of male underlings, using them as boy toys and drinking Cabernet Sauvignon all day. (As I said, writers write what they know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). Luckily for those of us who love the show who’d love to see more representation, it seems as though this prequel is gonna be way more melanated.
While I’m certainly gonna miss the end of the original series which offers up strong comparisons to the politics of our real world and the difficulties and real costs of that. The more I read about the prequel and potential storylines, I believe HBO will do a fine job of supplying my GoT fix… (until GRRM quits hanging with Playboy bunnies and finishes some damn books)!