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This PValley/Lovecraft Country discourse is interesting because it's obvious that Starz, as a network, has very little interest in spending money advertising its black shows (odd, especially after Power was such a hit)
vs HBO, which realized a few years ago that capturing the attention of appealing to a select group of black tastemakers and prestige tv critics was enough to propel a mediocre show to popularity
And HBO has gotten good at this model of tv making: you come out the box with pre-made hashtags, you have an official account that pre-GIFs all the giffable moments, you have your show touch on contentious timeline debates. it's fandom in a box (and it sucks!)
just think about how few of the people telling you how Important Lovecraft Country is ever had a thing to say about Power - another show with a majority black cast, a black female showrunner, etc.
Courtney Kemp said it herself, she doesn't write for the timeline. Vs the LC country writer who said on their very own podcast "We just need to get black twitter and the critics"
and I think the difference between making a show for a black audience and making a show for black twitter is really obvious if you watch those two programs and see how it treats its black characters
Power is a crime story story and crime stories are ultimately about the human condition - power, family, respect, love, greed. all that.
LC uses its characters to deal with black twitter's neuroses
LC uses its characters to deal with black twitter's neuroses
