How a Remarkable Black Sci-Fi Renaissance Strengthens the TV Landscape
Contemporary Voices Honor One of The Greatest Sci-Fi Minds of All Time
Sci-fi dominated the small screen in my childhood household.
Each week, my dad and I gathered in front of the color tube tv for our weekly viewing session.
Quintessential seventies sci-fi shows, including Star Trek: The Original Series, Planet of the Apes, The Six Million Dollar Man, and The Bionic Woman, were a mainstay in our cozy basement hideaway.
My father watched the miraculous feats of Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) with awe. These actors portrayed augmented beings equipped to save the world.
I absorbed his excited wonder and developed my personal admiration for their astonishing adventures.
The seventies were a different time.
There was little expectation of seeing BIPOC people on the screen, especially performing heroic acts that required superhuman strength and intelligence.
Sci-fi fans who look like me have longed for a series reflecting our experiences. Stories that center on Black characters and not window dress them to support white leads.
For decades, Black sci-fi fandom has known our stories exist and flourish on the page.
Prolific Black sci-fi authors have written us into the genre for decades, including one of the most influential pioneers, Octavia E. Butler, the grandmother of Afrofuturism.
In her celebrated novels (Kindred, Patternmaster, etc.), she tackles cultural themes such as racism, women’s rights, and political disparity.
Butler is the first Black author to win a Hugo, a prestigious literary award for the best sci-fi or fantasy fiction.
The two-time Hugo and Nebula award winner was also the first sci-fi author to receive a MacArthur Genius grant.
As a passionate sci-fi fan, it’s a privilege to read renowned Black-centric stories. And witnessing them come to life on the small screen is even more exhilarating.
Thankfully, within the past few years, we’ve seen three Emmy-nominated small-screen sci-fi adaptions that center on the Black experience. And yet another genre-bending series shows promise of receiving more nominations this year.
1. Watchmen, 2019 (HBO Max)
Damon Lindelof reimagines Alan Moore’s 1986 graphic novel masterpiece. His historic eleven-time Emmy-winning limited series introduces racial specificity, transcending the comic’s core themes of identity and empowerment through a contemporary Black lens.
2. Lovecraft Country, 2020 (HBO Max)
Misha Green intersects Black nostalgia and Afrofuturism by blending Lovecraftian creatures, time travel, and the 1950s Jim Crow South. Her ambitious spectacle received eighteen Emmy nominations despite its cancellation.
3. The Man Who Fell to Earth, 2022 (Showtime)
Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman update Walter Tevis’ 1963 bestselling existential book about the soul of humanity. Their Emmy-nominated alien invasion reveals how little has changed regarding “otherness” and why hope and collaboration resonate universally.
4. Kindred, 2022 (FX/Hulu)
Accomplished playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins expands upon Octavia E. Butler’s 1979 acclaimed time-traveling showpiece. He connects the generational trauma stemming from America’s original sin to modern-day gender inequality to amplify Butler’s feminist prose.
These astonishing stories signal a Black sci-fi renaissance and cause a seismic shift in the creative television landscape.
Black sci-fi boldly reclaims space and reshapes the genre in fascinating, unexpected ways.
Thanks to a recent revival of Butler’s work, Hollywood realizes what Black sci-fi fans have known for decades.
A rich tapestry of diverse characters awaits new life through a Black cultural frame.
Green seizes this opportunity by adapting Matt Ruff’s 2016 dark fantasy book, Lovecraft Country.
Green and Ruff pay homage to sci-fi titan H. P. Lovecraft. However, they allow multicultural characters to take up space in his imaginative world, even though Lovecraft was an abhorrent racist.
In the episode “Meet Me in Daegu,” the lead protagonist travels to 1949 South Korea as a soldier. He meets and falls in love with a nurse possessed by a kumiho, an ancient spirit animal.
In “Jig-A-Bobo,” a young girl confronts a malevolent spirit after attending the memorial of her friend Emmett Till.
Green showcases history, folklore, and mythology from African American and South Korean cultures. She pushes sci-fi’s limitless boundaries outside the stereotypical white male gaze.
Green goes beyond reclaiming space to declaring the space wasn’t Lovecraft’s to control.
The Man Who Fell to Earth is another great example of the unexpected revelations that arise when BIPOC storytellers reclaim space.
In Tevis’ book, Thomas Jerome Newton is the principal protagonist. He’s an alien whose mission on earth is to save his planet. He meets Betty Jo, his presumed love interest, and Nathan Bryce, a young technician who assists him.
These are all white heterosexual characters whom Tevis depicts in traditional gender roles.
Lumet and Kurtzman have a more expansive worldview.
They cast Nigerian British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor as Faraday, a brilliant fish out of water who must adapt to a hostile environment.
Naomi Harris appears in the supporting role of Justin Falls. She’s a gifted scientist whose skills prove crucial in helping Faraday accomplish his mission.
These two actors of color answer the call with jaw-dropping performances.
The subtle yet substantial changes open the story to a more profound meaning that relates to who we are and how we see ourselves in others today.
There’s a moment in the series where FBI agent Spencer Clay (Jimmi Simpson) captures Faraday.
As Clay questions him, he asks what color Faraday is in his natural alien form. Faraday acknowledges that skin color reigns over humans like a god, an oppressive construct we can’t seem to escape.
Lumet and Kurtzman remind audiences that the color of someone’s skin doesn’t determine their worth, nor does it dictate their destiny.
Their awe-inspiring creature feature spotlights an advanced species inhabiting a Black body that holds humanity’s fate in its intelligent, compassionate hands.
It’s a radical departure from the heroic white savior trope we’ve grown accustomed to seeing within the genre.
A giant step for sci-fi and a monumental leap forward for television.
Black storytellers view race as a gateway to examine other socially relevant themes.
In Black-centric sci-fi, race isn’t an undeveloped plot device. It’s a powerful tool to broaden the conversation around other systemic issues, including generational trauma and gender inequality.
Lindelof gives Moore’s iconic Watchmen a fiery feminist makeover.
He introduces new characters, Angela Abar (Regina King) and Lady Trieu (Hong Chau). They personify two powerful women of color who fight different battles for a more inclusive world.
The women’s crusader ethos arises from their intergenerational pain. This inherited trauma comes full circle when unforeseen events force both women to reconcile their daring decisions with the sacrifices of their ancestors.
Jacobs-Jenkins’ retelling of Kindred offers similar ancestral ties through visceral connections that strike an insightful, reflective tone.
He re-examines the beginning of systemic racism and gender inequality, slavery, to the reverberating rebellion against it in modern times, Black feminism.
Dana (Mallori Johnson), a Black millennial, is confident yet searches for her way in life.
An unknown force upends her life by transporting her to an 1815 Antebellum South plantation, where she encounters her ancestors, enslaved and slave-owning alike.
Dana’s survival skills kick in. She wields a defiant sword while dressed in battle-proof armor as she travels back in time.
Thomas (Ryan Kwanten) forces Dana to care for his bedridden son. The adolescent boy calls her the n-word, and his younger friend threatens her with violence.
She explains the word's offensive nature and urges him to stop using it. He respects her wishes, showing how bigotry and misogyny are taught, passed down through generations, yet capable of being eradicated.
The time jumps also expose Dana to sexual assault, maternal endangerment, and misogynistic abuse.
However, she guards and maintains her agency against the inhumane treatment vulnerable Black women continue to face today.
Lindelof and Jacobs-Jenkins envision a complicated, nuanced world that connects past traumas to present-day struggles.
They prove that while an amicable, fair future exists, we’re bound to repeat our past mistakes if we don’t learn from them.
In the hands of these skilled storytellers, race is an entry point to understanding gender disparity through a multi-racial feminist perspective.
A Black sci-fi renaissance is a glorious homage to Octavia E. Butler’s greatness.
In a 2000 interview, the NY Times asked Butler why she places Black women at the heart of her work. She didn’t waste words with her clever response.
“I can write my own stories. I can write myself in.” - Octavia E. Butler via The NY Times
She was bold and brave in her blackness, raising complex questions about society and our place in it. She advocated for a more just world.
Talented storytellers responsible for these genre-defining narratives act similarly.
Lindelof, Green, Lumet, Kurtzman, and Jacobs-Jenkins' adaptations don’t just check a box. They create new ones worth exploring.
Butler’s inspiring novels have grown in notoriety in the past few years thanks to a proliferation of contemporary Black sci-fi authors.
Works such as Nnedi Okorafor's culturally significant creations, Karen Lord’s futuristic take on societies, and Nalo Hopkinson’s inventive, magical realism would make Butler proud.
Several of Butler’s other books are currently under development for the small screen. Hopefully, studios recognize there are more stories to mine beyond Butler’s impeccable contributions.
Octavia Butler passed at age 58 on February 24, 2006.
And while this magnificent sci-fi pioneer laid the foundation, we’ve only scratched the surface of a burgeoning Black sci-fi renaissance.
Black-centric storytelling enriches the genre, enhances the television landscape, and satisfies fans, regardless of race.
A more vs. less approach is vital if we want to see sci-fi television grow by leaps and bounds for decades to come.
Streaming Guide:
The Man Who Fell to Earth (Showtime)
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