Watching “Watchmen” as a Descendant of the Tulsa Race Massacre
A family was surprised to find their great-grandparents’ businesses at the center of the HBO show’s depiction of the Greenwood race riots. Now they want to tell their own story.
via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/watching-watchmen-as-a-descendant-of-the-tulsa-race-massacre
The notion of reaching out to the Williams family or other massacre descendants during the development did not occur to him, Lindelof said, though the production team did consult with the Greenwood Cultural Center and used various primary-source documents. “It didn’t feel like it was appropriation. It felt like we were telling history,” he said. Entertainment conglomerates, such as Warner Media, HBO’s parent company, have used trademark and copyright laws to protect their intellectual property for decades. For large corporations and wealthy families, such legal maneuvers are easy. For average people, seeing their stories come to light is often assumed to be payment enough.