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(Warning: This column contains descriptions of racialized violence and discusses some plot points in The Underground Railroad series.) For this Black TV
Cary Darling May 14, 2021Updated: May 14, 2021, 7:06 am
William Jackson Harper and Thuso Mbedu in “The Underground Railroad” on Amazon. Photo: Atsushi Nishijima / Amazon Studios, Atsushi Nishijima / Amazon
There are moments in “The Underground Railroad” the powerfully surrealist 10-episode story of slavery and its ripple effects airing on Amazon Prime starting Friday, May 14 from film director Barry Jenkins that feel like such a physical and emotional assault that it’s tempting to turn it off. After all, haven’t we been down this bloody, brutal trail of tears before?
It’s true that, in the past few years, the topic has been on our screens often: Quentin Tarantino offered his tongue-in-cheek twist on the narrative with “Django Unchained” in 2012; Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” won the best-picture Oscar in 2013; the TV series “Underground” ran for two seasons starting in 2016; and Cynthia Erivo earned an Oscar nomination in 2019 for