The first episode of Starz’s new series American Gods ends with Shadow, the series’ black protagonist, being abducted, beaten and hung from a tree.
Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel of the same name pulls no punches when it comes to the topics of race and immigration, and it’s no accident those themes are also explored in the series.
“When we set out to do the show, we didn’t have an inflammatory agenda. It just felt like we were addressing issues of American culture and immigrant culture, and it couldn’t help but steer into those issues,” Bryan Fuller, executive producer on American Gods , told reporters during a recent press event. “We weren’t necessarily afraid of them, but there was no hesitation or fear, it was just natural to the story.”
After declining an invitation from the Technical Boy, one of the New Gods, Shadow finds a noose wrapped around his neck before the pilot episode ends abruptly. It’s such a powerful image that Ricky Whittle, who plays Shadow on American Gods, told us that his co-star, Emily Browning (Laura) couldn’t stay on-set to watch the scene and instead chose to stay in her trailer until it was done.
But as the 35-year-old British actor points out, although it may be hard to watch, the lynching scene is necessary to tell the story.
“Unfortunately it’s a very big part of our history, especially as a man of color,” Whittle said. “But the way it was shot was very beautiful and it is going to strike a chord with a lot of people because it is important and is an important story to tell, and it’s something that still happens. People assume that’s old history; no, we’re telling real stories about America.”
Episode 2 continues this exploration of race in America, opening on a slave ship with the introduction of Mr. Nancy, the series’ version of the African god Anansi, played by Orlando Jones. In it, Mr. Nancy tells the the captives what fate is in store for them if they make it to America in an expletive-filled rant that is one of the most powerful scenes of television you’ll see.
“Obviously we speak about immigrant culture in the United States, but what we don’t talk about is the fact that there’s a huge population whose story doesn’t sound as noble as that,” Jones said during the press junket. “And because of that, we act like those stories have no nobility in them and people in fact are subhuman. That’s the stigma we fight.”
Despite the book being more than 10 years-old and the series being shot in early 2016, the themes of American Gods feel more relevant than ever in 2017 America.
For example, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson recently compared African slaves taken to America against their will to immigrants who came on their own, and that tension is very present in the Mr. Nancy scene and the overall narrative of the series.
“Those aren’t immigrants, those are captives,” Jones said. “They fear what they don’t know. You’re on this ship, you’re shackled, you don’t know who these men are, you don’t know where the ship is going. You have no clue what the future holds, and in some ways it's more frightening not knowing than it is to know. So the introduction of the character speaks to that in a way that is a little more contemporary in attitude but also older in attitude.”
Executive Producers Fuller and Michael Green revealed Mr. Nancy’s introduction was originally going to appear later in the season but was pushed up to the second episode in order to, as Fuller puts it, “recontextualize the story as a black man’s experience in America.”
“The end of the first episode is a gasp of horror, a terrible image to deal with, and we actually restructured our first few episodes in the editing room. And realizing that image is so strong, and coming into the second episode, there were some themes in play especially with how it ended,” Green said. “And everyone can see that the elements got stronger and the dish got more composed and we were forcing people to confront that.”
“I think it’s more that racism is alive and well and if someone is upset about a fictional lynching, they should dig deeper into the actual lynchings that are happening in America with young black and Muslim men,” Fuller said. “And if it upsets anybody, you should be upset. It’s upsetting.”
American Gods airs at 9 p.m. on Starz.
