Nearly 43 years after the novel’s publication and 16 years after Octavia E. Butler’s untimely death at 58, “Kindred’s” arrival on Hulu last month was a result of political movements, box-office trends, and a bit of luck, Helena Andrews-Dyer writes.
Since its debut in 1979, Kindred has been “optioned” — industry parlance for the nascent stage of adaptation — in one form or another. Almost 20 years later, celebrated playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins discovered the novel as a tween on a shelf at Sister Space, a D.C. indie bookstore centering Black female authors and stories. It’d be another two decades before Jacobs-Jenkins, the series creator, would see his interpretation of Butler’s work available to binge on Hulu.
“Kindred” is “extremely relevant now,” said Ayana Jamieson, founder of the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network, a global community focused on Butler’s work. The author’s singular talent was unearthing patterns in history and painting them plainly, according to Jamieson. Recent sociopolitical wind changes like the Black Lives Matter movement have not only underscored the cultural eruptions Butler predicted, but also made it clear that Black narratives can no longer be ignored.
“The question is, why are White people interested in this? Black people have been interested in this for a long time,” she said. “A few things needed to align in the world for people to see the value in this iconic book, which is depressing. But we found the right home at the end of the day,” Jacobs-Jenkins said.“We bought it in the room,” said Kate Lambert, the executive vice president of series development at the cabler who is behind critically lauded series such as “Atlanta, “Advertisement
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