For Millennials. By Millennials.
After giving a super-hit film, The Irishman, last year, The Godfather star has a show streaming on Amazon Prime. However, Al Pacino’s show, Hunters, has upset some people and they want the network to cancel it.
https://twitter.com/huntersonprime/status/1246121709536591872
Related: Al Pacino’s Relationship History
Based on a group of Nazi hunters, Al Pacino’s show focuses on the year of 1970s
Created by David Weil, Hunters, has a great cast and is inspired by a true story. When a group of Nazi hunters discover that Nazi criminals are forming Fourth Reich, they team up to stop them. Al Pacino’s show is set in New York in 1977. It is inspired by the real-life Nazi hunters who gather information and track down former Nazis to bring them to justice. The cast of Hunters includes Al Pacino, Logan Lerman, Lena Olin, Carol Kane, Saul Rubinek and Greg Austin.
https://twitter.com/huntersonprime/status/1230899986797408256
According to David Weil, Hunters is a way of honoring his grandfather and Holocaust survivors
He wanted to pay tribute to his grandparents and other Holocaust survivors. While talking about it, he said:
“My grandfather died before I was born. Writing the character of Meyer Offerman was a way of meeting him for the first time…. I think my grandmother would be like, “You got Al Pacino!??!” She was a very humble woman, and she would be energized that her story is helping to continue the truth of the Holocaust.”
'Hunters' Stars Ponder the Moral Question at the Center of Their Nazi Hunter Amazon Drama https://t.co/ITiGuZPKXS via @thr
— David Weil (@DavidWeil) February 23, 2020
However, not everyone is happy about Al Pacino’s show
While the audience seems to like the show, some people from the Jewish community have taken offense. Therefore, a non-profit organization, The Shoah Foundation, has demanded it to be canceled. The organization works with preserving and recording the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. According to the director of The Shoah Foundation:
“As a scholar of genocide and director of a global organization devoted to recording the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, I believe it’s the most egregious distortion of Holocaust history in my lifetime. The series, created by the well-intentioned grandson of a survivor, does not serve the memory of those it purports to respect. And I fear its pernicious blend of fact and fiction risks being weaponized by Holocaust deniers.”
“Hatred and revenge can never restore the lives of those who perished in the Holocaust … We must try to build a better world. This was my message to my child.” – #Holocaust survivor Itka Zygmuntowicz pic.twitter.com/EQpSpyvDj8
— USC Shoah Foundation (@USCShoahFdn) March 26, 2020
Not only that, but Auschwitz Memorial Museum has also raised objections against Al Pacino’s show.
Auschwitz was full of horrible pain & suffering documented in the accounts of survivors. Inventing a fake game of human chess for Hunters is not only dangerous foolishness & caricature. It also welcomes future deniers. We honor the victims by preserving factual accuracy.
Auschwitz was full of horrible pain & suffering documented in the accounts of survivors. Inventing a fake game of human chess for @huntersonprime is not only dangerous foolishness & caricature. It also welcomes future deniers. We honor the victims by preserving factual accuracy. pic.twitter.com/UM2KYmA4cw
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) February 23, 2020
In a statement, Weil responded and said:
“I believe we are very much on the same side and working toward the same goals. And I hope we can continue a dialogue on how to achieve those goals.”
While the reservations by the Jewish community are valid, the response of David Weil shows his right intentions. Let’s see if it comes back for the second season or not.