Variety report says TV can’t sugarcoat our ‘quick plunge into fascism’

A major trade magazine editor is calling on TV producers to “hold up a mirror” to America’s “plunge into fascism” under President Donald Trump in their shows.

Ahead of the 2025 Emmy Awards ceremony in September, Variety’s executive editor Michael Schneider recalled recent comments made by “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan, who hoped for television to return to more aspirational and heroic storytelling in contrast to his iconic crime drama.

Schneider disagreed in an article last week, claiming that writers can’t “sugarcoat” how “our rights are continually under attack.”

“That’s why before we move on to creating new images of the world we’d like to see, we need to chronicle the one we’re now in,” he wrote. “Hold a mirror up to the reality of the situation in the hopes that maybe the public will understand what’s at stake (and not sugarcoat this quick plunge into fascism we’re all witnessing).”

Variety executive editor Michael Schneider put out an article calling on TV writers to focus on America’s “plunge into fascism” ahead of the 2025 Emmy Awards. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

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He held up recent Emmy nominees as examples, such as the Disney+ series “Andor” for “its depiction of what happens when authoritarian rule takes hold — and how to resist” and Hulu’s Emmy-winning series “The Handmaid’s Tale” for being “chillingly accurate in predicting where we would end up.”

“In the coming months and years, the reality of our situation will need to be embedded in many shows (particularly, but not limited to drama) that traverse our real world,” Schneider wrote. “Will political dramas depict the crumbling of America’s place and influence in the world? Will legal dramas take on the ICE invasions of our cities?”

Michael Schneider claimed military and police officers have been unleashed in American cities. (REUTERS/Daniel Cole)

He continued, “What about the attempts to silence journalists? The move to erase the sometimes ugly truth about this country’s history? The stripping of diversity, equity and inclusion standards? How corporations, in self-interest and self-greed, are bending at the knee to please our rulers? The assault on our higher learning institutions? The defunding of scientific research?”

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Schneider also claimed that, among other things, freedom of speech has been threatened, the military has been unleashed against political enemies and a “secret police in ICE” has been arresting people without just cause.

“These aren’t normal times, so we can’t rely on normal stories in our TV shows,” he concluded.

Variety’s Michael Schneider held up “The Handmaid’s Tale” as an example of television having an “accurate” depiction of where the U.S. would end up. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)

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In May, Schneider wrote a similar report about how imaginary fascist worlds, such as the ones seen in “The Handmaid’s Tale” or Amazon Prime’s “The Boys,” “don’t seem so far-fetched anymore” under Trump.