How did Harry Potter & Star Wars influence Hulu's Black Twitter: A People's History? 

On Thursday, May 9, 2024, Hulu's highly anticipated docuseries titled Black Twitter: A People's History was released on the platform. The three-part docuseries chronicled the emergence and establishment of Black Twitter, a safe community of black people on X, previously known as Twitter.

As the trailer for Black Twitter: A People's History suggested, the series would explore the experiences of Black Twitter among Black individuals and a few others. The Prentice Penny-directed television series would also look at the phenomena and what it meant for the people associated with it.

As part of the show's promotion director, producer Prentice Penny gave an interview to the Television Academy. He discussed how the three-act structure from Harry Porter and Star Wars influenced the docuseries.For those who have watched these two movies know how the story unravels through its multiple installments.

Talking about his struggles while writing and directing Black Twitter: A People's History primarily based on an article he said—

"What's the narrative? So working in scripted TV helped me focus on that. Black Twitter is this really amorphous thing. It's not like you're doing a doc on the March on Selma, where you're like, “Oh, it's an event with a clear timeline, or you're following a person.” So [something like] that gives you an arc. And as we thought about it, we would use or reference Star Wars or Harry Potter as a three-act structure."

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What is the three-act structure Prentice Penny adopted for Black Twitter: A People's History?

In a conversation with the Television Academy, Prentice Penny exclaimed that he followed a three-act structure for Black Twitter: A People's History, similar to movies such as Star Wars and Harry Potter.

There is the hero, who does not know that he is one and is having the time of his life. Then there is a slight threat that shakes everyone and solidifies the hero's position as one. And lastly, there is a supervillain the hero must deal with to save everyone.

Divulging into the details of his thought process behind the same Penny said—

“It’s a coming-of-age story. As I kept talking to Jason about what [this documentary] was going to look like, we realized that Black Twitter, in the beginning, was young, fun and in its youth. So that was part one, act one, where the “hero” — in this case our subject matter — doesn’t know they are the hero yet. It’s just existing, having fun."

He also added—

"Then, in the second episode [of Black Twitter], that’s when we meet our first moment of adversity, which is [the death] of Trayvon Martin. And in the third segment, it’s like we’re facing the big villain, like facing the Emperor or Voldermort. And in ours, as we were making it, [it was] Elon [Musk] buys the platform.”

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What is Black Twitter?

Contrary to popular opinion, Black Twitter is not an extension of Twitter and neither is it a separate app. The term is used to refer to the community of black people that exists on X, formerly known as Twitter. The community is a haven for people who have the same socio-political experiences, in this case, the experiences of black people.

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All three parts of Black Twitter: A People's History are currently available for streaming on Hulu.