
Because of the mix of racism and comedy, it's important for younger viewers to understand the historical context in which The Good Lord Bird takes place. Although it takes significant historical liberties, writers did their research and treated the story with respect.

The "N" word is used frequently, as is "f-k," "s-t," "damn," "hell," etc. Racism also plays a major part in the series, and pro-slavery characters often use what would now be considered hate speech and commit what would now be considered hate crimes.

There are other incidents of violence throughout, including a man getting beheaded and a man getting hanged. Gun violence and battles between militia are consistently part of the story. People are beheaded, shot and left to bleed to death in explosions of gore, blood flickered on to faces and limbs. However, they believe that he is a girl named Henrietta. At times, The Good Lord Bird is truly gruesome. He is saved from slavery by John Brown's forces, the Pottawatomie Rifles. Brown is depicted as violent, erratic, and unhinged in his fight to end slavery, even though he has the moral high ground. Henry Shackleford is the narrator of the story.

This fictionalized version of real events is often very funny without making light of slavery. It's based on the 2013 novel by James McBride of the same name. Parents need to know that The Good Lord Bird is a comedy-drama miniseries about the abolitionist John Brown and the events leading up to the 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry that started the American Civil War. Characters smoke tobacco and drink alcohol to excess.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide. Musician and author McBride offers a fresh perspective on abolitionist firebrand John Brown in this novel disguised as the memoir of a slave boy who pretends to be a girl in order to escape preCivil War turmoil, only to find himself riding with John Brown’s retinue of rabble-rousers from Bloody Kansas to Harpers Ferry.
