Is Carnival Row based on a true story?

Carnival Row is now available to stream on Prime Video in full. Is this a series based on a true story? Is there any element of truth to the fantasy?

You may have been waiting until all episodes of Carnival Row Season 2 were out to watch. Well, the good news is you can watch that right now. All episodes are now available to stream.

This is a fantasy series, which means it’s not based on a true story. Not fully, anyway. After all, we don’t have the fae living in the human world. Sure, there is folklore and you may believe in some of the creatures, but they don’t openly live among us.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t some truth to the story. It’s all about the social commentary within the series.

Carnival Row’s oppression is a very real story

Let’s not pretend that there isn’t oppression and racism. In Carnival Row, the racism is against all fae. Those who are even part fae face the same oppression and persecution unless they can hide their true nature. It’s why Philo’s wings were removed when he was a baby. His mom didn’t want people to know what he really was because of the oppression.

This is a real problem even now. We just have to look at systemic racism across the world. Nations can say they’re not racist, but it’s not the truth. Alaska Daily focuses on the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, while we’ve seen the Black Lives Matter protests with TV shows like Station 19 heavily focusing on that systemic racism now.

Anyone who is deemed different is persecuted. Anti-semitism is still a huge problem, transphobia is everywhere, and what about Asian hate? I’ve seen it first hand with someone saying my white, British ex-husband was absolutely fine taking a Canadian job because of where he came from and the language he spoke, but others who were immigrants weren’t welcome. Excuse me?

The attacks on people who are “different” exist. There’s a reason revolutions happen. Carnival Row pulled things straight out of real life when it came to the persecution of the fae. While the inclusion of the fae isn’t real, the basis of the story is.

Carnival Row is available on Prime Video.