The new Show Me a Hero trailer begins with an exceedingly sobering quote — especially if you’re already aware of the history behind the Yonkers-set HBO miniseries. “Show me a hero, and I’ll write you a tragedy,” read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s words, before Oscar Isaac appears onscreen, pregnantly uttering, “Don’t tell anybody, but I always wanted to be the mayor.” And even if you haven’t brushed up on your Yonkers facts, it seems apparent that this juxtaposition foreshadows tragedy.
In the miniseries (written by David Simon and William F. Zorzi and directed by Paul Haggis), Isaac plays Mayor Nick Wasicsko, who was elected in 1988 and was the city’s youngest mayor. Here’s the official synopsis of the series, based on Lisa Belkin’s nonfiction book of the same name:
In an America generations removed from the greatest civil rights struggles of the 1960s, the young mayor of a mid-sized American city is faced with a federal court order that says he must build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of his town. His attempt to do so tears the entire city apart, paralyzes the municipal government and, ultimately, destroys the mayor and his political future.
Watch the new trailer:
Show Me a Hero premieres August 16 on HBO.