When it comes to fiction, there are some liberties I'm ok with and others that I'm not. The Odyssey is a decidedly Greek story and a foundational document of western/European literature, and retellings need to reflect that. OTOH, take for example, "The Equalizer." Edward Woodward built the character in the '80s TV show. When Denzel Washington was cast in the role I had no issues with it. The race of the lead was not a defining characteristic of the role so much as the intellect, cunning and masculinity.
I know Stephen King is a first class jerk, but for years I followed his dark tower/gunslinger books, so when I heard it was being made into a movie, it definitely piqued my interest, then it was announced that Idris Elba was cast as the lead, Roland Deschain. Elba is a fine actor, perhaps one of the best currently working, but over the course of decades, King built the intensity of the character by referencing his, "piercing blue eyes." Further, while I wouldn't refer to King's books as culturally definitive in the way Homer's were, they do build the lead character's lineage loosely on a quasi-Arthurian mythology in a semi-parallel universe, so if you're going to develop a character by invoking, or build out from something that does have deep civilizational roots, the race-swapping becomes gratuitously ignorant, if not outright reckless.
“I know Stephen King is a first class jerk, but for years I followed his dark tower/gunslinger books, so when I heard it was being made into a movie, it definitely piqued my interest,”
I’m a big Stephen King fan, of his writing. But I can’t get into fantasy works, even by an excellent writer like King. But for you guys who read that enormous body of work packing it into a two hour movie must have seemed absurd. I’m liking the recent remakes of King’s. IT and Pet Cemetery. The limited episode like ‘Castle Rock’ and ‘Welcome to Derry’have a good King vibe to them.