Posted on 05/30/2016 11:03:36 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
I vividly recall the original iteration of the TV miniseries Roots. It was January 1977, and I was 17. Like most young people that age, my life was rapidly growing independent of my parents, who were increasingly consumed by the vagaries of their workplaces.
Yet, when the series debuted, it was must-see TV in the Johnson household. We stopped what we were doing and watched it together and enthusiastically each night. We even cheered during the show, notable since we were often too darned middle class to cheer while watching football games on TV.
The miniseries cleaned up during awards season: 37 Grammy nominations (nine wins) and a Golden Globe. The Alex Haley historical novel, upon which the TV series was based, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
It was also an unprecedented ratings success; all eight episodes rank among the 100 most-watched TV shows of all time. Four rank in the top 30 and the finale, almost 40 years later, still ranks as the third most-watched TV show ever. There were sequels and spinoffs, but for the last quarter century the phenomenon has been dormant.
That will end Monday when a remake of the classic series premieres on the History Channel (with simulcasts on sister networks Lifetime and A&E). It will run for four nights and, like the original, it features a star-studded cast including Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anika Noni Rose and Anna Paquin
(Excerpt) Read more at theroot.com ...
Democrats don’t have to keep their promises, just make them during campaigns.
I don’t think “happy” would be a correct description, but if you visit Monticello and hear the guides talk, you get the sense that the slaves who were skilled craftsmen had more leeway to negotiate for things and situations they wanted.
Instead of remaking Roots, why doesn’t Hollywood make films and TV shows about the enslavement of Africans and others going on TODAY?
No story idea can escape being reused. The new and improved Roots will have more evil whiteys, more heroic blacks, and much more sex and profanity. They will probably have some white cops shoot innocent black teenagers.
It's already here . . . done by Disney back in the 40s . . . called "Song of the South," Uncle Remus telling stories to his Caucasian master's children. . . Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, etc. Lovely story . . . . but you can't buy it in the U.S. because of our racist Negroes. It is exactly what you would like to see . . . I had to get my copy from the UK.
I would recommend you try to get a copy. It's a very lovely story. But our Negro fellow-citizens have banned it (along with Amos and Andy) for decades.
You really need it (new Roots) to create a race war...which they’ve been trying to do for nearly 8 years.
There should be a book written. The whole truth of American slavery.
For some states, killing slaves was a murder offense. I’m sure any maiming would’ve been offenses too.
But that wouldn’t fit the narrative.
Never mind it makes little sense to maim and kill your property that performs your services.
Maybe this version shows the villagers killing each other in Africa then selling the survivors to anyone from other parts of the world.
The old Roots used quadroons. The new Roots uses octoroons. Roots actors get whiter and whiter. We want pure African actors - are there any left?
“The objective of any business enterprise is to make a profit and a remake of Roots is simply a business enterprise with the objective to make a profit.
It is not and should not be an objective of the producers to bring the country together or tear it apart, the goal is to be profitable.”
__________
Not the case. Hollywood cranks out loads of movies that border on propaganda knowing they will lose money, but it’s for “the cause”.
Heck, if it was all about profit Disney would re-release “Song of the South”. Brer Rabbit is banned in the USA.
Or perhaps Jan Sobieski.
My understanding is that all the 'good' white guys have been eliminated in the remake, so Matt was out.
LOL! OK! Well, shows ya just how wrong a person can be!
20 minutes into this remake, so far it’s crap. The plot is jumping all over the place and it’s incoherent, unlike the original which was pretty good.
There’s a very good Stanley Cup Finals game on. And game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Finals. Don’t torment yourself with known bad TV.
Yep already switched to the NBA game now. At least it’s entertaining to watch the Splash Brothers.
I wrote this on a previous related thread, but it bears repeating.
Your comment reminds me of a joke that circulated after the release of original ROOTS:
"Did you hear Alex Haley killed himself? He found out he was adopted."
I saw only part of the original series but found it plain cheesy. Whether or not the story was true, it was so slanted -- all the whites were mean & evil, all the blacks virtuous. The script seemed very stilted. Typical 1970s schmaltz.
The original Roots took some liberty with the truth but it was based on history and it was entertaining to watch. Remake? A snoozefest.
We are getting a remake of Ben Hur according to the commercials.
If the LIBTARDS get their way we will be seeing more LGBT crap in movies and on TV. 300 + channels and few are fit to watch. Since I don’t control the remote, we get sports, cars, racing, some History/Discovery and a few shows like Beat Bobby Flay.
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