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alphafemale

(18,497 posts)
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 11:25 AM Nov 2013

On the Remaking of "Roots"

I say fine. If a new generation of youth can see this story.


They can tell this story now with fewer positive white characters....which didn't really exist.


I loved Roots when I was a kid. But I saw it recently and it was hopelessly dated.

If remaking it exposed more kids to this story I applaud it.

Great stories can get multiple tellings.


28 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
On the Remaking of "Roots" (Original Post) alphafemale Nov 2013 OP
We were glued to the tv as a family HappyMe Nov 2013 #1
Very doubtful it will even boomersense Nov 2013 #21
I agree! Little Star Nov 2013 #2
I hear the History Channel has bought the rights, and is doing the remake? CatWoman Nov 2013 #3
There were NO postive white characters in enlightenment Nov 2013 #4
...not even close to what the OP said. Cooley Hurd Nov 2013 #5
Really? enlightenment Nov 2013 #12
There were way too many positive white characters penciled in. alphafemale Nov 2013 #6
yes it was so damn convenient CatWoman Nov 2013 #7
Yep, I'm sure in his heart of hearts Jefferson, for example, knew that slavery was wrong. Nye Bevan Nov 2013 #11
Jefferson freed his own children. Sired with a slave. alphafemale Nov 2013 #16
"They can tell this story now with fewer positive white characters" BumRushDaShow Nov 2013 #8
I have a HUGE problem with Africans being depicted as illiterate savages alphafemale Nov 2013 #9
Unfortunately it's still happening BumRushDaShow Nov 2013 #15
There were illiterate savages and developed civilizations on every continent except ... dawg Nov 2013 #18
"illiterate" and "savage" are not synonyms bhikkhu Nov 2013 #24
Yes, I agree with that. dawg Nov 2013 #26
I have my own doubts as to the re-make. Archae Nov 2013 #10
Ice Road Truckers! alphafemale Nov 2013 #13
This is the kind of statement: kiva Nov 2013 #14
Thank you. I agree completely. whathehell Nov 2013 #17
Hide the fuck out of it alphafemale Nov 2013 #23
I'm white and I have no problem with that statement. HappyMe Nov 2013 #25
The Republican version tells the story in reverse. alfredo Nov 2013 #19
Our family watched the original like every other family in America. Dustlawyer Nov 2013 #20
Here's the problem..Instead of holding the limited belief that blacks are the descendants of slaves, HipChick Nov 2013 #22
Agreed. Don't start the story with the slave ships.. alphafemale Nov 2013 #27
A few years back, I travelled to Nubia HipChick Nov 2013 #28

HappyMe

(20,277 posts)
1. We were glued to the tv as a family
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 11:33 AM
Nov 2013

when Roots was on.

My only hope is that they do a good job with the remake. Sometimes remakes can be disappointing.

 

boomersense

(147 posts)
21. Very doubtful it will even
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 01:12 PM
Nov 2013

come close to the original because we live in a different place and time now, the quality of the remake attempt notwithstanding. I got something out of Roots because of the way it was done, the excellence of the acting, and the great scenes. Yes, some of the whites were overly aggrandized but I didn't want my attention to that to take away what was good about the production. I don't watch tv anymore, so I won't be watching the remake, but I hope you enjoy it.

CatWoman

(79,283 posts)
3. I hear the History Channel has bought the rights, and is doing the remake?
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 11:40 AM
Nov 2013

this from the creators of Pawn Stars, etc?

enlightenment

(8,830 posts)
4. There were NO postive white characters in
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 11:42 AM
Nov 2013

American history? Not a single white person who believed slavery was wrong? Tried to help? Tried to change things?

Wow.

enlightenment

(8,830 posts)
12. Really?
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:28 PM
Nov 2013
They can tell this story now with fewer positive white characters....which didn't really exist.


Did the OP mean in the book? That would be not exactly true, but certainly closer to a truth - but if they meant the book, they should have said that.

To leave a dangling comment out like this one: "which didn't really exist" invites a rebuttal.

Readers are not obligated to read between the lines or read the poster's mind - they read what is written.

Despite your "rolling eye" smilie, you're the one who is "not even close".
 

alphafemale

(18,497 posts)
6. There were way too many positive white characters penciled in.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:04 PM
Nov 2013

To sell the story to a 1970's audience.

I think people are more open to the real truth now.

And yeah I am sure there WAS a random white person here and there that thought "This is wrong. These are people." Just not enough to stop human trafficking for 300 years.

In fact, I am dead sure MOST people knew it was wrong. But it was just so damn convenient.

Just like we get a twing knowing a child slave may have made our cell phone. Will the factory that made your $15 pants collapse tomorrow and kill 1000 people.

Does anyone really even care?

Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
11. Yep, I'm sure in his heart of hearts Jefferson, for example, knew that slavery was wrong.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:27 PM
Nov 2013

But it was certainly damn convenient to have a few hundred slaves to help build Monticello, and also when he felt like a quick fuck and a slave girl was the quickest available outlet.

 

alphafemale

(18,497 posts)
16. Jefferson freed his own children. Sired with a slave.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:36 PM
Nov 2013

It is interesting how many people of color have surnames of the founding fathers.

Washington...Jackson...Jefferson

BumRushDaShow

(127,270 posts)
8. "They can tell this story now with fewer positive white characters"
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:07 PM
Nov 2013

There weren't that many "positive white characters" in there and one cannot broad brush to say that no "positive" whites existed. If they didn't, "we" (editorial, and me, specifically - "blacks&quot probably wouldn't be here today, let alone with a Barack H. Obama as President.

IMHO, if they are going to re-do it, they should also do the full thing to include "Roots II: The Next Generations" (which I believe followed Haley's maternal side), as that miniseries covered from the Civil War through to the 1970s and included Reconstruction, Jim Crow, WWI, WWII, and the Civil Rights era.

As FYI, I was in high school when the original aired and I have watched it many times since (and still have it on tape), and although the actors and actresses (back then dubbed part of an "All Star Cast" ) are all now "dated", the material is still pretty vicious and heart-breaking.

If anything, what hadn't been shown before then in any documentary or docu-drama of this subject, was the society and rituals that had evolved in the small villages of African countries like Guinea (including the presence of Islam there). Previously, the only thing that most could conceive about any African country (where most, even today, keep referring to the continent of Africa as if it were a country) was the bullshit shown in the endless movie serial and television series "Tarzan" or the animated "Kimba". But most notably, Roots showed the harrowing "Middle Passage", something that had previously been relegated to display of the same old illustrations of "close pack" and "loose pack" (with respect to how the slaves were loaded and managed in the ship holds) where men and women were chained prone to wooden planks, row after row, and level upon level.

Haley was actively involved in the original and the danger now (although knowing alot of the story was originally "Hollywoodized&quot is trivializing and glossing over the history to soften it - especially in this era of rightwing lunatic ownership of almost all of the media. And as an example, although the original clearly showed African involvement in the trade with respect to Kunta's (and others' capture), there will be those demanding to remove any white involvement whatsover in the transactions and transport. So I expect as this project evolves, it will get quite ugly (although there are many more scholars in African and African-American history out there now to debate it, all of whom have accumulated and published quite a bit of primary research over the past 35 years).

 

alphafemale

(18,497 posts)
9. I have a HUGE problem with Africans being depicted as illiterate savages
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:19 PM
Nov 2013

The founders of Algebra and Philosophy were...beasts. Mere chattel. Yeah.

BumRushDaShow

(127,270 posts)
15. Unfortunately it's still happening
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:34 PM
Nov 2013

as well as Egypt still being trans-located into Europe via the ridiculous term "Middle East" for that particular African country.

Long way to go.... sigh.

dawg

(10,607 posts)
18. There were illiterate savages and developed civilizations on every continent except ...
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 01:06 PM
Nov 2013

Australia.

My immediate ancestors, most of whom came through Europe, were among the last to develop true civilizations. To a large extent, they acquired civilization through diffusion from the Middle East.

But I don't think it's wrong to tell a story that involves illiterate pre-civilized Africans. Such people did exist.

The same holds true for the various European tribes that, I'm guessing here, probably inspired stories like Conan and such.

The real problem, in my opinion, is the fact that most people believe that the illiterate savages were all there was to African history. To the extent African achievements cannot be entirely avoided (e.g. Egypt), the African-ness of the people is either minimized or outright denied.

And of course, the elephant in the room is the fact that we are all of African ancestry. Just some more recent than others. I would guess that fewer than 25% of Americans realize that.

dawg

(10,607 posts)
26. Yes, I agree with that.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 02:02 PM
Nov 2013

I had actually thought about going into that aspect with my reply as well, but decided against it because I already sounded too much like "Little Mr. Professor" as is.

By my way of thinking, pre-literate societies are not automatically inferior to literate ones. In fact, we could learn much from such cultures.

Ultimately, different peoples adapt to different environments in different ways. The measuring stick I would use to judge their differing approaches would be the happiness and well-being of the members of a given society. The long-term sustainability of the approach is also of the utmost importance.

By that standard, some of those pre-literate societies are undoubtedly superior to our own.

Archae

(46,260 posts)
10. I have my own doubts as to the re-make.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:21 PM
Nov 2013

Why?

Two words regarding the "History" Channel:

"Ancient Aliens"

 

alphafemale

(18,497 posts)
13. Ice Road Truckers!
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:30 PM
Nov 2013

Yeah I know.

I want to see a telling where there is an admission that we enslaved literate, intelligent people.

kiva

(4,373 posts)
14. This is the kind of statement:
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:31 PM
Nov 2013

"They can tell this story now with fewer positive white characters....which didn't really exist." that makes me so glad that thread hide works.

 

alphafemale

(18,497 posts)
23. Hide the fuck out of it
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 01:17 PM
Nov 2013

There were positive white people that loved those slaves.

Yeah...

Hide me.

HappyMe

(20,277 posts)
25. I'm white and I have no problem with that statement.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 01:38 PM
Nov 2013

I'm sure that there were white people that helped slaves escape. But I'm also pretty sure that the numbers were small. Whether it was because they agreed with slavery or because they may have been afraid to help, I don't know.

Dustlawyer

(10,493 posts)
20. Our family watched the original like every other family in America.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 01:11 PM
Nov 2013

I am glad it was aired, but at the time it was our town had just attempted desegregation of the schools. I was one of the 3% white kids sent to a previously all black middle school. We were beaten regularly after Roots aired. Some of the black kids were sympathetic and tried to save us, but there were not enough of them. It was during that time that I learned about prejudice and how it was wrong. After being discriminated against for the color of my skin I could no longer remain on the sidelines when I saw blacks and other minorities being discriminated against later in life. There have always been others who have learned this lesson and tried to stand up against discrimination. They too should be recognized in the movie. Prejudice is wrong no matter who it is against. This should be one of the morals to this tragic story of our history!

HipChick

(25,485 posts)
22. Here's the problem..Instead of holding the limited belief that blacks are the descendants of slaves,
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 01:16 PM
Nov 2013

we need movies that show the the bigger picture, that blacks are descendants of complex,rich and ancient Black civilization..pyramid builders...complex maths

Their rich history did not start with slavery....

 

alphafemale

(18,497 posts)
27. Agreed. Don't start the story with the slave ships..
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 03:34 PM
Nov 2013

Show that there was a vibrant culture for at least a half hour or so.

The people ripped from their homes and forced into slavery were NOT savages.

HipChick

(25,485 posts)
28. A few years back, I travelled to Nubia
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 03:37 PM
Nov 2013

the artifacts I saw there were amazing...they showed that they were familiar with complex surgical procedures..that was 3,000yrs ago...
The history books have been full of nothing but lies...

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