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Original poster

Roots is coming back...YAY!

54 replies

salsmum · 04/02/2017 04:28

Just that really, Quite right it was amazing let's hope it still is.

OP posts:
morningtoncrescent62 · 05/02/2017 15:01

Really? I agree, it was amazing. I bought the box set a few months ago and watched it from start to finish. I thought it was going to be really dated (and in a couple of places it is - there are a couple of remarks about 'primitive Africa' which made me wince) but mostly it was just as good as I'd remembered. In a funny way it was like meeting old friends again as it made such an impression on me in the 70s and I've never forgotten the characters.

Or is this a new series, following the next generations of Haileys?

SpackenDeDoich · 05/02/2017 19:17

Please tell me more! I remember watching and then reading the original versions. Please tell me it's not a remake or a follow on?

Original poster
salsmum · 06/02/2017 03:38

It's on bbc4 Wednesday at 9pm it was only a quick advert but from what I saw it's the story from the very start so yes a remake of Kutakinte's (sp) life....I'll get the popcorn in!!

OP posts:
bummymummy77 · 06/02/2017 04:05

It's fucking awful. I saw an episode on a recent plane ride and was incensed. They've completely changed the story, I was actually in tears.

It's a true story (although been some debate regarding Alex Haley's poetic licence) and it's a travesty what they'd done with the plot in just the one episode I saw. I was named after a character and it's very dear to me so I will watch it but I'm not holding out much hope.

notangelinajolie · 06/02/2017 04:12

Looking forward to this, remember watching the original. Dh and me went to the Gambia years ago and went to the village Kunta Kinta is supposed be from. Not sure how much of the Roots story is historically correct and how much of our tour was for the benefit of the tourists. But, I am certain that the chains they showed us still visible in the walls of the part submerged port were the genuine article. Quite shocking to see.

Cantgetmyoldnameback · 06/02/2017 19:39

I loved the original Roots as a kid. And for that reason I won't be watching the new version. Mind you, I'm weird, I gave up on the new Poldark after one episode as I had such clear pictures in my head of the original actors that I hated the new version.

Queenie04 · 06/02/2017 19:51

I want to see it as didn't see the original first time round. However a bit worried about the narrative. I have watched a lot of series and films about slavery and there are something's that irritate.

  1. There is always a white saviour I think to appease white viewers that hey some of us were good.
  1. The misconception that African people were active in the Slave trade
  1. Slavery ended because White People all of a sudden grew a conscious and so it ended. When in fact slave traders and owners were paid reparations to stop slavery
  1. The fact some African countries still have to lay reparations to European countries for the end of slavery to this day e.g. France
  1. The fact that some European country's such as France and Belgium still have displays of African slaves on display in museums and still hold their remains.
  1. I find watching series like that traumatic seeing someone who looks like you being treated like a non human is not easy watching. I watch because I want to remember my ancestors not for entertainment
Queenie04 · 06/02/2017 19:53

Ps. Poldark is fiction. Roots is history based so don't understand the excitement on this thread

moonriverandyou · 06/02/2017 21:19

Last time i watched it i cried at every single episode, i wonder if i'll be the same this time round.

TreeTop7 · 06/02/2017 23:25

I found the original really compelling. It was harrowing. When his mother realised that he'd been kidnapped and started wailing because she knew he was gone forever - horrific.

Weird to see OJ Simpson in it. I don't think I'd ever watched him in anything before, I only knew him from the trial. Thankfully his role was minor.

specialsubject · 09/02/2017 09:39

Just seen episode 1. Don't want to sound like a millenial but it was very well done - better paced than the original (which was obviously of its time), powerful, well acted.

Odd subtitling in places but otherwise excellent. Not an easy watch but well worth it, and on bbc4 so no ads to spool through.

VivDeering · 09/02/2017 09:52

I don't quite understand the glee shown here either. I feel similar to Queenie. It's educational but the wrongs portrayed are just harrowing. It's not entertainment.

DispatchReady · 09/02/2017 13:42

I've just watched - really upsetting viewing but great acting. Normally violence and blood doesn't bother me but this was horrific in parts.

DalekBred · 09/02/2017 16:09

Queenie I agree too.

How much s actually true and whats fictionalised?

But Im glad they kept the terms of how they addressed Black people in, the 'N' word, as it highlited the authenticity, and not watered down for the PC brigade, as history shows these were the terms used at the time (and still is in some cases, wrongly of course).

The guy playing Kunte Kinte is brilliant, and I LOVE Forrest Whittaker! Glad hes been cast as Fiddler.

Tony Curran- oh dear. loved him as Van Gogh in Doctor Who but he was truly brutal in this. its right to show the treatment though, nothing like this should be sugar coated over for entertainment value.

whats the Miss Lizzie flirting with her bro-in-law got to do with the story though?

and whats happened to Jinna? KK ends up with someone else doeant he? I don't remember the original, only Levar (Geordie La Forge) Burton as Kunte Kinte.

drigon · 09/02/2017 20:10

I watched it and enjoyed it a lot. Just about remember the 70s one. I was 9 ,I think, and I thought this was better. I thought Kunta K was excellent . Definitely violent though and very unpleasant subject matter.

drigon · 09/02/2017 20:12

My son and I have been laughing at the line in it -
"Keep your foto clean and healthy"! I thought the African bits were very well done.

BLM2017 · 09/02/2017 20:55

Just watched it today, very well portrayed and balanced first episode. I didn't watch the original so can't compare the two. However I am glad the the brutality and pure evilness wasn't toned down. I also appreciate that they showed Kunta's life before and showed he and his people humanity but expressed all that he and others lost. I can't even begin to imagine being stolen from all I know and losing my freedom, culture, language, name and spirituality all in one go and I am grateful for my ancestors.

BLM2017 · 09/02/2017 21:02

I watched it with my children but they found it really difficult both were in tears it's not easy watching. Especially when the people on screen look like you and are from the same country were it's based. It's harrowing but I tell them that they we have to. I ps. I was also happy to see the lead played by a British actor. I read somewhere that African American actors have found it mentally difficult to play such roles in other shows/movies due to the trauma. So well done to the lead and supporting cast as even 'playing' a slave us no joke

BLM2017 · 09/02/2017 21:04

Drigon glad you enjoyed it so much Sad

BLM2017 · 09/02/2017 21:05

I enjoyed watch Schindlers list too Drigon Confused

VivDeering · 09/02/2017 21:39

Confused here too!

Perhaps before the next episode someone will respond to our bafflement.

drigon · 09/02/2017 21:55

I didn't mean I thought it was a comedic programme or anything like that, BLM. I simply meant that I appreciated it as a well-made show. If you read my post, I clearly say I thought it dealt with unpleasant and violent subjects. I found it was mostly harrowing, as did my son. The foto bit was part of the initiation ceremony of the tribe in Africa, nothing to do with the slavery parts, so we were not laughing at that. Sorry you were offended by my post, BLM.

VivDeering · 09/02/2017 22:10

It's just a bit "oh look at the funny Africans with their primitive ways".

ZuzuMyLittleGingersnap · 10/02/2017 09:23

Disclaimer:
(Have yet to watch end 15 minutes).

Brutal. Very, very hard to watch in places.

The inhumane treatment of people regarded as just another commodity really had me choked up. Both the ship's hold and choosing-slaves-by-examining-them-like-cattle scenes were as grim as grim can get.

But so important that that era's harsh realities are on record in all media.

And IRL, fully acknowledged by everybody involved.
And that the subsequent discrimination which trickled down through the years is learnt from and fought.

Certain figures within the current US/ UK political and social landscape make me question how far they've really evolved on that score, frankly. Angry

I was too young to see the original, but remember the huge talking point Roots made in the days of 3 channels, no online, on-demand, and barely any serious black representation on TV...
Think they team behind this version have tailored it pretty well, using film gloss and pacy drama in order to draw in a modern audience to the deeper issues.

Will be watching the unfolding story with interest.

ZuzuMyLittleGingersnap · 10/02/2017 11:55

^^Oh, good God, I've just watched the end whipping scene. I feel physically ill, it seemed so realistic. Amazing acting all round.

Rarely have I disliked a TV character as much as that little bastard Connelly Angry

But at least Fiddler's a gem.

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