But since we have those, plus a new film about Nat Turner’s slave rebellion coming up in the fall, did we need a new Roots at all? Kunta and others are chained and crammed into a ship for an arduous Atlantic crossing – and it’s here where viewers will get a clear sense of how far this “Roots” is willing go in depicting man’s inhumanity to man. The quintessential black miniseries of yesteryear that featured Kunta Kinte, Kizzy and Chicken George is making a comeback this Memorial Day.
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But as everyone knows, “Roots” exploded as a TV and social phenomenon, averaging 80 million viewers each night and opening the eyes of millions to a painful swath of history too often overlooked or forgotten.
The story chronicles the ordeal the young Mandinka warrior endured in order to hold onto his tribal legacy, his identity, his name. That small-screen adaptation, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by former Playboy writer Alex Haley, starred Burton as Kunta Kinte and followed the story of one family’s horrific journey from African royalty to chattel slavery to freedom in segregated Tennessee. Haley’s search for his ancestry took him to an era in our history when black lives only mattered to many white Americans for the work they could perform and how much they might bring at auction. What an incredible thing to teach your children about how far we have come, how you would never let that be something that you would do, how blessed we are that we live in a different society. For example, the African scenes for the 1977 original were shot in Georgia, but the modern version actually ventured to South Africa, and the cinematography is gorgeous. “But still, it’s a story about people in a period of history”.
The result is that, particularly in its first hours, this Roots can feel lethally claustrophobic, a total emotional and intellectual onslaught.
Q. Why did “Roots”, specifically, need to be remade for this generation? And one of the executive producers of this new Roots is the star of the old one: Burton.
“He told me the story of showing it (the ’70s version) to his children and they had a tough time watching it because it felt dated to them”, Burton said. The newly reimagined show covers the same ground as the 1977 series, but incorporates several decades of research done since the previous version aired.
The common perception is, ‘Oh, there have been so many slave movies. But either way, it should be required viewing.
The new cast includes Oscar winners Forest Whitaker and Anna Paquin, as well as Oscar nominee Laurence Fishburne.
Actor Malachi Kirby says knew he had the role of Kunta Kinte in the new History Channel production of “Roots” before anyone else. His daughter, Kizzy ( Anika Noni Rose, embodying powerful womanhood), learns to read and teaches others despite the dangers in doing so; his grandson, Chicken George (Regé-Jean Page, in a nuanced performance that grows from excited youth to wisened maturity), fights gamecocks and eventually becomes a free man; his great-grandson Tom (Sedale Threatt Jr.) collaborates with Union spies during the Civil War.
He credits Burton with helping him get through the whipping scene by reminding the actor that Kunta emerges from his trials “a mighty man” who will lead his people.
Gossett endorses the new telling of the Roots story, which traces the history of a black family to its African ancestors.
“There were times when we stopped shooting and I couldn’t stop crying”.
Watch the trailer for Roots and T.I.’s interview below.
The pain “Roots” dramatizes also still feels unfortunately relevant, when cries of discrimination and racism remain very much in the news. “‘Roots’ was, and I believe can be again, an opportunity to do more than simply entertain”.
“You don’t have to accept the context, but you have to understand it”, she said. Despite the controversy connected with allegations of plagiarism, still I am starting to think maybe Haley should be considered our equivalent of the Greek poet Homer. “My hope is that the conversation that ‘Roots” will inspire can be had absent the deadly qualities of guilt and shame. “It is truly stunning”, Burton said.
Malachi Kirby in the History Channel’s Roots. The book was published in 1976. There’s also an effort to connect classrooms and teachers with a curriculum after the premiere.
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Music plays a very important part throughout, and the music supervisor is Questlove, from a band he long ago named The Roots. And to not take advantage of that would have been irresponsible.
