ROOTS (1977) Where to begin? I'm not here to debate whether this drama was historically accurate or not, or whether there was a scam on the creator / directors part to over-dramatize this series for money and views, or whether the book, by the author Alex Haley, was ever authentic or not, plagiarized or not. I personally do not know all this, at the moment of writing this review. I am just here to review this classic television series as I have seen it, in my own personal opinion.
Having watched this series with my family, I found it to be very moving and touching, the story definitely traumatizing and tragic, but ultimately one of healing and of overcoming. A broken past does not equate to a broken future. This series definitely speaks to the enduring human spirit and the overcoming of extreme and needless suffering. Uplifting to say the least. Survival in some of the harshest of hardships. LeVar Burton was really great in this series as the lead man Kunte Kinte, but also John Amos, as the older Kunte Kinte. Iconic portrayals, both.
Revisionist as it may or may not be, dramatic as it may be, (plagurism or not) it was certainly a stirring dramatized show and one that does allow modern viewers to see glimpses of possibilities of our turbulent and shared past, speaking for the country of the United States of America. And there are many aspects of it that are certainly true, and historically undisputed, for example the inhumane act of buying living people from the many countries of Africa and elsewhere, the life of slavery and servitude, the cruelties of plantation working, (not to mention the vast ammounts of human suffering that came from the wicked and criminal behavior of trying to "own" another human being whose life and breath should have been exclusively their own) etc, perhaps not for the character of Alex Haley's Kunte Kinte, but of many ancestors to the African-American, black community.
Overall, as a fictional period drama, and as a series focusing on an all black cast, it was certainly worth the watch. I wish there were more like it, especially more historically accurate versions. It would be great to see more authentic black historical dramas in general, backed by official historians and academia scholars (rather than the generic blackwashed / whitewashed sugar-coated garbage that hollywood seems to dish out). Still, it was a great watch.
Having watched this series with my family, I found it to be very moving and touching, the story definitely traumatizing and tragic, but ultimately one of healing and of overcoming. A broken past does not equate to a broken future. This series definitely speaks to the enduring human spirit and the overcoming of extreme and needless suffering. Uplifting to say the least. Survival in some of the harshest of hardships. LeVar Burton was really great in this series as the lead man Kunte Kinte, but also John Amos, as the older Kunte Kinte. Iconic portrayals, both.
Revisionist as it may or may not be, dramatic as it may be, (plagurism or not) it was certainly a stirring dramatized show and one that does allow modern viewers to see glimpses of possibilities of our turbulent and shared past, speaking for the country of the United States of America. And there are many aspects of it that are certainly true, and historically undisputed, for example the inhumane act of buying living people from the many countries of Africa and elsewhere, the life of slavery and servitude, the cruelties of plantation working, (not to mention the vast ammounts of human suffering that came from the wicked and criminal behavior of trying to "own" another human being whose life and breath should have been exclusively their own) etc, perhaps not for the character of Alex Haley's Kunte Kinte, but of many ancestors to the African-American, black community.
Overall, as a fictional period drama, and as a series focusing on an all black cast, it was certainly worth the watch. I wish there were more like it, especially more historically accurate versions. It would be great to see more authentic black historical dramas in general, backed by official historians and academia scholars (rather than the generic blackwashed / whitewashed sugar-coated garbage that hollywood seems to dish out). Still, it was a great watch.