MovieChat Forums > Roots (1977) Discussion > fascinating series but one problem

fascinating series but one problem

posted 10 years ago by amanjones
18 replies | jump to latest

What a fascinating series! I especially enjoyed that the series depicted slavery from the Middle Passage to post-Emancipation. One nitpick: the filming locations. The mountains in the background of the Reynolds plantation were clearly California mountains. The geography was western geography. You could tell by the soil, which was rocky and and sandy, not like the red clay and granite of the Eastern Seaboard. This was very distracting throughout the series and ruined suspension of disbelief.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] herbsuperb 10 years ago

Explain to me why that matters. You can't always film an historical work on the exact locations where it is said to have happened. Nobody cares what the soil looked like. Nobody cares that the topography did not match exactly. Those things simply aren't important enough for the film makers to go to exorbitant lengths to recreate to perfection. That would be a complete waste of time and money. It's about the story, the characters, and the writing. This is like saying Gandhi was a terrible movie because Ben Kingsley was not of the same genetic makeup as the REAL Gandhi. That's just stupid.

This can't actually bother you. There is something else going on here. Not sure exactly what, but I could put up a few guesses that would probably get pretty close. So save me the time and tell us. What is really your problem?

[–] Furienna (3342) 3 years ago

It is maybe not a big deal to you or to me.
But I can see why somebody with a lot of knowledge about geography and geology might be bothered by it.

Sometimes, you simply can't stop being annoyed by a seemingly insignificant detail in a movie or a TV show.
Even if other people think that you're nuts, it is like your enjoyment of the work is ruined at least a little bit.
For what it's worth, the OP says that they like this series otherwise and knows that this complaint is a nitpick.
So I don't think that anybody should be angry about that somebody is sharing their thoughts about this...

[–] sslssg (34214) 3 years ago

I agree a little bit. There are a lot of movies that get filmed in my neck of the woods that are set in far off places. When you see a familiar land mark, it can sometimes take you out of the film. It doesn't really matter in the scheme of things, but it can take away the illusion for a moment.

It can also be fun, and I do agree even more that if someone is bothered or didn't like something, that someone else doesn't care about, it's not something to get angry over or to insult that person.

[–] millsey72 (10259) 2 months ago

My bigger issue was that I could easily tell they weren't in Africa during the round up of the captured slaves. Some of those trees depicted didn't grow in Africa. Not to mention the people rounded up and put onto the ships weren't really slaves either. This bothered me more than the landscape shown in America

[–] lgforce 10 years ago

That's telling him herb!

[–] disarrasin 10 years ago

I did notice that about the mountians. They probably should have filmed it in Virginia or North Carolina but iwas still a great production.

[–] PaddyRoller 10 years ago

My biggest problem with it was the fact that it was all a lie.

[–] splooch29 9 years ago

of course...slavery never happened....sigh...get a grip

Emperor: Tell me how he died
Nathan Algren: I will tell you, how he LIVED.

[–] Eric-62-2 9 years ago

The lie was that Alex Haley presented a plagiarized work of fiction as his own family history and also engaged in other acts of deception to produce an end-product that he profited personally from. Anyone else who engages in that kind of deception is stigmatized for the rest of their days. Political correctness is the only reason why Alex Haley received the benefits of what amounted to a cover-up.

The history of slavery in America has far better ways of being told than by one man's dishonorable efforts.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Yep, while slavery did exist; Roots was nothing than agenda driven bullshit much like Uncle Tom's Cabin. Their may have been some truths in Roots as to how things were, but there were also complete fabrications and when you have no idea what was real and what was bullshit you have a problem.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 3 years ago

Much like not knowing the difference between “their” and “there.”

But keep riding your “stupidphone” hobbyhorse, thomas. It’s not tiresome or anything.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

When the only problem you can find is how a word is spelled you've just admitted the argument was indisputable.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] millsey72 (10259) 3 years ago

[deleted]

[–] FFNogoodnik (775) 3 years ago

I think you, like the series' producers, are making "mountains out of mole-hills" :)