Before “Roots” premiered on the History Channel Memorial Day, there was plenty of discussion among fans about whether there should be a remake of the iconic miniseries.
Even rapper T.I., who has a role in the series as a slave named “Cyrus,” told the Huffington Post that he was initially leery.
“I will admit that I was one of the ones to say, ‘Man, I don’t know if that needs to be remade,'” he said. “It was just a huge undertaking for him as a producer and for me as an actor to sign up to remake such a classic and to tell a story that has so much pain and just so much turmoil involved in it.”
So it’s no surprise that after the initial airing on Monday, there were some cheers and jeers about the rebooted “Roots.”
Rapper Snoop Dogg took to Instagram for an expletive-filled rant against it and urged a boycott.
“How the f*** they gonna put Roots on Memorial Day,” the rapper asked after saying he no longer can watch slave narratives including the film “12 Years A Slave.” They going to just keep beating that s*** into our heads as to how they did us, huh?”
Saying “I don’t understand America,” Snoop went on to opine that “They just want to keep showing the abuse that we took hundreds and hundreds of years ago.”
“But guess what? We’re taking the same abuse,” he said. “Think about that part. When you all going to make a [expletive] series about the success that black folks is having. The only success we have is Roots and 12 Years A Slave?”
The pain of watching a miniseries about slavery in America was evident as one person tweeted “I’m sorry, but I can’t bring myself to watch #Roots. I’m glad it’s been remade and I hope many people watch. But I can’t.”
A few tweeted their disappointment with the remake.
And yet others were delighted with the updated version as a slice of history they felt should be shared with younger generations. The original aired in 1977.
Producer Will Packer tweeted his thanks to the audience and urged people to tune into the remaining episodes saying “I have never been more proud to be involved with a project.”
