Idris Elba cast as Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower, internet full of racism

[Anakin McFly]

lol

News: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/29/da ... cconaughey

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1648190/board/threads/

My take on it and why this totally works (huge spoilers for 7th book):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1648190/boa ... /254064718

[BruceSmith78]

I kept seeing posts on Facebook, but I've heard they were getting ready to make the movie so many times, I didn't believe it. If it's truly happening this time, I'm ecstatic, and I think McConnahey and Elba are perfect. I don't really think you even need to justify "changing" the race of a fictional character, unless perhaps it was the other way around, and you were taking an opportunity away from a minority.

[Anakin McFly]

The release date is set for January 13, 2017! I'm really excited for this.

One problem people have is how this would affect the racial dynamic between the protagonists, but I can see lots of ways to preserve that without changing much.

And given that the entire book series is about parallel worlds with parallel versions of characters, it's no stretch at all to believe that some of those versions are of a different race, and that's what we'd be watching. It fits in perfectly with the overall mythos, and in that way ends up being better than if it were a direct adaptation; because now even our world is part of the story.

[Derived Absurdity]

I should probably read the books before I see this.

[Anakin McFly]

Yes.

The first few books were written in the 1980s so there's some well-meaning but questionable handling of racial stuff, but product of its time and all that. And with a black guy being cast in the lead a lot of that will fix itself.

The first book is your average science-fantasy novel, the second and third were my favourite. The remaining four were good enough to keep me reading, and there's a lot of epic world-building in there.

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

I kept seeing posts on Facebook, but I've heard they were getting ready to make the movie so many times, I didn't believe it. If it's truly happening this time, I'm ecstatic, and I think McConnahey and Elba are perfect. I don't really think you even need to justify "changing" the race of a fictional character, unless perhaps it was the other way around, and you were taking an opportunity away from a minority.

I don't know, I think so long as race isn't an intrinsic part of the character, then justification need not be made, even if it were minority to white. The only issue with my theory is that I can't think of any "traditional" minority character whose race isn't intrinsic.

On a tangent, I'm reminded of my issue with people making Elsa a POC because the world was based on Norway, which is pretty damned homogenous. I will say I was right, but for the wrong reasons. I should have pointed out that if Disney had made Elsa black, they would be blasted by those saying she was yet another "mystical black person". But, I also came around and said, sure it's fantasy & could have more diversity. I even said Anna could have been a great choice to make a POC because not only could there be tension between adopted siblings, but racial tension as well between the two and/or the kingdom and its diplomatic visitors.

[Monk]

The only hiccup I see is that Detta's initial hatred of distrust of Roland is the fact that he's white and she was raised in the 50s(?) as a black woman. It's pretty integral to their relationship, and her difficulty in trusting and accepting him. But Anakin is right, the handling of the racial stuff is questionable (not surprising, given that King is a white dude from Maine), and I certainly am no expert.

My only complaint is that I think the series would work much, much better on television than on the big screen, a la Game of the Thrones.

[BruceSmith78]

Well why not make Detta white and have her mistrust Roland because he's black? Or maybe she mistrusts men, because she was sexually assaulted by one, or because sexism is a thing, and she's fed up with that? Or any number of things that a decent writer could create without losing the dynamic between the two characters.

As for the books, Wizard and Glass was my favorite. I think they really declined in quality after that. I started to get the feeling that King just saw them as a chore he had to complete.

[CashRules]

Idris Elba should be cast as every leading character: Bond, The Doctor, the reincarnation of Han Solo...

[Gypsy-Vanner]

I agree with Cash.

And I read Dark Tower and hated it.

[Gendo]

Wow, it's probably because of the racist society we live in, but when I saw the announcement of the cast list, I thought it was McConaughey as the Gunslinger and Idris as the man in black.

[Anakin McFly]

Re: Detta, people have suggested it would be easily solved by having her hate Roland for being an Uncle Tom, and/or his general cluelessness to Earth's racial politics. Meanwhile there's Eddie; she could start out by dumping all her anger on him, and then Roland doesn't know wtf is going on and starts defending Eddie, and there we go.

I actually find Roland a good contender for a race-change precisely because he doesn't live in our world, and his race would not have had that same impact on his experiences and character as it would for the others. It had exactly zero effect on who he is. It only matters at all in his interactions with Earth people.

Whereas race is extremely integral to Detta's character as a black woman growing up in the 1960s. Her character and motivations wouldn't make sense if she were made white. More importantly, we have very, very few black female protagonists to begin with in fiction - especially in the SFF genre. Changing her race would be a huge loss in the way the same for Roland would not be, given that we've got no shortage of white male protagonists out there.

My only complaint is that I think the series would work much, much better on television than on the big screen, a la Game of the Thrones.

They're apparently planning a TV series involving the fourth book about Roland's youth.

[CashRules]

I agree with Cash.

And I read Dark Tower and hated it.

Elba would also be the best choice for Dorothy in a Wizard of Oz remake. He's that damn good.

[Anakin McFly]

I would watch that.

[CashRules]

I really would like to see Elba take over as The Doctor after Capaldi's tenure is over, but it's just never going to happen. Actually, what would be awesome is Capaldi regenerating into Tilda Swinton who later regenerates into Idris Elba. I should totally be the man in charge of Doctor Who.

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

I really would like to see Elba take over as The Doctor after Capaldi's tenure is over, but it's just never going to happen. Actually, what would be awesome is Capaldi regenerating into Tilda Swinton who later regenerates into Idris Elba. I should totally be the man in charge of Doctor Who.

I wonder if their plan is to make a future doctor female and the chose to make us comfortable with the concept using The Master regenerating into The Mistress to ease people into it.

Also, maybe they should just cover all their bases and hire a black actresd to be the doctor. It's not as if Idris Elba (or Tilda Swinton for that matter) need the exposure considering the ton of roles they've been getting. I can't name one black, British actress though, so one of them becoming the next Doctor would give them that exposure.

[Monk]

Well why not make Detta white and have her mistrust Roland because he's black? Or maybe she mistrusts men, because she was sexually assaulted by one, or because sexism is a thing, and she's fed up with that? Or any number of things that a decent writer could create without losing the dynamic between the two characters.

That is a completely different dynamic to the relationship that's not even close to being similar. I could see the Uncle Tom thing working, kinda.

As for the books, Wizard and Glass was my favorite. I think they really declined in quality after that. I started to get the feeling that King just saw them as a chore he had to complete.

That's actually the last one I read. I was afraid to go beyond because of this reaction from people. I didn't care much for the first novel, and was really blown away by the Drawing of Three, Waste Lands, and Wizard and Glass.

[BruceSmith78]

The dynamic I got was "white people wronged me, these guys are white, so fuck them." I don't really see "uncle-tomming" fitting into that, but I could see any of the other scenarios I mentioned fitting into it. It's been about a decade since I read The Drawing of the Three, though, so maybe I'm forgetting something.

[Anakin McFly]

It's weird how people can one moment insist that they aren't racist, and the next complain about how black people can't create anything of value and need to steal white people's work. What do they think racism means?

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

I agree with Cash.

And I read Dark Tower and hated it.

Elba would also be the best choice for Dorothy in a Wizard of Oz remake. He's that damn good.

Grest, now I'm imagining him as the voice of Judy Hopps in Zootopia (he was in that but as your standard cliche angry police chief, which was still great).