"The Dark Tower" appreciation thread

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Is anyone else NOT ok with Roland being black in the new movie??

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I'm not ok with it. He was white in the books. Most cowboys were. Let's make an uncle Tom movie played by a white guy. Or a movie about Aztecs played by Irish gingers. It's not about not liking a black character as much as it is not maintaining the continuity of fictional world as told in the story.

I'm concerned by the running time. 85 minutes is short for even an introductory film into this universe.

Roland minus his "bombardier blue" eyes was a serious strike one, I must admit, but I was still going to see it after so many years of a movie tease.

Then I saw the trailer...and I'll wait for the free stream.

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You gotta admit Idris Elba is a badass with some gravitas and I can't think of any other active star who'd fit the role.

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I didnt like the choice at first but Elba looks right in the trailers. If it flops it wont be on him.

If you read the books and you are ok with Roland being black it means that either:

1. You're a fan of reading but not necessarily westerns. To me, a person for whom the characters pop out of the page, making Roland black is like making Dr. Dre white in "Straight Outta Compton". (Which I watched)

2. You're black.

3. You're trying too hard to be progressive. My grandpa has atleast 100 westerns on tape. I would venture to guess 5 of them has a black man anywhere close to being the lead character.

This is some piggyback Django Unchained bullshite where the liberal media (I used to be a liberal ) is trying to take shots at the true beauty of southern heritage. (I hope that word doesn't offend you.)

Idris Elba?? The guy from Rock'N'Rolla??? Yea he's a true icon of a black man just trying to be a part of this country. Give me a break. If there ever was a man who black people could get behind that is obviously NOT an Uncle Tom it would be Idris Elba. Thank you liberals, you have ruined a movie I have waited years on. I hope literate african-americans are happy.

Actually, if you read the books and you are ok with Roland being black in the movie it just means you don't really care that he's black in the movie. I'm not black. I've read all these books twice. I've read the other book, The wind through the keyhole, which has the characters in it but doesn't really have anything to do with their journey. And while I read them I always saw Roland as white. A Clint Eastwood carbon copy. Specifically the josie whales version. And now he's played by a black dude. But what is the problem is my question? There weren't many black cowboys, you're right. But this is a fictional series with some weird stuff going down. Is it so unbelievable that he's black? More unbelievable than that he gets it on with a ghost?! Or a spirit or whatever it is. (Haven't read the book in a few years) Is it more unbelievable that Roland is black than Jake travels between worlds? Him being black his what you're having a hard time suspending disbelief about.

Elba is a good actor, he's been in a lot of stuff besides Rock'N'Rolla. His Luther series has a lot of critical acclaim both here and in Britain. As a previous poster said, he's got gravitas.

I personally think he should be the next bond because I think he's that cool. (Oh the outrage of a black bond. Fleming didn't write Bond as black they'll say. NO he didn't. He wrote him as a super cool mofo. That's what he needs to be. A super cool mofo.)

It's called acting bro, chill.


And also, if you wanted to be outraged about casting, be outraged about McConaughey as Flagg.

This is a terrible appreciation thread.

Duplicate deleted

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If you read the books and you are ok with Roland being black it means that: You're a fan of reading but not necessarily westerns

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He was white in the books. Most cowboys were.

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Did either of you read the books? These were never westerns and Roland was not a cowboy! If anything, Roland was more of an old English knight. His dad was a king, for God's sake (though they called him 'dinh' instead). He was descended from 'Arthur Eld' (obviously a King Arthur parallel) and had a seneschal, which is a medieval steward. Knights rode horses too, remember. Roland just used a gun instead of a sword.

I get that you pictured him as white, so did I, but his skin and eye color were unimportant to the overall series, but for part of 1 of 9 books where he has to win Susannah/Odetta's trust. However, she had the same racial issues with Eddie - so making Roland black doesn't mean white/black trust issues can't still be part of the movie.

Though again, based on the trailer this movie looks like it's going to be bad.

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I mean, come on. The very first thing you ever see when you pull it off the shelf.

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Now I understand, you just looked at the pictures and didn't read the books. That explains a lot.