Roots Movie Review
Brian Costello
Classic miniseries is essential viewing for mature teens. Read Common Sense Media's Roots review, age rating, and parents guide.
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Common Sense Media
Positive Role Models

a lot

Kunta Kinte never stops yearning for freedom and never forgets his African heritage. He passes this heritage -- the stories, the folklore, the language -- to his wife and children, who in turn pass it along to future generations. Through skill, charm, and sheer dedication, Chicken George buys his freedom, and his freedom serves as an example to his wife and children, who remain enslaved for much of the miniseries. Through tremendous suffering and dedication, the descendants of Kunta Kinte do their best to maintain their dignity, even as they're forced to act meek and overly polite to their white overseers.

Parents need to know that Roots is the classic 1977 miniseries based on the best-selling book by Alex Haley, who spent 13 years tracing his genealogy back to 1750. In graphic and heartrending detail, the miniseries shows the brutality and misery of slavery, from people who were kidnapped from their villages in Africa to the slave auctions that separated families to the degrading conditions on plantations. Unsurprisingly, as an evocation of the cultural attitudes of the 18th and 19th centuries, the "N" word is frequently used, and white characters frequently discuss African-Americans in derogatory terms; but the dignity of Kunta Kinte and his descendants throughout the miniseries shines as a contrast to such degradation and offers hope in a series of seemingly hopeless situations. Obviously, the racism, profanity, and violence are meant to bring into clear focus the horror of those times. Make no mistake: Roots is absolutely crucial and necessary viewing for any American seeking to understand her or his history, the lessons to be learned from that history, its effects on those who lived it, and the resonance we feel today from the events chronicled within it. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.