I'm sorry if this offends anyone but.............Roland Deschain is white.he's described as the Man with no name in the books.this is a rant all the way but not racial in anyway.lets redo the nwa movie with woody harralson playing ice cube.yaaaaaaa http://screenrant.com/the-dark-tower-set-photos-man-in-black/
I'm actually reading "The gunslinger" atm. First time reading it (really good so far) and the whole time I was reading it Roland Deschain looked like Clint Eastwood in my mind. Completely unprovoked, mind you. I'm a huge fan of Eastwood's so I'm a little biased but because of the recent developments with the film I checked to see If he's described a certain way (since the book hasn't described him much up to the point he meets Jake, that's where I'm at currently). "The man with no name" was indeed Clint Eastwood. Just yesterday I found out that it was becoming a film and Roland was being played by Idris Elba... I ain't knocking him as an actor, he's great! But it did shatter my image of Roland. I'll keep an open mind but I must say that I was disappointed as well. Eastwood is kind of a personal hero of mine and he still is the face of Roland for me.
I am 95% certain that Roland's character was based on Clint's Cowboy with No name. (I think I read it in an interview or something King wrote about it). That said, Idris is a fucking boss and is going to kill it. If the movie was being made 40 years ago, not getting Clint would have ruined it for me, but I like that instead of trying to find a second rate replacement Eastwood they went with an actor that I know will do a terrific job. Sure, he doesn't fit the character I had in my mind when I think of the Gunslinger, but I am willing to bet a few minutes into the movie and I start seeing Roland differently. (It always helps that I am willing to keep "book" and "movie" universes separated in my mind though). Edit: A "am"
I completely agree with you. As for a second rate Eastwood, they could just get his son to play it. They look exactly the same. It's kinda funny actually, but no I am more than willing to see Idris as the Gunslinger. Should be interesting. You guys know any other good books? (I work overnight in an office and all I do is read or chill in these forums when I have time.)
I've heard the decision actually ruins a significant amount of character development of a major supporting character, besides being quite divergent to the character himself, who was very much based on "the man with no name". I do find it quite annoying for social politics to be ham fisted in like this. Usually it sucks the life out of a story (like it appears to be doing with Ghostbusters) but they might manage to make a good film regardless as Idris does pull off a good level of intensity. Thou I'd rather they just not do this kind of stuff and stick to the artists original content.
The series is gonna have to change a great bit in order to fit into cinematic releases though. So why not alter it to fit the best actor they can get for the role? It's been a good while since I have read the series, but surely they can mess with Susan's arc or something (Shit, I think the racial bit would be even more heightened going from something like a white Susan to a black Roland). I would argue that the story getting its "life sucked out" has more to do with fans who don't want their own personal interpretation to be "ruined" by a depiction that isn't exactly like what they have in their mind. Which, is what the reviews of the new Ghost-Busters are starting to show too. I see the resemblance, but I worry about his ability to carry not only a single film, but a series of high profile films. I don't remember his character at all from Fury, and a large portion of his film credits are from films Clint directed, which doesn't inspire the most confidence. All that said, I'd be lying if I couldn't see Roland looking at this.
Gonna be honest never watched the wire. "Luther" however, is a short stone's throw to a damn good Roland in my book though.
