Even the day after Lifetime’s all-black remake of “Steel Magnolias” aired, it was causing a stir.
The movie, which featured Queen Latifah and Phylicia Rashad, came 23 years after the big-screen original about Southern women bonding became a three-hanky classic of channels like Lifetime.
For sure, the new version proved to be a hugely popular event — drawing 6.5 million viewers, the third-biggest telecast in Lifetime history.
But on Twitter, talk about whether the idea of an all-black cast was still relevant was a trending topic for most of the morning.
“They remade Steel Magnolias with black people,” tweeted “Meghan.” “It’s a word-for-word/scene-for-scene remake. Biggest question: why?”
“Get over the color & see the story,” replied Nikki Ervin.
“I was going to watch the black version of Steel Magnolias but then I got derailed by the black version of knowing better,” wrote Solomon Georgio.
“That version of Steel Magnolias should have been in theaters,” tweeted Kierra Lanice Wray. “That was too good to just have been on Lifetime.”
“This Steel Magnolias remake is a set up,” tweeted “NC-17.” “Next year they’re going to throw Sandra Bullock in a white version of Color Purple and call us even.”