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[Melfice7]

Why should race matter in a fictional world filled with magical creatures that never existed?

If this would be about real life and they would change the race of historic figures….now that would be problematic.

But this is fantasy. So who cares.

Except they do it with historical figures on multiple shows...and being fantasy doesnt means you can do whatever you want when theres established lore for milllennia. It's pretty simple, wanna do whatever you want? do something new and let the market decide if its good or not but this nonsense of trying to change existing things, fantasy AND real, needs to stop

 

[softwarepagan]

Thanks for reminding me to cancel my Prime trial before it charged me!

 

[8bitpill]

Just a simple change and they could have stayed on course with the canon of the novels.

 

[softwarepagan]

Just a simple change and they could have stayed on course with the canon of the novels.

10000x better already, unironically.

 

[Azurro]

10000x better already, unironically.

The problem is they'd cry racism because they made a black woman ugly by giving her a beard.

 

[softwarepagan]

The problem is they'd cry racism because they made a black woman ugly by giving her a beard.

It's already SUPER RACIST that they didn't remove those WHITE SUPREMACIST symbols from the wall behind her!!!1!

 

[DeafTourette]

I dont like the race-swapping either. It makes the whole thing seem so phony and PC.
I was never much of a LotR fan anyway. I liked the first movie back in the day, but generally I prefer more sex and violence in my fantasy stuff (like Game of Thrones... when it was good).

They aren't race swapping any known characters. They're adding in new diverse characters

 

[jason10mm]

I wonder if they will justify some of this casting by having "southron" dwarves or whatnot. That kinda thing would be perfectly fine for the humans, have them be ambassadors to Numenor or something. But I've always imagined elves and dwarves to be more of a homogenous species, even more so for hobbits, are there ANY outside of the shire? I guess the smeagol race was pretty hobbitlike. Dwarves don't have to be played by white actors, but they should be pretty similar in appearance to each other IMHO.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

I wonder if they will justify some of this casting by having "southron" dwarves or whatnot. That kinda thing would be perfectly fine for the humans, have them be ambassadors to Numenor or something. But I've always imagined elves and dwarves to be more of a homogenous species, even more so for hobbits, are there ANY outside of the shire? I guess the smeagol race was pretty hobbitlike. Dwarves don't have to be played by white actors, but they should be pretty similar in appearance to each other IMHO.

Hobbits are originally from a region near the anduin River (kind of near where Galadriel lives). Smeagols WAS a hobbit btw. There are three...ethnicities..? of Hobbits. Most Hobbits live in the shire, but some did in fact live in nearby areas. Buckland is arguably outside the Shire. And there were some halflings living in Bree. Frodo's group befriend a pair of Hobbits working at the Prancing Pony in the book named Bob and Nob

 

[Batiman]

I wonder if they will justify some of this casting by having "southron" dwarves or whatnot. That kinda thing would be perfectly fine for the humans, have them be ambassadors to Numenor or something. But I've always imagined elves and dwarves to be more of a homogenous species, even more so for hobbits, are there ANY outside of the shire? I guess the smeagol race was pretty hobbitlike. Dwarves don't have to be played by white actors, but they should be pretty similar in appearance to each other IMHO.

Did you watch the movies or read the books? Smeagol was a hobbit

 

[SJRB]

Wait, those are Elrond and Galadriel? No fucking way.

 

[Javthusiast]

Wait... They're affiliated with Abrams?

Ok... Uncertainty creeping in now...

They said because of barely any credits to their name they didn't think Amazon would give them the lotr franchise they paid over a billion for. But Jar Jar Abrams vouched for them.

Also:

The Rings of Power executive producer Lindsey Weber explained in a puff piece for Vanity Fair the show altered and race swapped multiple characters in order to “reflect what the world actually looks like.

Weber explained these casting changes stating, ““It felt only natural to us that an adaptation of Tolkien’s work would reflect what the world actually looks like.”

She argued, “Tolkien is for everyone. His stories are about his fictional races doing their best work when they leave the isolation of their own cultures and come together.”

Apparently it wasn't for everyone before, nobody could like it because it didn't reflect the real world.

 

[Hoya Destroyer]

They aren't race swapping any known characters. They're adding in new diverse characters

Same principle though.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

That commercial was dope.

 

[TaylorSwiftFan]

Ok. There were never any black and brown people in Europe ever and still aren't and, if there are, they're all tourists.

Thank you for the education, oh wise one.

Weak, weak, weak counter-argument. It shows that you have no leg to stand on. You argue in bad faith all the time - it’s like you cannot go against your opinions even when presented with a proper argument.

 

[TaylorSwiftFan]

Galadriel was always a badass.

She was one of firstborn from Valinor, and told Fëanor to go fuck himself. She also was the handmaiden to a demi-Goddess. Being born in Aman, and rubbing shoulders with all these powerful beings, Galadriel would have been imbued with the light of Valinor … she would essentially have super powers. By the second age she would be beyond armour and swords and such things, and view such crude tools with distaste.

And yet, here we are - Galadriel in armour and wielding a sword.

 

[Wimbledon]

This is the kind've stuff that's becoming irritating. Tolkien's world was for everyone, and what i mean by that is just because CERTAIN groups weren't originally in it, does not mean that no one appreciated it. IT WAS BELOVED BY EVERYONE!

I was very much interested in the world when i was kid and loved the films. I didn't need to see my self-represented just because i didn't see a black face, I still fell in love with the world and characters Aragon is one my favorite characters looked up to him and we look nothing alike. I wish entertainment would stop this, i really wish they would stop trying to insert groups or beliefs into worlds where they don't fit. I'm a big advocate of following the original author's vision and work.

We don't always have to be represented in a work, and not every work needs TO SEND A MESSAGE (insert powerful female Femnisist mary sue here) and that's fine stick to what the original work is. Because guess what people would still love the series if you stick to its lore.

Not saying that they're following lore here but it's getting tiring, "let's make up new lore with the new diverse characters who weren't originally part of the world, strong wahmen who knows what to do over weak willed man, see we make story better".

His work is based on Germanic people, high fantasy fables, the racial groups are the different humanoid races. Whenever they do stuff like this i just feel like there taking opportunities from people.

LOTR is not America its not a melting pot are they going to insert other groups as well? Like it's just silly to me.

 

[sw0mp_d0nk3y]

I'm open to different concepts or perspectives on LOTR but this just looks kind of generic and bland to me.

It's kind of like what people were doing with this license before the movies came out. Generally uninspiring.

When I see these shots, they make me think of this:

This was my favorite Lord of the Rings game.

 

[Lord Panda]

This is the kind've stuff that's becoming irritating. Tolkien's world was for everyone, and what i mean by that is just because CERTAIN groups weren't originally in it, does not mean that no one appreciated it. IT WAS BELOVED BY EVERYONE!

I was very much interested in the world when i was kid and loved the films. I didn't need to see my self-represented just because i didn't see a black face, I still fell in love with the world and characters Aragon is one my favorite characters looked up to him and we look nothing alike. I wish entertainment would stop this, i really wish they would stop trying to insert groups or beliefs into worlds where they don't fit. I'm a big advocate of following the original author's vision and work.

We don't always have to be represented in a work, and not every work needs TO SEND A MESSAGE (insert powerful female Femnisist mary sue here) and that's fine stick to what the original work is. Because guess what people would still love the series if you stick to its lore.

Not saying that they're following lore here but it's getting tiring, "let's make up new lore with the new diverse characters who weren't originally part of the world, strong wahmen who knows what to do over weak willed man, see we make story better".

His work is based on Germanic people, high fantasy fables, the racial groups are the different humanoid races. Whenever they do stuff like this i just feel like there taking opportunities from people.

LOTR is not America its not a melting pot are they going to insert other groups as well? Like it's just silly to me.

Further, just because Tolkien's world was indeed for everyone, it shouldn't give license for everyone to do whatever the fuck they want with it and bastardise the world that Tolkien (and his son) lovingly and painstakingly created.

 

[Javthusiast]

Everybody who cared to protect the ip is dead or removed, so now people in charge of it want a ton of money and don't care to stay true to the source.

 

[kruis]

It's not the same at all. None of the established characters have been race or gender swapped, and nowhere in any of the books does it say that dwarves, elves, and humans can only be white.

And who are we to say that the source material is being disrespected, when the Tolkien Estate and Tolkien Trust are alright with it?

Christopher Tolkien was probably most responsible for making sure that any IPs based on the work of his father would meet certain standards. He spent his entire life bringing unpublished/unfinished works of his father back into the light. But Christopher Tolkien died at the ripe old age of 95 and his heirs probably think different about the matter. My guess is they're much, much more interested in making tons of money than in making sure TV shows/movie don't make a mockery out of the source material.

 

[Kimahri]

Christopher Tolkien was probably most responsible for making sure that any IPs based on the work of his father would meet certain standards. He spent his entire life bringing unpublished/unfinished works of his father back into the light. But Christopher Tolkien died at the ripe old age of 95 and his heirs probably think different about the matter. My guess is they're much, much more interested in making tons of money than in making sure TV shows/movie don't make a mockery out of the source material.

I'd like to just point out that Christopher Tolkien stepped as director of Tolkien Estate the very same year the rights were sold to Amazon.

If something smells rotten it's because it is.

 

[OZ9000]

Woke Of The Rings

Woke culture is fucking trash and is ruining everything.

And this new trend of subservient men with alpha women in TV shows and movies is getting boring.

 

[Catphish]

After the pretty disappointing first season of The Wheel of Time, I have very low expectations for this.

 

[sol_bad]

After the pretty disappointing first season of The Wheel of Time, I have very low expectations for this.

You do realise each show is it's own thing? One show is not like the other. Amazon, Disney+, Netflix, HBO, Showtime and Starz etc all have various shows with various qualities.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I have no problem with yellow, black or pink dwarves, the problem is it will be inherently linked to gender and race since people are unable to look at it through neutral lenses:

Black dwarf: OMG, PoC representation
Pink dwarf: OMG, trans representation , let me write a trans fanfic

It’s cannot be this:
Black dwarf: his/her skin is burned
Pink dwarf: Wants to be recognisable on the battlefield

 

[Vaelka]

The sad truth is people will watch it anyway and it'll be super successful.
We all know it, you're lying to yourself if you think this won't happen.



STOP.
WATCHING.
THIS.
SHIT.

 

[Catphish]

You do realise each show is it's own thing? One show is not like the other. Amazon, Disney+, Netflix, HBO, Showtime and Starz etc all have various shows with various qualities.

Yes. I realize that.

Doesn’t change how I feel about it.

 

[bob_mugabe]

Wrong thread, mods please delete.