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Outrage over the inclusion of "Black hobbits" in Amazon Prime's new The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series was quickly shut down as the Internet clapped back at a loud minority of racist fans.
The fantasy series premiered on Thursday, September 1st.
You can watch the trailer below.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Official Trailer | Prime Videowww.youtube.com
Some who tuned in to watch the program appeared to have issues with the casting of Black actors based on the assumption that J.R.R. Tolkien's original trilogy didn't feature any Black characters. However, it was quickly pointed out that Tolkien did feature a distinct breed of hobbits called "Harfoots." the "most common type of hobbit," which are described as having a "browner" complexion than other hobbits.
The racist fans were at first loud and angry, as racist fans of a piece of media tend to be when things don't match up to their perceptions of reality.
Some argued that it having 'Black hobbits' wasn't in Tolkien's original vision.
\u201cLenny Henry misses the point. Most fantasy fans have no issue with casting black actors. It\u2019s when black actors are cast in roles that the author of the series has described as not being black. What\u2019s so wrong about wanting to stick to the author\u2019s vision? https://t.co/B5K2PM5LxV\u201d— Darren Grimes (@Darren Grimes) 1662110365
Fantasy author Neil Gaiman was tagged, and offered his own mic drop take.
\u201c@Chartheegreat @darrengrimes_ Tolkien described the Harfoots as "browner of skin" than the other hobbits. So I think anyone grumbling is either racist or hasn't read their Tolkien. Your mileage may vary.\u201d— Darren Grimes (@Darren Grimes) 1662110365
Others pulled out chapter and verse, as it were.
\u201c@piscean58 @nadinebh_ @darrengrimes_\u201d— Darren Grimes (@Darren Grimes) 1662110365
This only kicked off a "does brown mean a different skin color, or just white people who are tanned?" to which Mr. Gaiman also had a reply.
\u201c@AllSight2 @Chartheegreat @darrengrimes_ Tolkien says they were browner of skin. Not that they spent longer in the sun.\u201d— Darren Grimes (@Darren Grimes) 1662110365
Still, racist fans clung to tired arguments, like "but what if we cast White people in movies about African tribes," and other such straw man arguments.
\u201c@ChrisWards @TheOldFaith @Chartheegreat @darrengrimes_ I'm sure you'd feel the same if someone did a movie about an african tribe and they were mostly white and asian, huh?\u201d— Darren Grimes (@Darren Grimes) 1662110365
The above remark in particular received a scathing reply.
\u201c@BeefTaquitos @ChrisWards @TheOldFaith @Chartheegreat @darrengrimes_ You do know Hobbits aren\u2019t a real tribe??\u201d— Darren Grimes (@Darren Grimes) 1662110365
Some pointed out how it seemed that there was only outrage about how character descriptions didn't fully match the book series in this one case.
\u201cTyrion Lannister was specifically described as "One green eye and one black one peered out from under a lank fall of hair so blond it seemed white". There was no outcry when he showed up in the show looking like this\u201d— Laura Shortridge-Scott \ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f (@Laura Shortridge-Scott \ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f) 1662358043
Another brought up a more popular, ahem, fandom than Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings: The Bible.
\u201c@darrengrimes_ Interestingly Christ is always depicted as white and fair when he most certainly wasn\u2019t.\nYea guess you have been outraged at this for some time?!\u201d— Darren Grimes (@Darren Grimes) 1662110365
Another argument from the more racist fans was about immersion.
\u201c@neilhimself @Chartheegreat @darrengrimes_ It's not about the actors' skin colour so much as the heavy-handedness of the studio's virtue-signalling which prevents the escapism which is at the heart of Tolkien: We seek to be entirely immersed in HIS world, not to see our own one (Amazon exectives' version) foisted upon us.\u201d— Darren Grimes (@Darren Grimes) 1662110365
A fan's response sums up the eye-roll that argument—and many others–prompted.
\u201c@TheOldFaith @Chartheegreat @darrengrimes_ Bro, if Black folks being in a show ruins your sense of immersion it's cause you're a racist. Like, it's not anymore complicated than that. Tolkien had poc in his books and it's not at all hard to miss, but you somehow managed it\u201d— Darren Grimes (@Darren Grimes) 1662110365
It's said that nothing in life is guaranteed but death and taxes...but perhaps also the constant kneejerk opinions of people on the internet whenever an adaptation of a beloved piece of art has a more diverse cast than what they dreamed up when they were children.