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 Video www.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.
Fantasy author Neil Gaiman was tagged, and offered his own mic drop take.
Others pulled out chapter and verse, as it were.
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.
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.
The above remark in particular received a scathing reply.
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.
Another brought up a more popular, ahem, fandom than Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings: The Bible.
Another argument from the more racist fans was about immersion.
A fan's response sums up the eye-roll that argument—and many others–prompted.
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.
