tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post4895165766481448889..comments2024-02-20T10:12:20.623+00:00Comments on The Blog That Time Forgot: Racism in casting The Hobbit?Taranaichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-29064081498739706472011-04-19T03:49:00.930+01:002011-04-19T03:49:00.930+01:00so tolkien did not write in a place for spike, que...so tolkien did not write in a place for spike, queen latifah and whoopi? surely the supreme court does not rule this middle earth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-72063864816289470582010-12-04T18:18:58.208+00:002010-12-04T18:18:58.208+00:00Agreed. I disagree on one or two points - I think...Agreed. I disagree on one or two points - I think Astin was terrible and Bloom was surprisingly good, for instance - but everything else is pretty solid, right down to the littlest of things.Taranaichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-37323404454967289962010-12-04T16:56:14.268+00:002010-12-04T16:56:14.268+00:00The website's back? That's great!
I reme...The website's back? That's great!<br /><br />I remember searching for it before and getting 404-errors from all the links, but it seems the page is back after all this time. A brilliant set of essays that get lambasted as "nitpicky whining" by many Tolkien fans when they are probably the best pieces of film criticism concerning Jackson's LOTR on the internet.Michalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02198881279554204600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-11249272690517799152010-12-02T12:11:43.358+00:002010-12-02T12:11:43.358+00:00The lack of the southern Gondorians (Prince Imrahi...The lack of the southern Gondorians (Prince Imrahil in particular) was particularly frustrating. I simply cannot see the justification for Aragorn and Co arriving with a bunch of ghosts, instead of the thousands of Gondorian troops liberated by the ghosts as in the story. It would've taken up no extra screen time, it would've allowed for some darker-complected heroes, and it would've been far more satisfying for the Free Peoples to have earned their victory, instead of get a damned Ghosties-ex-Machina.<br /><br />Is this the essay of which you speak?<br /><br />http://oddlots.flyingship.net/arthedain/dromonds.html<br /><br />In fact, I remember reading all the stuff here and thinking "man, he absolutely nailed it." His sketches in particular are great.<br /><br />Here's the rest of his site:<br /><br />http://oddlots.flyingship.net/arthedain/Taranaichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-70583388395600056442010-12-02T02:12:34.604+00:002010-12-02T02:12:34.604+00:00All the "good guys" in the LOTR movies w...All the "good guys" in the LOTR movies were pale. It actually muddled issues much more -- no clearly dark-skinned woses, no darker-skinned chaps in Gondor. No black people or Asians whatsoever. Instead, we get a world where only white people apparently exist, even if dressed in vaguely Arabic armour (the Easterling armour is so WRONG in the film I could scream), and the present Haradrim Maoris so heavily covered in make up you'd never tell.<br /><br />There was an essay on the web some time ago that talked about this issue, sadly, the website no longer exists. It was mocked for saying "drumonds, not junks" in relation to the Corsair ships, with Jackson's fans calling it nitpicking instead of actually reading the thing, which discussed orientalism in the film trilogy. Sigh.Michalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02198881279554204600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-54201548458045602942010-12-01T17:11:17.114+00:002010-12-01T17:11:17.114+00:00Exactly, Budd: hardly any of the Hobbits at Bilbo&...Exactly, Budd: hardly any of the Hobbits at Bilbo's party could be considered anything other than white, nary a brown-skinned extra in sight.Taranaichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-81790328838555939142010-12-01T14:18:59.670+00:002010-12-01T14:18:59.670+00:00If you look at it from the perspective of movie co...If you look at it from the perspective of movie consistency, most of the hobbits in the LOTR movies were pretty pale. <br /><br />"One of these hobbits is not like the others. One of these hobbits does not belong." Yes, that was sesame street teaching racism, or at best segregation.Buddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17142269413009487783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-82902089677915994582010-11-30T20:02:02.418+00:002010-11-30T20:02:02.418+00:00Too true, Atom Kid. In fairness, though, Nick Fur...Too true, Atom Kid. In fairness, though, Nick Fury is black in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, which the films seem to be based on. I don't like it any more than I'd like a black James Bond - as I've said before, why hijack a white character and not make up a new one that's black from the beginning? - but at least it has precedents in the comics.<br /><br />Scott, I can imagine exactly the sort of monstrosity they'd come up with: a terminal lack of subtlety would result in Demonlanders just like Tim Curry in Legend, dwarves would look like D&D cast-offs, Witchlanders would look and act like witches, etc. Oh lord, what a mess that would be.Taranaichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-42513314243138420952010-11-30T17:52:30.205+00:002010-11-30T17:52:30.205+00:00This sort of thing is why I'm glad there'l...This sort of thing is why I'm glad there'll never be a film adaptation of <i>The Worm Ouroboros</i>. I'd have a nerd-rage aneurysm at what they'd undoubtedly do to it. (It's bad enough they got hold of Howard and Tolkien.)Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00155926145150934199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7177193073415704349.post-45031395577138931662010-11-30T16:03:03.715+00:002010-11-30T16:03:03.715+00:00This is where political correctness trumps indepen...This is where political correctness trumps independent thought and common sense. Should Hollywood do another re-make of Shaft using a white actor? No, that would be racism but casting Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury in the upcoming Avengers movie is fine.<br /><br />Only in Hollyweird.Chad Thorsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15084711824869449643noreply@blogger.com