Gasp. Blasphemy!Voronwë the Faithful wrote:in the sense of characters not created by Tolkien; obviously they are all "made up characters" in the sense that is a fictional story).
Lord of the Rings series!?
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
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Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
Maybe not blasphemous, but certainly not what I am hoping for!
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"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
I meant you calling JRRT’s characters “made up”.
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
Most of the male actors look like they might be playing orcs. Ismael Cruz Cordova is pretty, though.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
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Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
I don't know, some of them have ears that look like they would not need any prosthetics to play Elves (as commonly portrayed in popular culture).
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
Like this?
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
I think there is more room for minorities to be put in Tolkien than is usual for adaptations. You have Harfoot Hobbits, "swarthy" Gondorians which probably includes Beregond and Forlong the Mumak-slayer, Druedain, even the house of Bëor is made partly swarthy in a late essay. What "swarthy" means is open to interpretation, but there are at least some openings to put more nonwhite characters while staying within the bounds of the text. Especially for Númenor, being a Mediterranean-ish naval power.Alatar wrote:Its certainly a more diverse cast than PJ's which makes it feel a little more, I dunno, modern? Not to start the whole "Was Tolkien a racist" debate again (spoiler, he wasn't) but this feels like pandering. Its just looks like a cast I'd see in Shannara, rather than Silmarillion.
Unfortunately Tolkien and race is going to be a major topic when the show comes out whether we like it or not. Expect to hear a lot from both the alt-right (I fully expect idiots who know nothing about the lore to say things like "those SJWs are ruining Tolkien with their anti-colonial propaganda") and progressives with an axe to grind. I think Tolkien made some mistakes on race and should not be 100% above criticism (black men from far Harad, anyone?), but so many of the critiques on that topic are just one-sided and uncharitable. His heart was generally in the right place especially for a man born at the height of the British Empire, and he showed a willingness to be self-critical and revisionist on some aspects of his work.
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
I've long thought if I were personally to ever do an adaptation of Tolkien, I would make the elves look like an ethnicity that doesn't exist among real humans. It would piss off many Tolkien fans, but I would love doing something like making elves with very dark skin and very light hair and eyes.
Last edited by yovargas on Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
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I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
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Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
I would totally be down with that, yov!
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
Yov, that is a great thought! I think Ursula Guin describes a race in her books like that.
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
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Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
Elves seem like they should be green. Even dark green.
My heart is forever in the Shire.
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
Because we can accept fantasy people looking like anything except actual brown humans?
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
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Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
I can only speak for myself, but I guess because they are 'of the forest' and it's probably something I had in my head as a child. Tolkien's take on elves are very different than the ideas I had of elves in my youth.. as were my idea of dwarves.Frelga wrote:Because we can accept fantasy people looking like anything except actual brown humans?
My heart is forever in the Shire.
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
Given that Tolkien's Elves look like very pretty humans, and indeed pretty humans are sometimes compared to Elves, and also given that they interbreed readily, I feel that Elves should look pretty human. Although I would be open to the Elrond Half-elven being kinda lettuce colored.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
And there ya go. Anyone who thinks Tolkien wrote a predominantly white Middle-earth is of course racist.
https://twitter.com/theoneringnet/statu ... 7900527617
And people wonder why the right wing gains traction.
https://twitter.com/theoneringnet/statu ... 7900527617
And people wonder why the right wing gains traction.
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
I read some of the social media comments, and yes there is definitely racism there. Here are just a couple of more extreme ones. I'm having trouble embedding the images, but it's probably best not to anyway for those who would rather not see the ugliness:
https://imgur.com/iMxZQH8
https://imgur.com/cu8ajQL
I don't think everyone with an opinion on how modern diversity standards should play into LotR is racist, but it does play a part in some of the reactions.
https://imgur.com/iMxZQH8
https://imgur.com/cu8ajQL
I don't think everyone with an opinion on how modern diversity standards should play into LotR is racist, but it does play a part in some of the reactions.
Last edited by kzer_za on Thu Jan 16, 2020 3:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
I'm not saying that racists don't want a less diverse LotR, just that people who want a less diverse LotR are not necessarily racist.
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
I don’t see the problem in creating a more diverse LOTR?
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
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Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
Ugh.. the reasons I don't like (or use) most 'social media', people can be so vile. What the hell is wrong with them?kzer_za wrote:I read some of the social media comments, and yes there is definitely racism there. Here are just a couple of more extreme ones. I'm having trouble embedding the images, but it's probably best not to anyway for those who would rather not see the ugliness:
https://imgur.com/iMxZQH8
https://imgur.com/cu8ajQL
I don't think everyone with an opinion on how modern diversity standards should play into LotR is racist, but it does play a part in some of the reactions.
Frelga wrote:Although I would be open to the Elrond Half-elven being kinda lettuce colored.
My heart is forever in the Shire.
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Re: Lord of the Rings series!?
Not really anything new but was a nice break from watching the news so... here ya go - something nice to watch/listen to for 10 minutes or so.
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was a 2020 planner.
"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
was a 2020 planner.
"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF