Americans, what the hell is going on in your country, what is this desperate attempt to "diversify" everything?

what is the problem with it??

I see nothing wrong with being inclusive.

As long as it doesn't fundamentally change established characters or drastically break established lore, then I don't see an issue.

Is it really that deep? It's nice to see some inclusion of other races and people instead of the usual white heroes in every single piece of media, especially if it's fictional.

The only iffy thing imo is if theres a well known and established character that the public knows, not just lotr but any for of media, but casting someone extremely different to people's perception.

Eg a few years ago before Tom Holland became Spider-Man there many that wanted a black actor for Spider-Man, except everyone knew Peter Parker as a white dude since his inception back in the 60s so it wouldve been weird as fuck to have suddenly have Peter black. Not to mention the other elephant in the room, there was already a black Spiderman aka Miles Morales in the comics so why have have Peter change instead of having Miles. Thankfully Marvel didn't follow those idiots idea and we got both the usual Peter and Miles became his own mainstream character, win win all round.

Quote from quarkie

And there are Asian characters in the Lord of the Rings... Orcs are based on WWII era Japanese racism. They're literally described as being "sallow-skinned and slant eyed"

Orcs have nothing to do with Asians. Orcs are derived from goblins ie. grotesque creatures from medieval European folklore.

Quote from Dreamer95

Well, nothing is as established as Tolkien's world, which he personally described as pre historic Europe and he stated that he wanted to create English mythology with it.

You do realize that pre-historic Europe had people with varied skin colors right?

1.) It's a good thing

2.) The show would get absolutely killed if they had an all-white cast in this day and age.

Quote from LovenRose

If it was a ww1 movie I'd have similar issues to you but there's nothing in lotr that makes a diverse cast impossible or overly unrealistic. It's a fantasy world. If elfs are there why can't black people be.

The main reason woud be because the author didn't write the world this way. It's not a matter of wether it is realistic or not but rather how the world of Middle Earth was built by its architect. Fantasy is all about lore, civilizations, cultures, people, races; so if the new Amazon series introduces black Elves and Dwarves in Middle Earth, they'd better come up with a good explanation for it.

It's not about racism. Fantasy fans are particular in that they pay a lot of attention to world building; they want to get a grasp of how everything comes together in a fictional world which written story goes way back to its creation (Eru Iluvatar, the Ainur, etc). And they're especially picky with LOTR since it is the oldest medieval fantasy novel which basically pioneered the whole genre.

as long as it is plausible within the fictional world they are portraying, Its alright.

Granted as long as it doesn't portray racial stereotypes.

Considering LotR is basically a world spanning lore, why does it seem that the only people in this entire world -- from communities as diverse as the hobbits to the orcs to the humans to the elves -- are only modeled after white people and are almost exclusively men?

Quote from Dreamer95

Ehmmm, no, not really.

Ehmmm, yes, totally.

Quote from Dreamer95

Ehmmm, no, not really.

were you there? are you a history major?

Well... LOTR has Easterlings and Haradrims.

Quote from Dreamer95

Journey to the West having bunch of white and black dudes running around.

this cracked me up my friend lol

Quote from quarkie

Ah yes the most unbelievable part of a fantasy work is that black people exist.

And there are Asian characters in the Lord of the Rings... Orcs are based on WWII era Japanese racism. They're literally described as being "sallow-skinned and slant eyed"

Stop with the bullshit. Wakanda and ghost in the shell are fantasy too, doesnt keep you from crying at the mere idea alone that white people will be cast in it

The nerve

Quote from dummi

Dont watch it if it bothers you! It's okay, I'm sure it will do well. Us Americans like to diversify casts because we think representation in media matters. This is a fantasy show anyway, so I'm sure it wont do any harm. Hamilton the musical was diversified and that was based on historical events, yet it did great. Suffice to say I think this isn't a big deal at all

Lol yet you cried tears of blood because a white woman played a modern robot?

There shouldnt be black and asian people en european medieval setting. End.

Quote from horizonshard

You do realize that pre-historic Europe had people with varied skin colors right?

Varied skin tones doesnt mean they were black. They were white.

Also, there were white people in China and Africa before our era began. I dont see yall scremaing to make african stories half white and mulan white?

and then those same people have the nerve to cry about white playing white characters while inserting blacks into everything

Quote from LovenRose

Oh no, a fantasy story with dragons, elfs and dwarfs have people of different skin colors in it? So unrealistic.

Is a living robot , a man with a creature granting him wishes, or an advanced african nation with magical power realistic?

Quote from horizonshard

I see nothing wrong with being inclusive.

As long as it doesn't fundamentally change established characters or drastically break established lore, then I don't see an issue.

Inserting black actors where they shouldnt be drastically break established lore and change characters.

Funny how whitewashing a modern characters is breaking the lore to you,but not blackwashing medieval characters lmfao - which is much worse

Quote from Kataphract

as long as it is plausible within the fictional world they are portraying, Its alright.

Granted as long as it doesn't portray racial stereotypes.

Well,it's not plausible.

At all.

Quote from paia

Inserting black actors where they shouldnt be drastically break established lore and change characters.

Funny how whitewashing a modern characters is breaking the lore to you,but not blackwashing medieval characters lmfao - which is much worse

When did I ever say whitewashing a character is breaking the lore? Please point that out to me.

Go ahead, I'll wait.

Don't put words in my mouth because you want to be edgy and confrontational.

Quote from horizonshard

When did I ever say whitewashing a character is breaking the lore? Please point that out to me.

Go ahead, I'll wait.

Don't put words in my mouth because you want to be edgy and confrontational.

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Dont act dense. Yall scream at the slighest idea that a white women may be cast into a modern role: yet defend blackwashing medieval characters set in a very specific european cultural setting.

Yall screamed about a few background actors in Aladdin, who no one will even slightly see on screen, and who are only there to create a crowd effect at a cheaper price with all on screen roles being brown or black, being a few white men. And now the same people defend putting at the very front of european medieval setting several blackwashed characters.

Hell, yall even insisted fucking lions in africa must be ecclusively voiced by black actor and not even one white person: yet for some reason even cultural characters in medieval europe must be played by black actors?

Quote from paia

Dont act dense. Yall scream at the slighest idea that a white women may be cast into a modern role: yet defend blackwashing medieval characters set in a very specific european cultural setting.

Yall screamed about a few background actors in Aladdin, who no one will even slightly see on screen, and who are only there to create a crowd effect at a cheaper price with all on screen roles being brown or black, being a few white men. And now the same people defend putting at the very front of european medieval setting several blackwashed characters.

Hell, yall even insisted fucking lions in africa must be ecclusively voiced by black actor and not even one white person: yet for some reason even cultural characters in medieval europe must be played by black actors?

I don't know who this "y'all" you keep referring to is. I have never said any of those things. Please quote one single time I have ever said that.

So stop putting words in my mouth.

The only one I see here screaming, is you. And it's blatant generalizations at that.

Quote from horizonshard

I don't know who this "y'all" you keep referring to is. I have never said any of those things. Please quote one single time I have ever said that.

So stop putting words in my mouth.

The only one I see here screaming, is you. And it's blatant generalizations at that.

Lmao. You were so quick to insert yourself in this discussion to defend blackwashing, with the usual bullshit people lile you use to justify replacing white characters in their own lore, yet act as if you don't know how this whole blackwashing thing has been going?

Quote from paia

Lmao. You were so quick to insert yourself in this discussion to defend blackwashing, with the usual bullshit people lile you use to justify replacing white characters in their own lore, yet act as if you don't know how this whole blackwashing thing has been going?

I have never justified replacing a white character in their own lore. Again, you're generalizing.

"people like me"????

What people exactly are those? You're afraid to say it! If you have any courage, just come out with it.