Post by account_disabled on Feb 27, 2024 23:39:58 GMT -6
Fans of the epic fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings, are denouncing the trailer for Rings of Power , Amazon's billion-dollar spin-off , for deviating from the original works of JRR Tolkien, its Changsha Mobile Number List writer. In this way, loyal followers of this literary genre disapprove of the inclusion of the cast because it is not in line with the source material. Is this true or do we see racism in The Lord of the Rings? We tell you.
Writer JRR Tolkien 's much-loved fantasy is a work of epic scale that portrays races of imaginary beings in the medieval setting of Middle Earth, culminating in a battle of good against evil.
Certainly, the adaptations Peter Jackson's film adaptations of the early 2000s established the iconography and aesthetics that many fans grew up with and consider almost sacred. And no wonder, the trilogy has managed to obtain 30 nominations, surpassing other sagas such as The Godfather.
Racism in The Lord of the Rings?
Recently Amazon Studios announced the adaptation of the world of the writer Tolkien: Lord of the Rings : The Rings of Power .
According to data from the Forbes portal , the plot of the new program will be set in the Second Age, “thousands of years before” the events narrated in “The Hobbit” , and will narrate how the rings were forged and distributed among the different races.
In addition, the platform has announced that the series will arrive simultaneously and in several languages in 240 countries on September 2 through Prime Video. New episodes will also be available every Friday.
Recent reports and a recently released trailer have revealed more details about the plots, increasing the anticipation, but also the discontent of its followers.
And this is where the point of view diverges if history, in its attempt to support inclusive and diverse talent, is a lack of respect for its books. According to The Conversation portal , these arguments are false for two reasons.
Firstly, these are imaginary creatures that are not always clearly described in the original books: Tolkien was more interested in metaphysical questions than biological ones. Still, there is some evidence of dark-skinned elves and hobbits in drafts of The Silmarillion and the prologue of The Lord of the Rings.
Secondly, even if Tolkien had specified that all elves, dwarves and hobbits were white, it wouldn't matter. Adaptations are original cultural products that can imitate, question, rewrite or interpret the source material in various ways. Each adaptation is a new text. And each is an opportunity to update outdated and unacceptable narratives, and find ways to represent and normalize non-white characters.
Tolkien is for everyone
As adaptation theory scholar Linda Hutcheon has shown , adaptations offer “the pleasure of repetition with variation.” For example, in 2005, Nigerian-British actor David Oyelowo was cast as Prometheus in the Greek tragedy, Prometheus Bound .
This version of the play presented audiences with a black Prometheus in chains, recalling images of slavery, adding an additional layer of complexity to the Titan who suffered for humanity. It will be interesting to see how Amazon will use these casting choices to interpret, critique, or expand Tolkien's world.
But as disgruntled fans might reason, if Amazon must have a diverse cast in this drama, why not limit itself to having actors of color play the dark-skinned characters in Tolkien's texts? But that would perpetuate and reinforce the racialized view of good and evil in Middle-earth. Despite Tolkien's overall message of friendship and cooperation, and despite his rage against the Nazis , the face of evil in Middle-earth is invariably non-white/non-European.
Tolkien's portrayal of the orcs (legions of evil creatures) and men who ally themselves with Sauron (the archvillain of LOTR) uses many stereotypes associated with orientalism and the language of prejudice often found in literature of the era. of British imperialism (Tolkien was born and raised in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods). Reproducing this division between whites and non-whites along moral lines would support a very outdated and harmful equation of physical characteristics with moral choices.
Furthermore, in this context, the creators of The Rings of Power already expected the racist reactions of the trolls to the trailer and had an answer for them: Tolkien is for everyone.
Writer JRR Tolkien 's much-loved fantasy is a work of epic scale that portrays races of imaginary beings in the medieval setting of Middle Earth, culminating in a battle of good against evil.
Certainly, the adaptations Peter Jackson's film adaptations of the early 2000s established the iconography and aesthetics that many fans grew up with and consider almost sacred. And no wonder, the trilogy has managed to obtain 30 nominations, surpassing other sagas such as The Godfather.
Racism in The Lord of the Rings?
Recently Amazon Studios announced the adaptation of the world of the writer Tolkien: Lord of the Rings : The Rings of Power .
According to data from the Forbes portal , the plot of the new program will be set in the Second Age, “thousands of years before” the events narrated in “The Hobbit” , and will narrate how the rings were forged and distributed among the different races.
In addition, the platform has announced that the series will arrive simultaneously and in several languages in 240 countries on September 2 through Prime Video. New episodes will also be available every Friday.
Recent reports and a recently released trailer have revealed more details about the plots, increasing the anticipation, but also the discontent of its followers.
And this is where the point of view diverges if history, in its attempt to support inclusive and diverse talent, is a lack of respect for its books. According to The Conversation portal , these arguments are false for two reasons.
Firstly, these are imaginary creatures that are not always clearly described in the original books: Tolkien was more interested in metaphysical questions than biological ones. Still, there is some evidence of dark-skinned elves and hobbits in drafts of The Silmarillion and the prologue of The Lord of the Rings.
Secondly, even if Tolkien had specified that all elves, dwarves and hobbits were white, it wouldn't matter. Adaptations are original cultural products that can imitate, question, rewrite or interpret the source material in various ways. Each adaptation is a new text. And each is an opportunity to update outdated and unacceptable narratives, and find ways to represent and normalize non-white characters.
Tolkien is for everyone
As adaptation theory scholar Linda Hutcheon has shown , adaptations offer “the pleasure of repetition with variation.” For example, in 2005, Nigerian-British actor David Oyelowo was cast as Prometheus in the Greek tragedy, Prometheus Bound .
This version of the play presented audiences with a black Prometheus in chains, recalling images of slavery, adding an additional layer of complexity to the Titan who suffered for humanity. It will be interesting to see how Amazon will use these casting choices to interpret, critique, or expand Tolkien's world.
But as disgruntled fans might reason, if Amazon must have a diverse cast in this drama, why not limit itself to having actors of color play the dark-skinned characters in Tolkien's texts? But that would perpetuate and reinforce the racialized view of good and evil in Middle-earth. Despite Tolkien's overall message of friendship and cooperation, and despite his rage against the Nazis , the face of evil in Middle-earth is invariably non-white/non-European.
Tolkien's portrayal of the orcs (legions of evil creatures) and men who ally themselves with Sauron (the archvillain of LOTR) uses many stereotypes associated with orientalism and the language of prejudice often found in literature of the era. of British imperialism (Tolkien was born and raised in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods). Reproducing this division between whites and non-whites along moral lines would support a very outdated and harmful equation of physical characteristics with moral choices.
Furthermore, in this context, the creators of The Rings of Power already expected the racist reactions of the trolls to the trailer and had an answer for them: Tolkien is for everyone.