(no subject)

[galadhir]

I hate this squirrely argument that Tolkien was writing his world as a mythology for England and that therefore you're somehow doing it wrong if you include people of colour.

There are people of colour who are English, and who therefore deserve to see themselves in any English mythology
There were people of colour in England from Roman times onward
The first people to have settled in the land that came to be known of as England looked like this:



Cheddar man (so called because his 10,000 year old bones were found in a cave in the Cheddar gorge. His DNA was decoded and carried the markers of dark skin and blue eyes - click on the link to get the full details. Some of his descendants have been found still living there, btw.)

Middle-earth is set before that, so honestly, it's the people who are claiming that everyone in the series is white who have to explain why.

Comments

[watervole]

I love some of the darker skinned hobbits in Rings of Power

[galadhir]

I haven't been watching that, mainly because after the first half hour or so I was simultaneously so cross at what they'd done with the lore and also so bored that I switched it off. And since then I'm like "What have you done with my boy, Celeborn? Why have they written him out yet again?"

So I'm not actually at all fond of the series, but that's not because they cast characters of colour, it's because of all the other things.

I mean, Tolkien has distinct elvish races, so I personally would have made all characters of a particular race characters of colour. The Noldor, for example, because they come from a place where there is more light than mere sunlight. Then you'd have had all the famous elves being played by actors of colour.

Or the Sindar, whom the Noldor considered to be dark elves anyway, and much would be revealed about how elvish racism parallels our own.

Or the Men of Numenor, who were modelled on the Phoenicians - make the kings of Men characters of colour! I think Amazon was way too cowardly with the way they actually went.

Sorry! I seem to have gone off on a rant. It's just such a wasted opportunity it makes me mad.

[watervole]

Oddly enough, my personal rant would be on bone structure.
I think the different eleven races should have skin colour as described, but they should all be tall and slender with high cheekbones. It should not just be pointy ears that distinguish elves.
The movies did much better casting in this regard

[galadhir]

Oh I agree with you that the elves should be more beautiful in that specific tall and slender way. I absolutely roll my eyes at their casting for Celebrimbor, who is younger than Galadriel, but for some reason has been cast as a middle aged man. But I'm not sure that Tolkien ever does describe elves' skin colour. He calls them 'fair' but that could easily just mean 'beautiful' and have nothing to do with colour.

[watervole]

Yes, Celebrimbm,or is solo wrong.
They should look eternally young.

[galadhir]

Exactly!