My geek knowledge offers this:

Tolkien’s world isn’t earth, “men” are not humans: it’s totally another universe with a whole different creation myth, different gods, etc. Also, when Tolkien talks about “race”, he’s talking about elves vs. men vs. dwarves vs. orcs (orcs are actually twisted elves, but let’s put that aside for now). Race also means serious genetic variations within the races: so you have bad ass men (Aragorn and his crew), lesser men (the Riders of Rohan), and hillbillies (the guys that Saruman so easily riled up). Put another way, race is much bigger *genetic* deal in Tolkien’s world than it is in ours.

So it’s really a whole separate mess, and maybe the producers think the casting doesn’t necessarily have to reflect human variety.

Which doesn’t mean it *couldn’t* reflect our world. Color has no significance in the world of Tolkien, so it shouldn’t matter either way. Which means the cast could (and should, IMO) reflect the audience.

One other thing: there *are* dark-skinned races in Tolkien. These are the Haradrim or Southrons (think of the elephant riders in TT and ROTK). One of the reasons Tolkien took heat for being racist is not only the lack of non-white players, but also the fact that the only POC in the story are all evil (at least the ones we see).

That’s my geek for ya.

PS. Keep up the good work. You’re awesome.

My geek knowledge offers this:

Tolkien’s world isn’t earth, “men” are not humans: it’s totally another universe with a whole different creation myth, different gods, etc. Also, when Tolkien talks about “race”, he’s talking about elves vs. men vs. dwarves vs. orcs (orcs are actually twisted elves, but let’s put that aside for now). Race also means serious genetic variations within the races: so you have bad ass men (Aragorn and his crew), lesser men (the Riders of Rohan), and hillbillies (the guys that Saruman so easily riled up). Put another way, race is much bigger *genetic* deal in Tolkien’s world than it is in ours.

So it’s really a whole separate mess, and maybe the producers think the casting doesn’t necessarily have to reflect human variety.

Which doesn’t mean it *couldn’t* reflect our world. Color has no significance in the world of Tolkien, so it shouldn’t matter either way. Which means the cast could (and should, IMO) reflect the audience.

One other thing: there *are* dark-skinned races in Tolkien. These are the Haradrim or Southrons (think of the elephant riders in TT and ROTK). One of the reasons Tolkien took heat for being racist is not only the lack of non-white players, but also the fact that the only POC in the story are all evil (at least the ones we see).

That’s my geek for ya.

PS. Keep up the good work. You’re awesome.

The BBC tv show Merlin certainly doesn’t have a problem casting non-white actors not only as central characters, but characters that have historically been white. Gwenivere is played by a black actress and it looks like her black brother is on his way to becoming one of the nights of the round table. Now I did have some initial problems getting over some of the other wild liberties the show has taken but if you accept it for the crack that it is its an awesomely fun show. And it proves casting doesn’t have to exclude minority actors and actresses.

but…but..hobbits aren’t real historical figures, so I don’t fully understand this push for phenotype accuracy, besides as another commenter pointed out “race” in Tolkien’s world had nothing to do with skin color..*pouts*–
AND I don’t think I need to remind ppl that time and time again “white” actors have been cast to play REAL historical figures who were ppl of color..hell if they could they would cast angelina jolie to play winnie mandela or assata shakur…*glares*

Also–Let’s also remember that this wasn’t the re-casting of a major role. They didn’t want beige Hobbits in the background…

actually, although the Arthurian legend of the Knights of the Round Table is still questioned to a great degree, it is held by some historians that the “Black Knight” is based on St. Maurice, an African knight (fabled to be the son of Sir Gallahad and an Ethiopian princess), who traveled thru Europe on a quest to find his father, consequently doing good deeds along the way, and eventually joined the Round Table….Midieval Europe had a lot of Black folk running around and their influence is documented in various church memorials and records. It is not until the time of Shakespere did images of Blackness correlate to “baddness” or negativity. Check out http://www.playahata.com/pages/bhfigures/bhfigures20.html to start your research.

Actually, I don’t Tolkien was completely color-blind and I DO think the orcs were meant to represent the “dark” side. His assumptions of beauty weren’t created outside a racially biased worldview…

Besides, Blacks, we Latin@s and other people of color were “invisible” back in the days… LOL

If I were casting for the movie, I would not only cast the Hobbits as people of color, but I’d make sure that Bilbo was an older woman of color. I really get tired of Tolkien’s White Boys’ Club view of the fantasy genre.

If I were casting for the movie, I would not only cast the Hobbits as people of color, but I’d make sure that Bilbo was an older woman of color. I really get tired of Tolkien’s White Boys’ Club view of the fantasy genre.

If I were casting for the movie, I would not only cast the Hobbits as people of color, but I’d make sure that Bilbo was an older woman of color. I really get tired of Tolkien’s White Boys’ Club view of the fantasy genre.

Hobbits had brown hair and red cheeks, do your research. If you want colored characters then go write your own fantasy books. Books don’t have to resemble reality, particularly fictional books, so your babble about how times change have nothing to do with it.
And it’s not white for whites, i am not white, but as a Tolkien fan i want the movie to follow the authors ideas, not some political/social agenda.

Tolkien’s Prologue to the Lord of the Rings states (p. 12 in the Red Book): “Before the crossing of the mountains the Hobbits had already become divided into three somewhat different breeds: Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides. The Harfoots were browner of skin, smaller, and shorter, and they were beardless and bootless; their hands and feet were neat and nimble; and they preferred highlands and hillsides.”

No one here has mentioned this? Where are all the true geeks??

Tolkien’s Prologue to the Lord of the Rings states (p. 12 in the Red Book): “Before the crossing of the mountains the Hobbits had already become divided into three somewhat different breeds: Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides. The Harfoots were browner of skin, smaller, and shorter, and they were beardless and bootless; their hands and feet were neat and nimble; and they preferred highlands and hillsides.”

No one here has mentioned this? Where are all the true geeks??

It is my understanding that Tolkien meant for his tales to be an alternate mythic history for our own world and that the events in the Lord of the Rings stories took place in what is now Europe, therefore all of the people there would look like Europeans. I say let them have their fantasy as light as they want so that we can have ours as dark as we want.

How to make everyone really uncomfortable during a LOTR screening: *in kids voice* “Mommy, why do all the ugly arabs and blacks want to kill the pretty elves?” Seriously though, am I the only one who saw the last film and was like, “the pure, valiant whites vs the dark hordes”, again? Really!? I know that’s not what Tolkien or Jackson meant to convey per se, and I really enjoyed the film overall, but in the contemporary geo-political context it seems likely that part of the appeal of this film has to do with the fact that it is an old story that allows us to engage our modern demons and come out victorious.