The theme of diversity in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series has already caused quite a stir on keyboards around the world. Indeed, the show chose to cast non-Caucasian actors in certain roles in the fictional world of Middle Earth.
This led to several questions and criticisms on social networks, which we wanted to return to with an interview with Romain Bay, manager of the LeStream channel on Twitch, founder of the site Le Grand Pop and a fan of the world of JRR Tolkien:
“(…) Tolkien himself wrote about people, in particular people of different colors. I’m thinking of the regions of Harad or Rhone. We have to understand that, and the interpretations that might be behind it are a bit skewed.”. However, we should not fall into the opposite extreme, again according to Bayes:
There is also the problem of labeling anyone who wants to express an opinion as a “racist”. Tolkien is the creator of worlds. Of all the worlds we’ve been able to dive into, it’s one of the most accurate. why Because there is an etymology behind a simple character name. Nothing is free. The name of the watercourse has meaning, and if it does, it is not accidental.
Lenny Henry
Black actor Lenny Henry, who plays hairy Zadoc Burrows in The Rings of Power, recently greeted Variety in the series:
“Of course, if you go back in time, there is a law set by the books and what they don’t say, although several characters are described as having dark skin (…), but that was the time. We are telling this story today.”
According to Romain Bayes, we should distinguish the origin of questions about the diversity in the series. For Stream Manager there are:
“(…) those who have completely rejected actors of color because it’s called racism and (…) those who know Tolkien’s world and who simply ask why. Once it’s explained and justified, there’s no problem with that.”
It follows: “Especially that in Tolkien it is the diversity faced by evil that creates solutions. So it goes completely against Tolkien’s writings to refuse to let actors of different backgrounds play the characters. Let’s wait and see where they are from and what their story is before we shout anything.”
This question especially came up for fans surrounding the elf Arondir or the dwarf princess Disa, characters played by minority actors: Ismael Cruz Cordova and Sofia Nomvete, respectively.
they say
The dwarves seen in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit belong to the same family: the people of Durin. However, in his writings, Tolkien explains that all 7 dwarves are in the family:
“We’ve only seen one… who’s to say the other six aren’t dark dwarfs?”asks Romain Bays. “Tolkien never wrote, but neither denied nor confirmed. So I don’t have a problem with having a princess who comes from another kingdom. On the other hand, really, if it was said that she’s Durin’s people, I understand that it raises questions of justification About. So this is what you need to understand.”
round
“I just want someone to explain why he’s there”Roman Bays comments. “But I don’t want anyone to justify a colorful character. I just want to know. I also want to know how Galadriel became the leader of the army when I portrayed her as quite wise? I have the same question and the same desire for meaning about the rounding.”
“Having variety isn’t a problem. But it’s such a rich and precise world that you just have to respect the specifications.”
The first two episodes of The Rings of Power will be available on September 2nd on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
