Comments by "Ash Roskell" (@ashroskell) on "'Representation matters': Firestorm over Black actors in sci-fi, fantasy shows | ABCNL" video.
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@joshmoonXY : I am forced to agree. It’s not about racism or sexism when you see a character that you have come to know over years of fandom being altered in gender or race. If we had been given Toni Stark as Iron Woman 10 years ago, everyone would be asking, “why?” In the same way, this show has turned out to be bad, but largely due to terrible writing. Galadriel is represented as being bitchy, permanently angry, hostile and disloyal in this. That’s NOT the Galadriel Tolkien created. In the same way that he didn’t create any black halflings or dwarfs, simply because he’d spent a LIFETIME lovingly creating a mythical world that was based on ancient Norse, Celtic and Germanic myths. If people would be offended by Robert Downey Jr playing Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Malcolm X or Gandhi, are we not allowed to be equally disconcerted by ancient Northern Europeans being misrepresented? Does the history from which Tolkien’s myths were culled not count for anything? It seems an unfair way to want to have it both ways. And it’s deeply devious and bad faith to write off all criticism as being, “racist,” out of the gate.
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Agreed. I certainly hope the cops dig out anyone making racist threats. And that the actual racists are exposed for what they are. However . . .
What of the legitimate criticism? Is that all to be shut down, labelling people as racists for raising their hands and asking questions? There’s no reason to tolerate racism. Yet some subjects are unsuitable for certain actors.
I can’t imagine any legitimate reason to complain about black actors in Star Trek, Star Wars or the Marvel Universe. The line that these fantasies, “must reflect the world we live in today,” is fine. But it’s just daft to have black actors in The Lord Of The Rings. Tolkien created a world based on old Norse, ancient Germanic and ancient Celtic mythology. It doesn’t upset me at all to see people being just wrong about their artistic choices. But, to be told, “Nope! Not listening!” to anyone questioning the logic of altering the basis of Tolkien’s myths at a genetic level is just a cowardly way of shutting down debate and labelling people as, “racists,” for simply disagreeing.
There will always be those who are just racists, and who hate what’s happening for racist reasons. I have no time for racists. But that should not be an excuse to shut down adult discussion over the meaning of art and why interfering with Tolkien’s vision is disrespectful to his legacy. That’s NOT a racist point of view. Merely an artistic criticism. The images are jarring and look misplaced, because they don’t represent the world that Tolkien created over an entire lifetime of hard work, research and creative endeavour.
It is not up for debate, any more than people’s racism is. The whole point of Tolkien’s fantasy was that it does NOT, “reflect the world we live in today.” It reflects a mythical time in a place based on Northern European culture and genuine mythology that shaped their real worlds. Why should the people’s of these cultures be content to have their stories altered and distorted to fit some modern political agenda? It seems like a tone deaf overcorrection by people who lack the imagination to create their own mythology to me.
The fact that the show has an awful, illogical script that disrespects the characters Tolkien created, hijacks their motivations and misrepresents the meanings of Tolkien’s work is not relevant. But it does seem like people who are too quick to put all criticism down to racism have an inbuilt excuse for failure. If we don’t like the show, simply because it’s rubbish, does that make us racists? Come on?
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What of the legitimate criticism? Is that all to be shut down, labelling people as racists for raising their hands and asking questions? There’s no reason to tolerate racism. Yet some subjects are unsuitable for certain actors.
I can’t imagine any legitimate reason to complain about black actors in Star Trek, Star Wars or the Marvel Universe. The line that these fantasies, “must reflect the world we live in today,” is fine. But it’s just daft to have black actors in The Lord Of The Rings. Tolkien created a world based on old Norse, ancient Germanic and ancient Celtic mythology. It doesn’t upset me at all to see people being just wrong about their artistic choices. But, to be told, “Nope! Not listening!” to anyone questioning the logic of altering the basis of Tolkien’s myths at a genetic level is just a cowardly way of shutting down debate and labelling people as, “racists,” for simply disagreeing.
There will always be those who are just racists, and who hate what’s happening for racist reasons. I have no time for racists. But that should not be an excuse to shut down adult discussion over the meaning of art and why interfering with Tolkien’s vision is disrespectful to his legacy. That’s NOT a racist point of view. Merely an artistic criticism. The images are jarring and look misplaced, because they don’t represent the world that Tolkien created over an entire lifetime of hard work, research and creative endeavour.
It is not up for debate, any more than people’s racism is. The whole point of Tolkien’s fantasy was that it does NOT, “reflect the world we live in today.” It reflects a mythical time in a place based on Northern European culture and genuine mythology that shaped their real worlds. Why should the people’s of these cultures be content to have their stories altered and distorted to fit some modern political agenda? It seems like a tone deaf overcorrection by people who lack the imagination to create their own mythology to me.
The fact that the show has an awful, illogical script that disrespects the characters Tolkien created, hijacks their motivations and misrepresents the meanings of Tolkien’s work is not relevant. But it does seem like people who are too quick to put all criticism down to racism have an inbuilt excuse for failure. If we don’t like the show, simply because it’s rubbish, does that make us racists? Come on?
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