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this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2024
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Tolkien, Lord of the Rings (LotR), etc.
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Saying that lotr is multiracial because different characters are different races in universe is missing the point. No black kid is gonna look up to Aragorn and think "he's just like me". Also claiming gender diversity because of one character (and another that had one moment of significance that still could have been cut without much impact on the story resolution) is wild.
I love LOTR as much as the next guy but I can admit it does have somewhat of a diversity issue.
That's interesting, because by this logic Asian kids (and I mean Asian from the Middle-East to South Asia to East Asia) can't watch the first season of that show and identify with the characters.
Researching the topic, there was actually some backlash about it a few years ago (https://nextshark.com/ludi-lin-amazon-lord-of-the-rings) which led to the addition of Asian look actors for season 2: https://news.yahoo.com/amazon-ring-powers-announces-cast-215130312.html?guccounter=1
Well it was written nearly a century ago, so it's not too surprising that diversity of representation was not great. Many countries got women's suffrage much later than that point in history.
Yes it has a diversity issue, I don’t dispute that of the other comment for a reason. However I take issue with solely characterising it by those issues. I personally feel only referring to it by it’s problematic elements, a good portion of which are because of Hollywood at the time and the era in which it was written, is disingenuous at best.
I would think that said “black kid” to use your term who while they may not be able to self insert as a particular character could still appreciate them and certainly appreciate the underlying message of the movie, which isn’t “a bunch of white guys do the thing”.
The lack of PoC in the story and the casting for the movies doesn’t change the message and overt themes of the book that I mentioned. Frankly I think if someone only took “white people rule” and “the woman show up to be pretty and kissed” from the story then the bigotry may lie with that person.