The Racist Backlash to Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings,’ Explained

thewrap.com:

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is set thousands of years before the events depicted in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” telling a story set during what Tolkien called the Second Age – an era of prosperity and peace that is soon threatened by the re-emergence of an evil sorcerer named Sauron.The TV series features all the various races found in Tolkien’s books and Peter Jackson’s film adaptations – humans, dwarves, elves, orcs and hobbit-like Harfoots – but there is a major difference between this series and how the world of Middle-earth has been depicted before.

It’s racially diverse.The casting of non-white actors as elves and dwarves rankled a few fans when it was first announced, and now that the show is here, Amazon has taken the step of suspending user reviews for the first 72 hours to prevent those angry about the racially diverse cast from “review bombing” the series.But why the racist outcry over “Lord of the Rings” in the first place?

Let us explain.The primary argument against the diverse casting of “The Rings of Power” is that J.R.R. Tolkien never intended to populate Middle-earth with actors of color, never mind the fact that Middle-earth is populated by trolls, goblins, nearly immortal elves, wizards and a disembodied eye that contains the consciousness of a dead evil sorcerer.There is no basis of fact in this argument, and Tolkien even described Harfoots – the precursors to hobbits that are seen in “The Rings of Power” – as having “browner” skin in contrast to their descendants the hobbits.These “fans” contend that Tolkien, who was white and lived in England, based Middle-earth on a “European” influence and thus the casting of non-white actors goes against the spirit.