LOTR racist?

[Kuro_rabbit]

They're all white D:
where are the asians? and other ppls?

[Foxypockets]

Tolkien actually wrote the books to be set in a type of fantasy Europe, where everyone just happens to be white. It could very possibly be racist, but I think it's probably just that there hadn't been a mixing of the races, yet. (There are actually desert peoples in the universe, and tribesmen and all of that sort of thing to the east.)

[Kuro_rabbit]

There are other races in the books but there could have been elves, dwarves, or even hobbits that had dark skintones. It seemed like everyone who wasn't white was evil or something.

[pastel opal]

Kuro_rabbit

They're all white D:
where are the asians? and other ppls?

there are black people in the books. however they didn't take part int he war and so didn't appear in the movies.

[Mahaule]

A lot of the mythology in Lord of the Rings came from Nordic mythology, so its not that surprising that when they made the movies they thought "haha yes, nords, lets get some nords in here"
and since the target audience was primarily English speaking people (meaning US, Canada UK, and English speaking Europe and not other English-speaking places like South Africa or New Zealand because they are a minority in the English-speaking world, and therefore unprofitable) the thought process was probably something like:
"Lets get some nice and normal looking people in here to play the roles of these bizarre races like hobbits and elves so we can make the audience more comfortable with their outlandish looks" Primarily white directors and writers making a movie that caters to the majority of an English-speaking audience (the majority being white people) who want relate-able and normal characters = lets cast characters that our primarily white audience will find normal and relate-able. White actors!

I can't remember if the men of the east were described in the books as having darker skin or if that was a director's choice, so i won't comment on that

They did a bit better in the hobbit. Obviously, there weren't any SPEAKING roles for anyone who wasn't white, but when you see the people of Esgaroth congregating, there are very obviously some black people and Asian people.

So the lotr movies showed a clear preference for sticking to the nordic mythology and catering to a primarily white audience.

and then the HOBBIT movies came out and I think Jackson and the crew realized that OH s**t our audience ISNT just white people, but we've already cast so many white people! Toss in a few more different races where we can spare it while keeping in line with the canon we already established in lotr s**t WE ******** UP

as for as tolkein's actual writings, he remains nondescript on skincolor in most races, I've found. With the exception of elves who are always fair of skin. But anyways, I'm sure Tolkein intended for all the main characters to be white considering the time in which it was written and all that, but really you could argue that there were some black hobbits and Indian dwarves and Filipino men wandering around off screen.

[Desmond the Mudblood]

Kuro_rabbit

There are other races in the books but there could have been elves, dwarves, or even hobbits that had dark skintones. It seemed like everyone who wasn't white was evil or something.

The Hardrim were based off of Arabs and were described as "swarthy" but they weren't inherently evil. They were lied to by Sauron which was why they fought for him. They turned good later.

[mercy petite]

as much as I love LOTR and Tolkien, he was definitely a man of his time. I don't necessarily criticize the novels insomuch (although still terribly racially coded- see the Haradrim) as I find fault within the movie adaptations. So many fantasy films (and novels) feature white people in the main roles or borrow heavily from European cultures. Even though Tolkien was using Norse mythology and Nordic/Anglo-Saxon/British cultures as a basis for his own worldbuilding, doesn't mean a black guy (or asian, or indian, etc.) couldn't have been Aragorn, Boromir or any other character in the movies. Personally, I always thought a younger Idris Elba could have been a great Aragorn.

As one of the previous posters mentioned, there were people of color in Laketown in the background (most notably during the crowd scene in front of the Master of Laketown) but none with speaking roles. While definitely a step of improvement from the LOTR films, it still leaves a lot to be desired.

[spellslave]

help me with firestarter?

❝ The mythology and lore that Tolkien drew from was very Euro-centric, hence why the characters are that way in the books and films. To include other races just to make it more PC wouldn't make sense in the context of what the author wanted. ❞

[SpaceLamb]

It seems lazy to have everyone in the novel be white, because it is a fantasy realm and literally anything is possible. Like there are dragons and all sorts of monsters and creatures, but no black person? No Asian or Latino characters? In a world where ANYTHING is possible, it seems pretty diligently racist to only have white people. confused

[LanXiaoYu]

well.. he also did only include two females who are actually powerful (Arwen isn't really doing ANYTHING in the books)
but yes, lots of white people, elves and dwarfs running around. but then again, Tolkien cared more for the language then for the setting. I guess, you probably can read the books with a more than just one skin tone in mind.
I don't think that Tolkien was actually thinking" no, I don't want to include any other skin colour than white", I think he just never really thought about it.

[Born Backwards]

spellslave

help me with firestarter?

❝ The mythology and lore that Tolkien drew from was very Euro-centric, hence why the characters are that way in the books and films. To include other races just to make it more PC wouldn't make sense in the context of what the author wanted. ❞

This

[0Nyxxx]

Kuro_rabbit

They're all white D:
where are the asians? and other ppls?

It is a fantasy, so think about something like Skyrim or elder scrolls. Obviously when you're in a certain part of the world there will be more concentration of that group of people. If you were in Elsweyr there would be more Khajiit people than elves, humans, etc. Especially in rural areas like most of the LOTR scenes take place. In the cities there is more of a blend of races because of trade from other reigons.

The Hobbit starts in the Shire... where only hobbits live. The dwarves only come by because that's where Gandalf told them to go. Most of their journey is rural and away from people. If there was more attention on places like Rivendell or LakeTown I'm sure you would find more diversity.

[Snowfax]

There are plenty of other races in his world. Just not in the European part of it.

His world is very well thought out and planned and it would make no logical sense to put an asian or african-type person in the middle of ancient Europe just to please people who feel offended.
He didn't write his stories to be politically correct and make sure he wasn't standing on anyone's toes.

Think you need to be a lot more logical in your accusations instead of stirring up rubbish.
Read more of his stuff about the creation of the world and the different parts of it..