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The racist backlash to The Little Mermaid and Lord of The Rings is exhausting and extremely predicta

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by philnotfil, Sep 17, 2022.

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  1. Sep 17, 2022 #1
    philnotfil

    philnotfil GC Hall of Fame

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    The really stupid part is when characters, or races (in Tolkein) are described as being darker, and then mouth-breathers get upset that they played by characters with darker skin. The dumbest one I can remember in recent times is when some absolute morons got upset about the casting of Rue in the Hunger Games.

    The racist backlash to The Little Mermaid and Lord of The Rings is exhausting and extremely predictable

    Detractors of Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings series, which debuted this month, claim that casting Black and Asian actors undermines the show’s faithfulness to Tolkien’s world. Meanwhile, some ostensible fans of Disney’s animated Little Mermaid are rejecting the new live-action version for swapping out the titular mermaid’s famous blue eyes and red hair for the features of Black actress Halle Bailey.

    The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power first drew widespread anger from fans because it casts Black and Asian actors as characters across the spectrum of fictional Middle Earth races. Fans’ chief complaint was that the decision to include nonwhite characters had ruined the authenticity of Tolkien’s world, because he had never described his elves, hobbits, men, and dwarves as anything other than white. Then last week, Disney released the first trailer for The Little Mermaid, featuring Bailey singing “Part of Your World.” Thousands of YouTube users brigaded, leaving more than 2 million dislikes and countless derogatory comments on the trailer, and creating memes ridiculing the film for casting Bailey and mocking all of its supporters.

    To anyone who’s paid any attention to geek culture over the past decade or so, these arguments probably feel endless and exhausting. After all, this is the same cycle of backlash that plays out when any beloved story gets rebooted (or, in the case of Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, adapted to film for the first time) and makes any changes, big or small. The anger intensifies to a new level when they’re big changes that shake the foundations of a story that was originally framed within a white, male worldview. Let’s face it: Most of the stories that have been passed down to us throughout the centuries have been created for us by white men.

     
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  2. Sep 17, 2022 #2
    back2back2006

    back2back2006 GC Legend

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    Well technically if we are being realistic here the little mermaid should be more or less translucent or maybe green resembling a true sea creature, not white or black but let little chit like this get your panties in a wad. 99% of us out in the real world don't give a flying chit what color the little mermaid is. We have a life to live.
     
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  3. Sep 17, 2022 #3
    96Gatorcise

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    Whites aren't allowed to claim cultural appropriation. It's considered racist.

    If you want more diversity and representation, write new material.
     
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  4. Sep 17, 2022 #4
    channingcrowderhungry

    channingcrowderhungry Premium Member

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    The people upset about this are the same people that think Jesus actually looked like this. So frankly, who cares about their opinion.

    [​IMG]
     
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  5. Sep 17, 2022 #5
    BigCypressGator1981

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    Wait so you’re claiming cultural appropriation?
     
  6. Sep 17, 2022 #6
    thomadm

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    The only constant in Hollywood is the villain is always a white male,black side characters always die and all indians have feathers or paint on their bodies...
     
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  7. Sep 17, 2022 #7
    ridgetop

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    How many people are actually complaining? I’m no saying they are right but I wonder if this is a mountain made out of a molehill. 1000? even 5k complaining? I ask because I have seen article after article after article and interview after interview… could it be an easy way to drum up free publicity by using morons?
     
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  8. Sep 17, 2022 #8
    oragator1

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    Just as an example, if next week there was a trailer for a new Shaft movie, and Shaft was white, what would be the reaction? Or as a more apt comparison to this story, Wakanda suddenly had a bunch of white residents to be more “inclusive”? It would be both mocked and reviled, deservedly.
    People (not you) throw the word “racist” around because they are either attempting to shut down discussion, or they can’t see gray or other side of an issue. Of course some of the complaints are racist, but that’s not at all the whole story.
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2022
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  9. Sep 17, 2022 #9
    altalias

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    I know a lot of nerds. I haven't heard anything about race but they are upset that they turned Galadriel into Xena the warrior princess.
     
  10. Sep 17, 2022 #10
    VAg8r1

    VAg8r1 GC Hall of Fame

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    Although obviously speculation given his ethnicity the real Jesus probably looked more like the depiction below than the variations on his imagine as depicted by Renaissance painters.
    [​IMG]
     
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  11. Sep 17, 2022 #11
    Gator40

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    1.5 million dislikes in two days to the Little Mermaid trailer. No other Disney trailer has come close to the negativity.
     
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  12. Sep 17, 2022 #12
    Trickster

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    Oh pu-lease! You poor white boy, being denied your appropriation. [​IMG]
     
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  13. Sep 17, 2022 #13
    officelife

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    That is kind of shocking when you consider entitled Star War fans...
     
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  14. Sep 17, 2022 #14
    VAg8r1

    VAg8r1 GC Hall of Fame

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    Nothing triggers snowflakes like challenging a racial stereotype even if it's only the depiction of a character from a fairy tale.
     
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  15. Sep 17, 2022 #15
    tampagtr

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    This stuff is funny but also represents a toxic and dangerous phenomenon

     
  16. Sep 17, 2022 #16
    tampagtr

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    If you think the villain is always the white male, you’re confusing Hollywood with real life
     
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  17. Sep 17, 2022 #17
    ridgetop

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    Whelp that is ignorant.. but still a small percentage of Americans. Question
    Is there a difference between not wanting a characters race to be changed and being a racists.. or do you (anyone) see them as hand in hand?
    I saw the trailer and thought the young lady did a great job and look beautiful.. it doesn’t both me. Zendaya as MJ didn’t bother me. But I am not a Disney fan . Some purist.. big time fans… might balk at the changes because you are changing the source materials? Sadly, my guess is mists if the dislikes where from people upset about the change in race because of the change in race. Not because they are fanatical little mermaid fans and don’t want the source material changed.
     
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  18. Sep 17, 2022 #18
    orangeblue_coop

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    Poor things, always the victims
     
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  19. Sep 17, 2022 #19
    sierragator

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    People find the damndest things to get wrapped around the axle about.
     
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  20. Sep 17, 2022 #20
    thomadm

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    Sounds like you think all evil racist types are white males.
     
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