Hobbit Casting Agent Fired For Dismissing Non-White Hobbits

[fgdfgdgd]

Frankly, all the hobbits are not described as being Caucasian. The Harfoots are described by Tolkien in his book as being "browner of skin" than the other Hobbit races. Therefore, casting someone with something less than brown skin in the role of a Harfoot is actually not staying true to the source materials.

Yes, as i've seen you saying multiples of times and complaining that no one is listening to you. However did you stop to consider that perhaps the Harfoots aren't in the movie, or at the very least, the first half of it (being that the Hibbit is being filmed in two halves) and that they're casting as such?

Either way, i don't intend to argue and bicker over this, i'm just happy the movie is finally being made after so many delays.

 

[Clockwork Scarecrow.]

But isn't The Shire supposed to be similar to the Medieval South of England in flavour just more jolly? I'm pretty sure there were no coloured people.

 

[silasbufu]

My god some people are so fucking retarded.
And I'm talking about those who cried "racism".

 

[warthoggunner]

As Joey Tribbiani once said: "... Sorry if I'm not a middle aged black woman"
;-)

 

[JDKJ]

Frankly, all the hobbits are not described as being Caucasian. The Harfoots are described by Tolkien in his book as being "browner of skin" than the other Hobbit races. Therefore, casting someone with something less than brown skin in the role of a Harfoot is actually not staying true to the source materials.

Yes, as i've seen you saying multiples of times and complaining that no one is listening to you. However did you stop to consider that perhaps the Harfoots aren't in the movie, or at the very least, the first half of it (being that the Hibbit is being filmed in two halves) and that they're casting as such?

Either way, i don't intend to argue and bicker over this, i'm just happy the movie is finally being made after so many delays.

double post

 

[JDKJ]

Frankly, all the hobbits are not described as being Caucasian. The Harfoots are described by Tolkien in his book as being "browner of skin" than the other Hobbit races. Therefore, casting someone with something less than brown skin in the role of a Harfoot is actually not staying true to the source materials.

Yes, as i've seen you saying multiples of times and complaining that no one is listening to you. However did you stop to consider that perhaps the Harfoots aren't in the movie, or at the very least, the first half of it (being that the Hibbit is being filmed in two halves) and that they're casting as such?

Either way, i don't intend to argue and bicker over this, i'm just happy the movie is finally being made after so many delays.

I did consider the possibility that the Harfoots wouldn't be included in the film's script. But then, when it was pointed out that most of the inhabitants of the Shire are of the Harfoot race, I concluded that any cinematographic depiction of the Shire (and it's hard for me to envision a film based on "The Hobbit" without depicting the Shire, a place that figures prominently in Tolkien's tale-telling) should probably include some hairy-footed Harfoots running around the Shire. Cast them now or cast them later but, I imagine, sooner or later, cast them they must -- if they're keeping it real.

And, just outta curiousity, if you were fully aware from the posts of myself and numerous others that it is damn nigh a ridiculous statement to say that all the Hobbits are described as being Caucasian when they aren't all described as being Caucasian, why'd you feel the need to insistently still make that damn nigh ridiculous statement?

 

[elpresidente]

So, basically, the casting agent was fired for doing a proper job? Yes, I know that in lot of aspects modern society is completely ridiculous, but now I think that Peter Jackson is a moron. He should've settled for explaining to the Pakistani woman what exactly is a "hobbit" and move on.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Didn't bother read beyond the 1st page, so excuse me.

Eh it's maybe a little racist. Theres nothing saying their can't be hobbits of all colors, I don't believe. Then again the story doesn't even take place on our earth, so the race of the characters is rather irrelevant (I use this same argument for The Last Airbender and to a lesser extent, mudflap and skip of the transformers.)

That all being said, homeboy deserved to lose his job. If he was really going to go down this route, he shouldn't of put it in writing, let them get their audition and then simply not choose them. Also this is the movie business, i'm sorry but appearance does manner. They wouldn't hirer a white guy to play Martin Luther King, they wouldn't hirer a short guy to be Andre The Giant. If you'd want to make it not racist for everyone to have a fair shot, then our movies may as well just go all CGI. With CGI even The Rock can play a white guy.

 

[fulano]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, Tolkien never did allude to his characters being other than whitey-white, right? What is more, the more exotic loking people were the bad guys as the alligned with Sauron adn shit.

 

[eljawa]

well...there werent any black people in the original...were there? I mean....idk really i cant imagine dark skinned hobbits.

 

[JDKJ]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, Tolkien never did allude to his characters being other than whitey-white, right? What is more, the more exotic loking people were the bad guys as the alligned with Sauron adn shit.

I'll correct you. Why not? I've been doing it for everyone else. Tolkien did allude to his characters being other than whitey-white. He describes the Harfoot Hobbits as being "browner of skin" than the other Hobbit races.

 

[Arsen]

I probably won't watch the movie if it turns out there are other races in it. It's an ancient European fantasy, mythology, with historical myth of the Celts and Scandinavian...it would not make sense to have hobbits of other ethnicities in there.

As a matter of fact, it's downright insulting. More political correctness at work here folks.

 

[JDKJ]

I probably won't watch the movie if it turns out there are other races in it. It's an ancient European fantasy, mythology, with historical myth of the Celts and Scandinavian...it would not make sense to have hobbits of other ethnicities in there.

As a matter of fact, it's downright insulting. More political correctness at work here folks.

Even though Tolkien describes the Hobbits as being of three different races, one of "browner skin" than the others?

 

[Professor Idle]

So, what? Does this mean that in the interest of equal opportunity employment they aren't gonna cast some Jewish guy as Gollum? That's ridiculous! Everyone knows that Gollum's Jewish.

Ahem, that's Golem you're thinking of. Golem is Jewish, Gollum is named after his own vocal sounds.

This made me laugh hard.

 

[JDKJ]

Anyone who would suggest that racism isn't born of ignorance and a willingness to blind one's self to obvious facts, needs only read this thread to find clear proof that racism is born of ignorance and willful blindness.

 

[Daveman]

I don't know. Maybe I'm just secretly racist but I can't imagine a pakistani hobbit or a black hobbit. I just picture them as white in my head. I don't know, do any black or non-white escapists think of hobbits as being of a certain ethnicity.

I mean, not the same thing really but nobody is cross-gender auditioning are they and that's not sexist.

 

[Spirultima]

Well all British were white and i say that as fact, if Tolkien didn't add coloured hobbits then i can kind of see the logic. On the otherhand this could be made out to be worse then fact, nearly always is, but if the guy was being genuinely racist then he got what he deserved.

Tolkien did add colored Hobbits. Read Tolkien. According to his own words, the Harfoot Hobbits are "brown-skinned."

Well in which case, yeah he was being most likely being racist, so he got what he deserved.

 

[JDKJ]

Well all British were white and i say that as fact, if Tolkien didn't add coloured hobbits then i can kind of see the logic. On the otherhand this could be made out to be worse then fact, nearly always is, but if the guy was being genuinely racist then he got what he deserved.

Tolkien did add colored Hobbits. Read Tolkien. According to his own words, the Harfoot Hobbits are "brown-skinned."

Well in which case, yeah he was being most likely being racist, so he got what he deserved.

I'm not gonna sit here and act as if I have the slightest clue what you're talking about when I don't.

EDIT: OK. I gotcha. The casting director got what he deserved. At first, I thought you meant Tolkien got what he deserved. My bad.

 

[Kenko]

Fucking load of mother fucking horse shit. If they did a film about Africa and they where asked to find Africans it wouldn't be racist. THIS IS FUCKING HORSESHIT. You need white people to play the hobbit you need fucking black people to play black people.

You're not being discriminated against, if discrimination is such a big problem for you why don't you fuck off back to Africa I'll even pay for your fucking ticket.

uh.... In all fairness, this idiot is from the Middle East....

What are you even talking about?

The better question is to which idiot the "idiot" refers. At least, that's what I'm asking myself.

Even though his rant may seem a bit unwarranted and needlessly offensive. He's got a point. Its not like a person can play the role of Mbatuwe the Hunter in a movie that plays out in Africa. For the same reason a middle-easterner or black person cannot take the roll of a Took in a Tolkien movie. Thats just silly and stupid. The movie shouldnt be punished just because some ignorant brown-shaded tard hasnt read the damn books or the lore.

 

[JDKJ]

Fucking load of mother fucking horse shit. If they did a film about Africa and they where asked to find Africans it wouldn't be racist. THIS IS FUCKING HORSESHIT. You need white people to play the hobbit you need fucking black people to play black people.

You're not being discriminated against, if discrimination is such a big problem for you why don't you fuck off back to Africa I'll even pay for your fucking ticket.

uh.... In all fairness, this idiot is from the Middle East....

What are you even talking about?

The better question is to which idiot the "idiot" refers. At least, that's what I'm asking myself.

Even though his rant may seem a bit unwarranted and needlessly offensive. He's got a point. Its not like a person can play the role of Mbatuwe the Hunter in a movie that plays out in Africa. For the same reason a middle-easterner or black person cannot take the roll of a Took in a Tolkien movie. Thats just silly and stupid. The movie shouldnt be punished just because some ignorant brown-shaded tard hasnt read the damn books or the lore.

double post