Yesterday, this photo came up on my feed and I couldn’t believe the meaning behind it. Since the show premiered, some named “critics” have been complaining about the races portrayed in the show. Specifically, critiquing the diverse cast of color represented in the story. It’s sad to think that we are still dealing with this idiotic mentality. In which universe do these people think they live in?
One of the cast members affected by hateful threats, harassment, and horrible racism is Ismael Enrique Cruz Córdova, an Afro-Latino who is playing the character of Arondir. These threats include death threats. It is absolutely insane that this is happening. I understand that we live in a world surrounded by hate, but I thought that the community around the Tolkien world was better.
These t-shirts are part of the merch shop of a TikToker called Don Marshall, and the Elvish translation on the shirts translates to “You are all welcome here.” This is a perfect show of support for everything that’s been happening. I came upon the video of the creator reacting about the original cast using his merch to make a statement and today the official account of the show posted a statement of their own, posted below.
It’s important to pay attention to what the creators are saying in this statement which explains that the Tolkien world is by no means an all-white world. It’s clear that these people who are claiming that the story doesn’t follow along with the writings of Tolkien have no idea about his work and are using this moment to impose their racist white supremacist beliefs.
0 Comments