Current Events > Wait... People are mad that there are black elves and black dwarves?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Avatar: The Last Airbender's Katara:
https://i.imgur.com/hujeou5.png

The Last Airbender:
https://i.imgur.com/cHZKGSQ.png

Avatar: The Last Airbender's Sokka:
https://i.imgur.com/36ApqEI.png

The Last Airbender:
https://i.imgur.com/D3OrnVo.png

"This ancient mythology mentions gnomes and bird people, but goddamn you know they were white! I mean, come on, the people who believed in it were white! "

• Talking trees
• Orcs
• Wizards
• Balrogs
• Talking dragons

I don't see ANYBODY defending ANYTHING The Last Airbender movie did. There was a huge fuss about those choices at the time as well. Even if the movie didn't suck eggs, it was doomed to fail.

Are there any?

I don't see ANYBODY defending ANYTHING The Last Airbender movie did. There was a huge fuss about those choices at the time as well. Even if the movie didn't suck eggs, it was doomed to fail.

Remember when we made Egyptian movies that were full of white people?

Yes, the movie sucked, but the point of posting that example was Gamerguymass making a huge deal about elves and dwarves being black in the show, but then when asked about examples whitewashing, he has to ask:

If he can ignore whitewashing so much that he doesn't even know it happens, he can ignore black elves and dwarves all the same. He chooses not to, though.

I literally said I couldn't think of any recent examples off the top of my head, not that it never has happened ever. I honestly forgot about the ancient one, but wasn't that done to bow down to China in the first place? So it's not the best example of whitewashing, if anything people should be complaining to Marvel for giving in to China in the first place.

I also never said I didn't have a problem with it. Obviously people complain more about stuff they are more personally familiar with or things that are more publicly known. Everyone and their mother knows what lord of the rings is, very few people care about the last air bender. Besides people were complaining about the race swapping when the movie came out anyway, so its not like no cared and said it didn't matter.

The issue is why it is only stories based off of European history/myth/legend/folklore that needs to be made "diverse" and not anything else.

For real. the Lord of the Rings universe has:
* Talking trees
* Orcs
* Wizards
* Balrogs
* Talking dragons

"But don't you DARE make an elf or a dwarf black!"

If they'd read them they'd know the movies changed a shitton as well and it's a silly thing to get upset about.

The vast majority of complaints are from a bunch of people who love the movies complaining that the new show changes too much from books they've never read. If they'd read them they'd know the movies changed a shitton as well and it's a silly thing to get upset about.

I do feel bad for the people who actually read all of Tolkien's work and were hoping for the first truly faithful adaptation of middle earth. But those aren't the people complaining about black characters. The people doing that wouldn't have the attention span to get through even the LOTR novel. And, definitely not any of the other middle earth books.

I'm not even sure where people have gotten the idea that

A: Europe was all white in ye olde times (it was not)

B: Europe even used the modern understanding we have of "race" (they did not, at least not until the ~1500s)

This whole thing seems out there if you're even mildly educated. That being said I'm not watching Rings of Power because the Hobbit trilogy fucking sucked lol

I remember when you made a topic complaining about the dude who plays Corlys in House of the Dragon because he was black.

>implying that Wallace Michael Shawn doesn't have the face of a goddamn cherub

the fucking audacity

Where are the Asian elves and Asian dwarves?

There are folks that hate to see anyone that is darker than a paper bag cast into their fantasy series. God forbid it's an important character too.

Where are the Asian elves and Asian dwarves?

Asia doesnt exist in middle Earth.

Drzzt Do'urdern is pretty popular.

I have wanted a Drizzt movie since the 90s. I wish someone would make that instead of the generic DnD movies. I want a Forgotten Realms film series

Drzzt Do'urdern is pretty popular.

He's literally the "exceptional negro" trope in elf form.

I have wanted a Drizzt movie since the 90s. I wish someone would make that instead of the generic DnD movies. I want a Forgotten Realms film series

There are plenty of popular Drow in the forgotten realms. Jarlaxle is a huge fan favorite.

He's literally the "exceptional negro" trope in elf form.

You are aware Jarlaxle is also an exception to the rule, right? And he's charming but hardly altruistic like Drizzt. Drizzt is the only one who's actually good and is seen as an aberration from the rest of his race. They literally are evil by birth/race. Not choice.

Zaknafein was good.

People bringing up drow in this topic is wild.

Dark elves don't exist in Middle Earth. The term gets used like twice in the silmarillion as a slur for elves who have never been to the undying lands.

Zaknafein was good. Drizzt inherited his good nature. Zak just didn't have a strong enough will to leave the Menzoberranzan. Drizzt also had a sister who had a good heart and she was grateful when she died to be free of Lolth.

I'd argue that Jarlaxle may not be fully altruistic, but he genuinely cares about Artemis and Athrogate. He was also a good friend of Zak and looked out for Drizzt because of that. Hardly someone evil by birth or race.

There are others as well, they just tend to get sacrificed to Lolth when their nature is discovered. It is cannon in the Forgotten Realms setting that there was a colony of Drow living on the surface who broke free of the oppresive regimes of their city and worshipped non evil deities.

Early on, Drizzt assumes that every other drow besides his father and himself were evil, but he was proven wrong over time.

No, he wasn't. He couldn't break free of his obligations to Menzoberrazan. He wasn't Drizzt, which proves the point. Drizzt was the exception to the rule. He's extraordinary for a dark elf. That's literally the point of the character.

I think you should look up the definition of "exceptional negro" before proceeding with the rest of this convo.

Wrong.

I know I missed something but can you explain what you meant by the "exceptional negro" reference?

The difference is that black people are oppressed. Drow are generally vicious evil beings. (The ones who made it to adulthood) Also they tend to be the ones oppressing other races

Except to a person using that term, the oppression doesn't matter because they aren't taking that into account. So it's purely based on them in comparison to the rest of their race, as in Drizzt's case. That's one of the reasons they've made so many changes to the drow over the years. The initial premise was problematic.

Has anyone from the Tolkein estate, or anyone who wouldve known Tolkein, ever commented on what he might have thought?

It's my understanding he was a huge mythology geek (which is what lead to him writing the books in the first place), but I havent read or heard any account of the man that makes him sound like he'd be upset if some random new elf was black. >_>

I'm not "wrong." Adding to the lore 30+ years later doesn't change the initial premise of the characters.

It's a concept describing black people who have "made it," despite being black. As though the norm for black people is being less than, so these individuals are an exception to the rule. See also phrases like "one of the good ones." That's Drizzt.