Race row erupts over The Hobbit

news.com.au ^ | 29th November 2010

[naturalman1975]

PETER Jackson's troubled Hobbit project has become embroiled in a race row after a would-be extra was told she was too dark to play one of the pint-sized Tolkien creatures, reports said.

Briton Naz Humphreys, who has Pakistani heritage, attended a casting session in the New Zealand city of Hamilton last week, queueing for three hours only to be told her skin tone was not suitable, the Waikato Times reported.

"It's 2010 and I still can't believe I'm being discriminated against because I have brown skin," Humphreys told the newspaper.

"The casting manager basically said they weren't having anybody who wasn't pale-skinned."

The newspaper said video footage showed the casting manager telling people at the audition: "We are looking for light-skinned people. I'm not trying to be - whatever. It's just the brief. You've got to look like a hobbit."

[Blue Collar Christian]

I don’t remember the asian Marlon Brando, what was the film?

The John Wayne film would probably not been made had it not been for John Wayne, or would have sold few tickets, I suppose in the minds of Hollywood then. We have much more talent to pull from these days as in diverse representation form all over the world...and I’m sure that racism was exercised from time to time in those days...

[battousai]

Sounds like she must have lined up just for this opportunity at a shake down... oh well Hollywierd should love it being the compassionate liberals that they are ;)

[dfwgator]

And I think John Wayne played Gengis Khan... And it was retarded at the time and hilarious to look at.

Wasn't that the movie that was filmed near where the atomic tests took place in Nevada, and almost all of the actors eventually wound up dying of cancer?

[little jeremiah]

From reading many British childrens’ books while growing up (many written in the early to mid 1900s), tanned skin was usually called “brown”. It meant tanned white skin. Not the dark brown of of for instance African, Arab or some Asian skin.

Tolkien was using “brown” in that sense.

[muleskinner]

That’s precious

[naturalman1975]

I collect English children's books and I am aware of their use of language, and yes, 'brown' was a common term used to describe suntan by authors such as Enid Blyton.

But Tolkien's useage is different. The whole Harfoot group of Hobbits was described by Tolkien as naturally brown skinned. The Fallohides were described as fair. This had nothing to with tanning - it was their natural colouration.

Before the crossing of the mountains the Hobbits had already become divided into three somewhat different breeds: Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides. The Harfoots were browner of skin, smaller, and shorter, and they were beardless and bootless; their hands and feet were neat and nimble; and they preferred highlands and hillsides. The Stoors were broader, heavier in build; their feet and hands were larger, and they preferred flat lands and riversides. The Fallohides were fairer of skin and also of hair, and they were taller and slimmer than the others; they were lovers of trees and of woodlands.

- JRR Tolkien - Prologue, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

[irishtenor]

Teahouse of the August Moon

[thecodont]

From reading many British childrens’ books while growing up (many written in the early to mid 1900s), tanned skin was usually called “brown”. It meant tanned white skin. Not the dark brown of of for instance African, Arab or some Asian skin.

Tolkien was using “brown” in that sense.

The Barefoot Boy
John Greenleaf Whittier

Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek of tan!

[TheThinker]

‘The Harfoots were browner of skin, smaller, and shorter, and they were beardless and bootless...

Ah, well then the Paki can be a Harfoot. Tolkein gave us all an out...

[ApplegateRanch]

And I’m “too pink” to play Porgy, so it all evens out in the end.

[ApplegateRanch]

AFAIK, there are no such things as Hobbits

Not any more. The last (known) Hobbits died on Flores Island, Indonesia.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Precisely!

[Redcloak]

One could thus argue, due to their preference for flatlands and riversides, that the Shire Hobbits were descended from the Stoors and not the darker Harfoots. Therefore this Jihadi...um... er... Actress doesn't fit the bill for a role as a Shire Hobbit.

[dr_lew]

“Schwarzenegger” means “Black Plowman” according to Arnold’s own statement years ago on the Dick Cavett show. Cavett wondered how the Shriver’s reacted to a “Black Plowman” joining the family, which elicited a smile from him.

[Slings and Arrows]

Margaret Cho, call your agent!

[Happy Rain]

And Chuck Conner played Geronimo.

[Altura Ct.]

You've got to look like a hobbit.

Gee what a novel idea. Tolkien specifically and purposely made Hobbits white. Not to mention it is their movie so they should be able to cast whom they want. Of course the multicults, history re writers and even the 'colorblind' conservatives will say hey we are all the same so what difference does it make we are all Borg aren't we?

[momtothree]

Peter Jackson had the same issues with Lord of the Rings. People were saying he was racist since there weren’t black actors. IMHO he is trying to stay true to the original work. Why can’t Mel Gibson play Malcolm X? Just a thought.

[Christian Engineer Mass]

OK, but they can and do pick pakistanis because they are pakistanis

[Oztrich Boy]

Remember the plot contortions that were necessary to get Morgan Freeman into Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood?

Plot contortions have always been involved to get new characters into the Robin Hood mythos: Friar Tuck, Maid Marian, King Richard - all added because someone thought they would add something to the original story.

The Saracan Swordsman is the the 20^th Century addition

Mark Ryan as Nasir in Robin of Sherwood (1983)

Danny John-Jules as Barrington in Maid Marian and her Merry Men (1989)

Morgan Freeman as Azeem in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (1991)

Anjali Jay as Djaq in Robin Hood(2006)