Being "Color Blind" ruins the story

[Didi - Member]

Imagine if, in Lord of the Rings, Hobbiton started out full of dwarves and elfs and humans and orcs, because we don't want to seem racist with our casting and it's more "woke" to have a diverse starting group. Lets discuss how much that would ruin the story, and compare that to The Wheel of Time series that has countries and societies with different ethnicity and rich cultural differences based on a long history of social isolation and in some cases xenophobia and racism that makes it obvious just by looking at someone what country they are from. Aemon's Field is clearly stated to be genetically homogeneous because they are all descendants of Manetheren and have been isolated from the rest of their country for so long that they don't even know what country they're in. When they see other peoples from other countries it should be with the amazement of hobbits meeting elves for the first time. The only racially diverse groups in WoT are the Aes Sedia, the Kin, and the Seanchan, and there are very good reasons for why these groups are made up from people's of every nationality/ethnic background. Racial differences are Part of the story, you can't just act like racism doesn't happen. Everyone except Rand who lives in Aemon's Field should look related, with brown hair and eyes, taller and darker skinned than a Cairhienen but shorter than an Aiel and paler than the seafolk.

 

[Harldin - Member]

2 hours ago, Didi said:

Imagine if, in Lord of the Rings, Hobbiton started out full of dwarves and elfs and humans and orcs, because we don't want to seem racist with our casting and it's more "woke" to have a diverse starting group. Lets discuss how much that would ruin the story, and compare that to The Wheel of Time series that has countries and societies with different ethnicity and rich cultural differences based on a long history of social isolation and in some cases xenophobia and racism that makes it obvious just by looking at someone what country they are from. Aemon's Field is clearly stated to be genetically homogeneous because they are all descendants of Manetheren and have been isolated from the rest of their country for so long that they don't even know what country they're in. When they see other peoples from other countries it should be with the amazement of hobbits meeting elves for the first time. The only racially diverse groups in WoT are the Aes Sedia, the Kin, and the Seanchan, and there are very good reasons for why these groups are made up from people's of every nationality/ethnic background. Racial differences are Part of the story, you can't just act like racism doesn't happen. Everyone except Rand who lives in Aemon's Field should look related, with brown hair and eyes, taller and darker skinned than a Cairhienen but shorter than an Aiel and paler than the seafolk.

 

There is a YouTube Channel run by a guy named Daniel Green, i’m sure many here know of him. Several weeks ago he done a Video on this exact subject, highly recommend you go and watch it.

 

[Thrasymachus - Member]

This again?

[Agitel - Member]

I'm not entirely opposed to these types of arguments. I know I've made them for other adaptations, while defending increased diversification in others. The nations in the books are all very carefully developed.

 

I don't know if I'm older, have seen more adaptations come and go (compared to myself in the past), or for some reason am just more okay with these types of liberties being taken in the WoT, but honestly... It just doesn't bother me here.

[Thrasymachus - Member]

Let's be clear about what this complaint is really about.  It's not because the main cast (excepting Rand) look like they come from different races.  Barney Harris is the whitest of the bunch, but even he, with his dark hair and darker complexion fits right in alongside Zoe, Marcus and Madeline.  Beyond that, there's a lot that simple makeup can do to homogenize the looks of the characters if they feel it's necessary.

 

It's because the main characters aren't a bunch of white kids with brown hair and eyes, and one white kid with red hair and blue eyes.  OP wouldn't care if Perrin looked like he came from low-country Germany, Mat looked Welsh, and Nynaeve and Egwene looked Sicilian, as long as they had white skin and looked like they could come from some 1950's middle class white American suburb. 

[Harldin - Member]

Sorry mods, please disregard my reporting a post, completely accidental. 
using a touch screen 

[JenniferL - Community Administrator]

This is literally the dumbest argument anyone has made about the casting.