CAST FOR THE HOBBIT ANNOUNCED

[Tulin]

Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who) has already been cast as Radagast the Brown, though last I heard he hadn't officially signed any contract. That was during the whole labor issue in New Zealand, though. Now that that's been sorted out, McCoy will probably sign on officially.

Uh oh.

A white, elderly, English Dr. Who actor playing a character called "Radagast the BROWN".

That'll get the PC nutjobs' heads spinning in "Exorcist"-like rage!!!

 

[Captaindemotion]

Actually, the most screaming about casting in LOTR was from the avowedly and proudly politically incorrect brigage about Jackson's temerity in casting a homer-sexshule as Gandalf. Sorry to break into your little bubble of unreality.

 

[Gaith]

Why? Everyone knows that Gandalf "goes up the down staircase", if you know what I mean.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

^ You got it wrong. It was Saruman who traded in his white robes for a "robe of many colors."

 

[Silvercrest]

No no, you're all wrong. It was Frodo and Sam, cross-dressing in Orcish drag and declaring their love for each other.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Drat.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Moreover, there was absolutely nothing in the movie version of LOTR - and people are entitled to expect continuity and consistency between those movies and these - to say what colour or ethnicity the peoples of the various parts of Middle Earth are meant to have been.

Except for the fact that Elvish sounds a lot like Welsh, so it would have been kinda weird if they all looked Latino, for instance, but spoke an obviously old-fashioned British language.

Have you met Catherine ( often cast as a Latina) Zeta Jones?

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Have you met Catherine ( often cast as a Latina) Zeta Jones?

No, but if I can do so without incurring a restraining order, I plan to.

 

[Gaith]

Moreover, there was absolutely nothing in the movie version of LOTR - and people are entitled to expect continuity and consistency between those movies and these - to say what colour or ethnicity the peoples of the various parts of Middle Earth are meant to have been.

Except for the fact that Elvish sounds a lot like Welsh, so it would have been kinda weird if they all looked Latino, for instance, but spoke an obviously old-fashioned British language.

Have you met Catherine ( often cast as a Latina) Zeta Jones?

And why is she "often cast as a Latina"? Because of Mask of Zorro, where she played Anthony Hopkins' daughter, and since Hopkins' character was Spanish, she was thus playing a Californian-born European, not a Latina. Apart from Traffic, which I'll give you, I don't see a single instance of her playing a Latina. And even then, I don't see any indication that her character couldn't have been a Spanish-born woman living in Mexico, and thus not a Latina. But I'll still give you the example, because your argument needs the help.

Now, take an actress who actually looks/is Latina... say Scrubs' Judy Reyes, and picture her living in Rivendell (note the English-ness of that name) and speaking Elvish... it'd be a little weird. IMHO. YMMV.

 

[Skywalker]

I did find it amusing that three of the four major Hispanic characters in The Mask of Zorro were actually played by British actors (Hopkins and Zeta-Jones Welsh, Stuart Wilson English), and the one actual Mexican character out of the four was played by a Spaniard.

Of course, the actual character of Zorro was first played by an American actor of German descent, so, whatever.

 

[Gaith]

^ Don't forget that Zorro's creator was all-American.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Except for the fact that Elvish sounds a lot like Welsh, so it would have been kinda weird if they all looked Latino, for instance, but spoke an obviously old-fashioned British language.

Have you met Catherine ( often cast as a Latina) Zeta Jones?

And why is she "often cast as a Latina"? Because of Mask of Zorro, where she played Anthony Hopkins' daughter, and since Hopkins' character was Spanish, she was thus playing a Californian-born European, not a Latina. Apart from Traffic, which I'll give you, I don't see a single instance of her playing a Latina. And even then, I don't see any indication that her character couldn't have been a Spanish-born woman living in Mexico, and thus not a Latina. But I'll still give you the example, because your argument needs the help.

Now, take an actress who actually looks/is Latina... say Scrubs' Judy Reyes, and picture her living in Rivendell (note the English-ness of that name) and speaking Elvish... it'd be a little weird. IMHO. YMMV.

You do realize that being of Spanish decent but born in the Americas is part of what being a latina is. Are you going to claim Ricardo Montalban isn't a Latino because his parents came from Spain? My red haired, blue eyed and pale skinned wife is a Latina. Why? Because her family (immigrants from Spain) have been living in Mexico for a couple of centuries. You might want to expand your view of what a Latina or even the Welsh can look like.

 

[Thestral]

Have you met Catherine ( often cast as a Latina) Zeta Jones?

And why is she "often cast as a Latina"? Because of Mask of Zorro, where she played Anthony Hopkins' daughter, and since Hopkins' character was Spanish, she was thus playing a Californian-born European, not a Latina. Apart from Traffic, which I'll give you, I don't see a single instance of her playing a Latina. And even then, I don't see any indication that her character couldn't have been a Spanish-born woman living in Mexico, and thus not a Latina. But I'll still give you the example, because your argument needs the help.

Now, take an actress who actually looks/is Latina... say Scrubs' Judy Reyes, and picture her living in Rivendell (note the English-ness of that name) and speaking Elvish... it'd be a little weird. IMHO. YMMV.

You do realize that being of Spanish decent but born in the Americas is part of what being a latina is. Are you going to claim Ricardo Montalban isn't a Latino because his parents came from Spain? My red haired, blue eyed and pale skinned wife is a Latina. Why? Because her family (immigrants from Spain) have been living in Mexico for a couple of centuries. You might want to expand your view of what a Latina or even the Welsh can look like.

Not to mention that if you go back far enough, there's heavy connections between Iberia (ie Spain) and the British Isles which predate the Roman conquests which brought Latin (and thus Spanish) and the Saxon/etc. invasions. So a Welsh woman playing a Spaniard or Latina isn't that outlandish, really.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Well, since we're all descended from the very first humanoids ... or, for that matter, protein strains in the organic soup of early earth ...

 

[Gaith]

@ Nerys Myk: Okay, I should have specified that Elena de la Vega is a "Latina with no indigenous American heritage", I guess. Point is, C Z-J doesn't play those sorts of roles. And I think you knew that.

Also, you quoted but didn't engage with my Judy Reyes analogy. Got me all excited there that we might actually discuss the prospective Hobbit movie. You might want to only quote paragraphs which you intend on replying to, lest you shatter fellow BBSers' hopes and dreams.

 

[Harvey]

Re: Casting for Middle-Earth: non-whites can totally audition!

No-one is suggesting that Abraham Lincoln should be played by Denzil Washington.

Well, if it was as much fun as Ossie Davis playing JFK, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

lest you shatter fellow BBSers' hopes and dreams.

You still have hopes and dreams? Whatsamattawichoo?

 

[Nerys Myk]

@ Nerys Myk: Okay, I should have specified that Elena de la Vega is a "Latina with no indigenous American heritage", I guess. Point is, C Z-J doesn't play those sorts of roles. And I think you knew that.

Also, you quoted but didn't engage with my Judy Reyes analogy. Got me all excited there that we might actually discuss the prospective Hobbit movie. You might want to only quote paragraphs which you intend on replying to, lest you shatter fellow BBSers' hopes and dreams.

Since we dont know the full background of Jones' character in Traffic, she might very well have played "those sorts of roles". My point was that the arguably most well known Welsh actress currently active has twice played Latina roles. And those two roles helped define and establish her prominance as an actor.

Your paragraph about Reyes was address by my comments about your narrow definition of what a Latina looks like. Being a Dominican, Reyes' background and appearence would be different than a Latina from Mexico or Chile. She's not the standard by which all Latinas can be judged. ( as if such a thing could exist)

I've no problem with someone of Reyes' looks living in Rivendell. There is an Elven quality to her looks. Though based on her perceived height, perhaps Hobbiton would be a better fit.

 

[Gaith]

lest you shatter fellow BBSers' hopes and dreams.

You still have hopes and dreams? Whatsamattawichoo?

It was a long day. The healed up overnight.

 

[Kegg]

Now, take an actress who actually looks/is Latina... say Scrubs' Judy Reyes, and picture her living in Rivendell (note the English-ness of that name)

Try Imladris on for size.

Besides, Elvish is more Finnish really, as I've kinda observed.