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Original Hobbits Defend Rings Of Power From Racist Attacks With Charity Campaign
Hobbits really are amazing creatures.

Original Hobbits Defend Rings Of Power From Racist Attacks With Charity Campaign

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Original Lord of the Rings cast members Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan recently banded together on social media to support the perse casting in Prime Video’s new series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The series, which launched its first two episodes on September 2 to critical acclaim especially pertaining to its cinematography, visuals, and musical score with a 25 million viewers worldwide, has come under fire from fans upset by the casting of actors of color in prominent roles.

Wood, Boyd, and Monaghan posted a photo wearing shirts that feature the ears of Middle-earth creatures in various skin tones with a simple message: You are all welcome here.

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You Are All Welcome Here @LOTRonPrime @DonMarshall72 #RingsOfPower https://t.co/8txOhlHa2f pic.twitter.com/nWytILT0zG

— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) September 7, 2022

The trio was joined by the other former Hobbit co-star Sean Astin who posed with a hat with the same emblem on his Twitter. Both Wood and Astin linked to the online store where fans can purchase their own shirts or any other item with the design on it. The shirt as seen in the photo is selling for $22 with 50 percent of all proceeds will go to a charity that supports people of color, according to the shop owner.

The Rings of Power is just the latest high fantasy show under fire from fans who outcry that any POC casting isn’t part of the creator’s vision. Similar things were said about HBO’s House of the Dragon with Corlys Velaryon, played by Steve Toussaint, and the multiple blind castings of Amazon’s Wheel of Time series where multiple main characters were cast as POC.

Trolls and review bombers have been targeting the show since before it even premiered, the impacts of which prompted Amazon to shut off the ability for viewers to leave reviews on their own service.

When Amazon originally debuted the promotional images for the characters, the producers expected to receive responses like this, but they wanted to ensure that the series reflected “what the world actually looks like” and felt this would be closer to the spirit of the books.

“Tolkien is for everyone,” executive producer Lindsey Weber stated at the time. “His stories are about his fictional races doing their best work when they leave the isolation of their own cultures and come together.”

Pre-production for the second season was expected to begin in the UK in the second quarter of 2022, taking place at the same time as post-production for the first season, which wrapped in New Zealand this past June. You can check out GameSpot’s review for the first two episodes here.