Can the spiral descend any further?

[alias_sqbr]

delux_vivens posted to deadbrowalking asking for manips of Vanessa Williams as Galadriel (there's been an ongoing discussion about the whitewashing of Avatar etc and the question "If it's ok to make non-white characters white, why not vice-versa?")

Normally I lurk there since I don't trust myself not to say something dumb (it's aimed at POC, but I find it's the only decent place to get an anti-racist POV on scifi), but I decided it wouldn't do any harm to have a go, and I've been pondering trying my hand at photoshopping for a while but didn't have any inspiration.

So, rather chucked together since there was no way it wasn't going to be fairly crap as a first attempt:
Vanessa Williams as Galadriel.

So, I've done: fanart, fanfic, fancomics, a vid, cosplay, and now a manip. Anything I'm missing? Macros, I guess. I can do that :D


My rambly thoughts....
The idea of casting Lord of the Rings with people not of north-western european ancestry(*) is interesting. At first I thought "But Tolkein was explicitly imagining it as a history of England, with the different races corresponding to the peoples who populated England in pre-history!". But thinking about it,
(a) Not everyone who lived there in pre-history was super pasty
(b) He took enough liberties with history and myth there's no reason not to take a few more
(c)That may have been his intention but it's not explicit in the text, and there's lots of good adaptations which use a different interpretation of the text than the author's.
(d) A good adaptation doesn't have to (and usually won't) stick strictly to the text (Peter Jackson certainly didn't)

Also of course the wizards and elves etc are a whole different thing so there's no reason they have to be white at all. Hmm. Now I'm imagining a deconstructed version where the elves etc are non-white and the humans taking over is a metaphor for colonialism: after all, as I recall elves in myth are based on the original inhabitants of the British Isles who were driven out by later invaders.

nb please do not play Bingo in the coments :P

(*)I'd say "White people" but I think even casting people from the Mediterranean would change the feel a bit. It might at least get rid of the "Pasty good humans, swarthy dark humans" dichotomy

Comments

[baby-elvis.livejournal.com]

You've done fan costumes too.

Hmm, how about fan baking?

[alias_sqbr]

Good point! *adds cosplay*

I'm sure I have done fan baking but no examples are coming to mind. *ponders*

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

Having watched TFotR five times in a week, I still think Blanchett's nose is too big for her to be an elf. =/

(There's an interesting point to the awfully lolarious Dragonball casting - all of the white actors are playing non-humans.)

[alias_sqbr]

I have to say that I have no strong opinions on the nose-sizes of elves one way or another, so it never bothered me.