The women of “The View” believe that people who don’t like the new Amazon series “Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power” and the “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon” are just racists.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg took the lead in calling out detractors, claiming critics had a problem with black actors in the casts. She reminded them that the fantasy shows are fiction and reiterated that both “are not real” and “there are no dragons, there are no hobbits.”
“Are you telling me black people can’t be fake people, too?” Goldberg said. “I don’t know if there’s, like, a hobbit club, I don’t know if there are gonna be protests. But people: What is wrong with y’all?”
CRITICS SLAM CASTING IN ‘LORD OF THE RINGS,’ ‘HOUSE OF THE DRAGON’: #TheView co-hosts react to criticism of the #TheRingsOfPower and #HouseoftheDragon series casting diverse characters. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/4XrGBJQspt
— The View (@TheView) September 6, 2022
“What I think is fascinating is like, dragons are OK, fire-breathing dragons, and people with white hair that are born like that when they’re little, and violet eyes, but the black people in it is just a bridge too far for these folks,” panelist Sunny Hostin chimed in.
“The View” newbie Alyssa Farah Griff said anyone leaving negative comments should “get a hobby.”
“It’s just racist. Call it what it is,” Joy Behar said.
Goldberg predicted that viewers would be equally opposed to the upcoming live-action remake of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” because that movie has a black lead. As for “Rings of Power” reviewers, she says they should focus their attention on something else.
“All of y’all who have problems because there are black hobbits? Get a job!” she said. “Get a job! Go find yourself, because you are focused on the wrong stuff.”
However, evidence suggests that most of the negative reviews of “Rings of Power” have little to do with adding diversity to the cast. The backlash got so intense that Amazon suspended user reviews for the first 72 hours, claiming critics were “review bombing” the series.
Many negative comments mention clunky dialogue, a lack of depth, and bad acting, but don’t take issue with the skin color of any actors. Even the detractors give credit for beautiful sets and scenery. However, they’re saying the storytelling leaves a lot to be desired.
“The writing is terrible, it is unfathomably dull and nearly unwatchable altogether. Rocks look down? Ridiculous. Lazy. I had a hard time staying awake and will likely give the rest of it a pass,” one Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote. “It’s just not connective or interesting or even related to the LotR except in some ham handed attempt to be ‘like’ it.”
“How can so much money end up in such a disastrous production? The only achievement here is the set. Everything else, costumes, acting, dialogues, script is horrendous. It turns out that money alone cannot buy talent; it cannot even buy quality, apparently,” another person shared.