‘Star Trek: Picard’ Actress Whoopi Goldberg The Latest Celebrity To Imply Critics Of ‘House Of The Dragon’ And ‘The Rings Of Power’ Are Racist
Josh Berger
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Unable to keep her insufferably woke opinions to herself, Whoopi Goldberg is making headlines after labeling critics of House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as racists for expressing legitimate concerns regarding their treatment of their respective source materials.
Source: The View, YouTube
“I want to start by saying these are not real, okay?” prefaced Goldberg in a recent episode of ABC’s The View. “The new ‘Lord Of The Rings’ series, The Rings Of Power, and Game Of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon are both massive hits, but they don’t exist in the real world, okay?”
She further argued, “There are no dragons, there are no hobbits; you know that. And there are critics who are saying they were too woke by adding diverse characters.”
“Are you telling me black people can’t be fake people too?” she demanded. “Is that what you’re telling me?”
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
“I don’t know if there’s like a hobbit club. I don’t know if there are going to be protests, but, people, what is wrong with you all?” Goldberg continued, at which point co-host Sunny Hostin noted that “the argument is [that the race-swapping of various characters] betrays the source material.”
To this, a very confident, biased, and clueless Goldberg asserted that anyone leveling such criticisms “haven’t read the source material.”
Wil Johnson as Ser Vaemond Velaryon and Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon in House of the Dragon
Hilariously, Hostin then interjected to herself push back against fans of “J.K. Tolkien or something like that” – yes, actually.
Shamlessly claiming to be a “fantasy nerd”, Hostin declared in support of Goldberg’s whining, “What I think is fascinating is like, dragons are okay, 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.”
Source: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 1 “A Shadow of the Past” (2022), Amazon Studios.
In attempting to strengthen her derision of each series’ source material fans, the Star Trek: Picard actress turned to point out how Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid – as based on the eponymously named Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen – will star Halle Bailey as a race-swapped version of the fair-skinned princess.
“Well, you all are going to lose your minds when you see the new Ariel because, you know, and I don’t want to upset any mermaids who are watching the show, because I know there are many communities of mermaids of various colours and, when I say of ‘various colours,’ I’m not playing,” bellowed Goldberg.
Source: Halle Bailey Dishes on Favorite ‘The Little Mermaid’ Songs and Thirst Trap Advice for ‘This or That’ via Variety, YouTube
“There are violet mermaids, there are pink mermaids, there are black mermaids, there are Latina mermaids, there are mermaids of every ilk,” she condescendingly added. “And you know why there can be? Because it’s the world that we would like to see better.”
“We would like to see as many people represented in fantasy,” Goldberg concluded, ultimately ordering, “So all of you, who have problems because there are black hobbits, get a job! Get a job. Go find yourself because you’re focused on the wrong stuff.”
Source: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 2 “Adrift” (2022), Amazon Studios.
Of course, before one assume she came up with these arguments on her own, it should be noted Goldberg was only pushing the same rhetoric that both HBO and Amazon have been pushing in an attempt to counter legitimate criticism raised by fans of the Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings franchises, respectively.
Just last month, House of the Dragon star Steve Toussaint implied that individuals criticising the race-swapping of Lord Velaryon in the Game of Thrones prequel are racist, declaring that “They are happy with a dragon flying. They’re happy with white hair and violet-colored eyes, but a rich Black guy? [To them] That’s beyond the pale.”
Source: House Of The Dragon: Corlys Velaryon Featurette (2022), HBO Max
Taking a page out of Toussaint’s playbook, The Rings of Power star Lenny Henry leveled the same argument against critics of his show, disingenuously dismissing any legitimate complaints fans may have in the process.
Source: LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 30: Sir Lenny Henry arrives at the afterparty for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” world premiere at The British Museum on August 30, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Prime Video)
“[House of the Dragon star] Steve Toussaint keeps saying…The purists were saying things about [his casting in the show] God bless them,” Henry said. “They have no trouble believing in a dragon, but they do have trouble believing that a Black person could be a member of the court. Or that a Black person could be a hobbit or an elf.”
“And actually, storytellers can do what they want, because they’re storytellers,” the actor doubled down. “In the reimagining of these stories from 1000 years ago, they are not part of the canon that everybody knows, this is a re-imagining and re-weaving of the story.”
Source: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 1 “A Shadow of the Past” (2022), Amazon Studios.
RELATED: The Lord Of The Rings Fan Site Fixes Prime Video’s Accusations Of Racism Against J.R.R. Tolkien Fans
Even Amazon Studios and Prime Video themselves made some heinous accusations of racism against The Lord of the Rings fans who have offered legitimate criticism of The Rings of Power‘s questionable production decisions.
“JRR Tolkien created a world which, by definition, is multi-cultural,” tweeted the series’ official Twitter account on September 8th. A world in which free peoples from different races and cultures join together, in fellowship, to defeat the forces of evil. Rings of Power reflects that. Our world has never been all white, Middle-earth is not all white. BIPOC belong in Middle-earth and they are here to stay.”
Source: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 1 “A Shadow of the Past” (2022), Amazon Studios.
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