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The bell on the door dinged as someone came into the small bar. "Good morning Mr. Hobbit."
"Good morning, Traveler," the Hobbit behind the bar said, continuing to wipe out a mug while grimacing at a computer screen. "It's good to see you around again."
The man shrugged, straightening himself to his full height now that he was inside the bar, the ceilings being more akin to a house for him, whereas for Hobbits, that was simply the natural height of any of their commercial establishments. As such, anyone not of a Hobbit height needed to stoop when entering The White Horse, the entire of which was said to hearken back to the days of The Green Dragon and The Ivy Bush, yet there was still a feeling that things have changed with modern amenities such as the television, and the ability for the barkeep to use the internet.
The barkeep in question tapped his finger on the mouse, still grimacing at the computer screen, before turning to the man. "What would you like to drink today, Menowin, or have you simply dropped by to let me know that your good people are in town and that you'll be able to drop by more often?
"Your usual smile is missing Drogo Proudbody," Menowin said. "What is the latest news from the wider world since we've been in the middle of traveling from place to place?"
The Hobbit let out a sigh, glancing back at the computer screen. "I'm not sure you want to know, but then what's going on does pertain to you as much as it does us."
"Something in the wide world pertains to Hobbits who've managed to remain hidden from the race of Men well into the fifth age?" Menowin said, peeking around the side of the computer. "Must be Tolkien related. Wait? Is that a dirty Hobbit?"
"Harfoot apparently, and apparently, according to the showrunners, Harfoots are our ancestors," Drogo's mouth twisted slightly, his grimace growing ever so slightly...
"But the Harfoot are a type of Hobbit, the first to arrive in the Shire and the most prevalent," Menowin said. "And they're browner of skin like me. No wonder we can relate, being that our people's skin color ranged from browner of skin to fairer of skin." The smile faded as the man sat down on one of the stools, which were one of the places someone of the race of Man could easily sit. "It's more than just that, isn't it?"
"Well, this adaption of Tolkien's hard work certainly isn't going to be The Hobbit , but this is their justification for having Hobbits around during the second age when Tolkien clearly said we had no part," the Hobbit said. "Apparently, it's because the Hobbit type appeals to modern sensibilities, as does diversity. Because we're all supposed to know by now that any mention of someone of darker skin in Britain's historical texts is meant to be a Black person and not some other POC. Or so certain people would like people to believe."
"Person of color?" Menowin said. "Well, that shouldn't be a problem, though, as there's Harad and the East."
"There's a Black Dwarf, a Black Elf, a Black Hobbit," Drogo sighed deeply. "And Tar-Miriel is played by a Black actress." Drogo cleared his throat.
"Wait? They cast a Black actress as Elrond's kin?" Menowin leaned back, almost falling off the stool. "Please tell me she's a Black actress who looks like she could be descended from Elrond's twin brother?"
"Nope," Drogo started wiping another mug, tilting his head as he let out a sigh. "And apparently I'm politically incorrect for saying we've got a Black Elf, that I should say we've got a Puerto Rican Elf despite the fact the actor is actually Black Puerto Rican and thus it's both, rather than one or the other."
"The showrunners said that?"
"Thankfully not, and was someone else instead," Drogo said. "And they've got an actress who is from Iran."
"So, the casting is diverse."
"Well, they certainly think their casting reflects the world we live in," Drogo said. "Though truth be told, I can't help but think that they were doing the usual diversity casting choices, with the only ethnic casting they planned on doing being Black actors, but they ended up lucking out that one of their Black actors was also Puerto Rican thus filling the Hispanic quota, and they also managed to luck out in casting female actresses in their attempt to give women agency to have cast an actress of Iranian decent."
"Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"I admit that I hope that isn't the case, but I didn't see any mention of your folk being mentioned as having been cast. Travelers, the first minority group to historically be in the isles?"
"Isn't that a good thing," Menowin mused, shrugging it off? "They'd likely have called us Gypsy folk rather than Travelers. Or Roma, depending on where they're from."
"Not when their Hobbit—I mean Harfoot—culture is obviously Traveler culture. Remember that dirty Hobbit I showed you? I find it highly ironic that they talk about presenting Tolkien's work as what they say the real world is, yet manage to imply that Traveler folk are a dirty people built right into the narrative they are telling, but I wish they'd stopped and thought about these things. And now they're wondering why the Eldar who love Tolkien's work is not trusting him from what they've seen in the trailers."
"Well, they obviously didn't consider the implications of adding race willy-nilly. I mean," Menowin grumbled. "We're supposed to believe that a line descended from Elron's twin, who would logically be white like Elrond, would be open to interracial marriage when they were protective of their limited immortality, the long lives granted them for having Elven ancestry? Which, in turn, would imply her father was a white racist? But then they made the heir who had thrown usurped before she could become queen POC?"
"Well, they changed that. She is queen, and I think they're going for her thrown being usurped while she is away doing warrior stuff with Galadriel neglecting her kingdom rather than her being the power behind the scenes," Drago said. "I don't even want to know what that implies about Black people, given that the Hobbits—I mean Harfoot—does imply that Traveler folk are a dirty people."
"Definitely not thinking these things through, are they?"
"Nope."