Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, shared a Twitter post featuring a picture of himself alongside Dominic Monaghan (Merry) and Billy Boyd (Pippin) with the caption “You Are All Welcome Here.” In the picture, he and his fellow hobbits could be seen wearing shirts printed with an elvish translation of the caption along with ears of various Middle-Earth races in a variety of skin tones. Rings of Power star Ismael Cruz Córdova added his own grateful reply of “Much love,” while Sean Astin (Sam) joined in as well with a photo of himself wearing a hat using the same design.
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But they weren’t the only ones to speak out. The official Lord of the Rings on Prime Twitter account offered its own statement from the show’s cast later on as well. Using the hashtag #YouAreAllWelcomeHere and the caption, “We stand in solidarity with our cast,” the new kids on the block shared their collective thoughts in a set of images. “We, the cast of Rings of Power, stand together in absolute solidarity and against the relentless racism, threats, harassment, and abuse some of our castmates of color are being subjected to on a daily basis. We refuse to ignore it or tolerate it,” the statement began.
“JRR Tolkien created a world which, by definition, is multi-cultural,” they continued. “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, fantasy has never been all white, Middle-earth is not all white. BIPOC belong in Middle-earth and they are here to stay.” For those unfamiliar, BIPOC stands for “Black, Indigenous, and people of color.” It’s difficult not to have seen the sorts of attacks suffered by actors like Córdova (who plays Arondir in The Rings of Power) by people who seem to think that Black people somehow don’t belong in a world that’s already entirely fictional.
“Finally,” the statement went on in its final image, “all our love and fellowship go out to the fans supporting us, especially fans of colour who are themselves being attacked simply for existing in this fandom. We see you, your bravery, and endless creativity. Your cosplays, fancams, fan art, and insights make this community a richer place and remind us of our purpose. You are valid, you are loved, and you belong. You are an integral part of the LOTR family – thanks for having our backs.”
The extension of this support to the BIPOC community within the fandom as well was certainly a welcome touch, and it should hopefully help any devotees out there who may have felt isolated seeing attacks against actors who look like them.
The idea that racism has no place in any sort of fan community is one that deserves to be spread far and wide like this. Star Wars has to deal with it in cases like Moses Ingram continuing to suffer verbal attacks, and Lord of the Rings is unsurprisingly infected as well. But here’s hoping statements like these become the norm, showing fans and stars alike that everyone truly is welcome.
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Source: Elijah Wood, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Sean Astin, Lord of the Rings on Prime
