Recently, we’ve seen some outspoken “fans” of “The Lord of the Rings” novels complain about the diversity of the cast of the new series, ‘The Rings of Power.’ They contend that the series should be faithful to Tolkien’s source material and that changing the race of characters is wrong. Many deem this racist thinking. Well, it’s not just the world of “The Lord of the Rings” that is being targeted by toxic fans who are against diverse casting, it’s also happening with the “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon.” Except for this time, it’s not just fans who are complaining about diversity, it’s folks who actually co-author books with George R.R. Martin.
In a new interview with Variety, two writers who have worked with George R.R. Martin, most recently with the forthcoming book, “The Rise of the Dragon: An Illustrated History of the Targaryen Dynasty, Volume One,” are defending themselves against accusations that they are racist because of their vocal opposition to the diverse casting choices made in “House of the Dragon.” The writing duo (and married couple), Linda Antonsson and Elio M. García Jr., don’t believe their comments are racist, however. They just believe the spinoff should be more faithful to Martin’s vision.
“There are no Black Valyrians and there should not be any in the show,” said Antonsson in a blog post about the fact that the Valyrian house is shown to be comprised of people of color in “House of the Dragon.” This echoes the sentiment of the racist viewers who have sent hateful messages to the actors on the show. In all of these cases, the “fans” and Antonsson believe they’re just being respectful of the source material.
Antonsson thinks people who are upset over her comments are looking at “cherry-picked statements stripped of context.”
She explained that she’s most upset because she is being “labeled a racist, when my focus has been solely on the world building.” Antonsson contends that she has no problem with Black people being included in the series, but “diversity should not trump story.”
Antonsson added, “If George had indeed made the Valyrians Black instead of white, as he mused on his ‘Not a Blog’ in 2013, and this new show proposed to make the Velaryons anything other than Black, we would have had the same issue with it and would have shared the same opinion.”
READ MORE: ‘House Of The Dragon’: Showrunner Miguel Sapochnik Exits The HBO Series
She contends that she’s not actually being racist with her disapproval of Black people being included in the cast as Valyrians, but that it just doesn’t make sense and “raises all sorts of logical questions.”
How does Martin feel about his co-authors being labeled racist and being vocal about their disapproval of the diverse casting of the series? Well, Antonsson said that Martin “doesn’t see the point in engaging with people” on social media and “he has not suggested we should stop sharing our opinions.”
It’s clear that Antonsson has no intention of apologizing for her statements. And since Martin hasn’t spoken out about the comments, it seems as if he’s not willing to condemn the statements or alter his relationship with the writing duo.
Regardless of the controversial opinions, “House of the Dragon” has been a massive hit for HBO and toxic fans voicing their racist opinions isn’t doing much to hurt the show.