One of Tolkien’s letters describes orcs as“squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes: in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types.”
And I was thinking about, 1.) Look at the legs on these Mongolian wrestlers all decked out for a major national wrestling festival, and also 2.) how Tolkien’s racist description wasn’t enough, and orcs have been depicted as more and more grotesque over time. Canonically orcs more or less just look like humans, but that’s not “other” enough so they keep getting turned in to more and more bizarre looking monsters.
Either way, this is what i’m thinking about when i’m laid up with the 'rona. If y’all like wrestling or buff men in tiny pants check out Mongolian wrestling. From what I understand it’s a hugely popular sport there and has been for like a thousand years.
Was doing a bit of reading; apparently the reason the orcs in the Jackson films look all kinds of different ways, with radically different facial structures and skin colors, is Jackson was aware of this description and threw it out. Apparently the idea was that having orcs be wildly diverse in their appearance wouldn’t allow audiences to treat them as a stereotype of any race or ethnic group. Dunno if it’s true but if it is good on Jackson for seeing the problem and addressing it.
Jackson did the right thing there, “accuracy” be damned.