Part 7/10:
The cast’s public statements reinforce a pattern often seen in modern blockbuster adaptations: virtue signaling dressed as meaningful representation. Boniadi, for instance, describes her character as “the first female dwarf in Tolkien’s universe,” asserting it as a “revolutionary moment.” Critics counter that female dwarves appear in Tolkien’s texts and that the claim of this being a “first” is factually inaccurate—yet such narratives are pushed nonetheless.