I agree to an extent with
Pitchwife. They didn't seem to have a problem casting a Scottish actor for Pippin, or completely ruining Faramir's character, or turning Frodo into a weakling, or giving Boromir and Faramir fair hair, or making Legolas into a princess instead of a prince...why should they have a problem casting a brown-skinned actress, considering Tolkien explicitly stated that Hobbits in general have brown skin (except Fallohides). In fact, I was a little surprised that the Hobbits in PJ's LotR had such fair skin.
I wouldn't say it's 'racism' but it definitely is 'stupidity'. Ok, rant over
