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When is a movie not just a movie?

Feb 11, 2000 - © Michael Martinez

Numenoreans decide they should be the kings of men, and they end up drowning in the sea because of their arrogance. The Dunedain of Gondor think their kings should have only "pure blood", and they fight a civil war in which "much of the best blood" is spilled (and lost), and the end result is that their kings mingle their family line. And people go on about the half-Orcs. Oh, what a terrible evil they are. Hey, Tolkien was being rather egalitarian on the issue of racial mingling. If the "good guys" could do it, then why couldn't the "bad guys"? But the worst accusations are those in which people say Tolkien pitted white-skinned "good" people against dark-skinned "bad" people. Key villains like Saruman the White always seem to escape their list of offensive bad guys ("But he was a Maia!" -- yes, a WHITE-SKINNED Maia). Grima Wormtongue, Lotho Sackville-Baggins, and even Ted Sandyman are all "white-skinned bad guys". They also happen to betray their own people. Then you have the dark-skinned good guys, but somehow they never get mentioned. While Denethor sits brooding in his tower, going slowly insane and doing everything he can to screw up the war against Sauron, dark-skinned men from Gondor's hinterlands show up to defend his ancient city against the white-skinned Lord of the Nazgul ("But he's a GHOST!" -- yes, well, he started out a Numenorean) and his motley army of multi-ethnic soldiers. Of course, the army of Morgul is where people really try to drive their blunt points home. "Look at all the black people in Sauron's army!" Black people? In Sauron's army. Tolkien descried one group of black-skinned warriors, and he at first described them as "from out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues". Last time I checked, black people didn't have white eyes, and all peoples' tongues are pink. But the rationalizations rise up quickly: 1) "But black people are portrayed with white eyes!" (Ever see an old western where the dark-skinned Indians refer to the white-skinned cavalry as "white eyes"?) Hey, let's not cloud the issue with facts. Everyone's eyes are part white. But Tolkien didn't say these guys had partly dark eyes. Nor did he say they had kinky hair, or describe any other features of black African peoples. He does, later on, call these guys "troll-men". Now, why would he suggest a connection to trolls, creatures of
The copyright of the article When is a movie not just a movie? in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish When is a movie not just a movie? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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