When is a movie not just a movie?

or hair textures, or any of the other usual stereotypes about ethnic groups. Some of the Southrons appear to be like Arabic peoples (mounted on horseback, dressed in scarlet, sort of like an old "desert Arab" movie from the 1940s and 1950s) and some appear to be like Indians (from India -- mounted on Oliphaunts, etc.) And many people have wondered if the Variags of Khand were a renegade group of Northmen (the term "Variag" was used of Vikings who served in the Byzantine armies). Well, Indians are Asians, but they're not Mongols, or Turks, or Huns, or any of those other Asian stereotypes we see come charging out of the steppes in the movies and history books (not that the movies have really been faithful to history, mind you). And if people are associating the Variags of Khand with Vikings, you have to pretty much say these are perceived as white guys serving the Enemy. So, where does all that leave Peter Jackson? Well, he's making a movie about this book which some Americans believe is racist. Although the book itself speaks against racism in various ways (some subtle, some not so subtle), there are still people who will retrofit today's stereotypes onto Tolkien's generic "enemy soldiers". The enemy is usually faceless to a soldier. The story is told from the point of view of the soldiers who are defending Gondor and the other "free" lands. Sauron is clearly out to dominate the wills of Men and Elves. That's what the whole ring of power thing is about. When the Ring is destroyed and his power shorn from him forever, Sauron loses the ability to dominate the wills of his servants. And then what happens? The whole shebang falls apart. Aragorn's little itty-bitty 6,000 man army mops up the field with an army at least 10 times its size. That's rather impressive, but instead of heralding the advent of jack-booted, goosestepping Dunadan fascism, it marks the first time in centuries that a lot of peoples have been freed from Sauron's control. If even Gandalf -- the white-skinned Maia who dies, goes to heaven, and returns -- is afraid of Sauron's Ring, then there is no shame for the peoples who have been under the domination of the Ring's master for centuries. And Aragorn knows this. Hence, he shows them mercy and lets his former enemies go home. There will be other wars some day,

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic