Lord of the RIngs: A Republican Flick???

[JailForBush]

Leave it to the deranged Seattle Times to promte the fabled movie "Lord of the Rings" as a beacon of conservative philosophy. In "The implicit conservatism of 'Lord of the Rings,'" columnist Bruce Ramsey - a certifiable, if not certified, kook - reports that John Rhys-Davies (the actor who plays the dwarf Gimli) was in Seattle the other day to report that the movie speaks to the defense of the West and its values. "This outburst of political incorrectness delighted the folks at Seattle's Discovery Institute, who invited him here to do it again."

He gave another performance at Seattle's Town Hall, where he recalled his father saying in the 1950s that the next great war would be with Islam: "I want to go back and say to him, 'You were right.'"

Reality Check: The Discovery Institute is an extremely bizarre congregation of right-wing corporate creationists. If you don't believe me, check out their website at http://www.discovery.org. ("Beam me up, Scotty!") Town Hall is a venue the Seattle Mafia uses to broadcast its propaganda to a live audience; it's heavily supported by the Seattle Weekly, a corrupt tabloid that masquerades as an alternative newspaper.

Ramsey takes a different view of "Lord of the Rings." He says the magic ring represents political power, which can be oppressive. (No kidding.) He says some people might make the mistake of associating the author, Tolkien, with "black-masked WTO window-smashers." (By the way, evidence suggests that the window-smashers were actually undercover cops or federal agents.)

He goes on to note that the Hobbits are "property-owning farmers." The Hobbits aren't ordered to undertake their quest; it's a moral choice they freely make. I guess this is supposed to make them Republikaaners, too.

Though there's no overt religion in "Lord of the Rings," the author was allegedly Catholic and allegedly "infused his story with themes of perseverance, loyalty, sacrifice, redemption, mercy and hope. The book has not a molecule of moral relativism in it, and one would be hard-pressed to find any satire, cynicism or irony. It is fantasy that takes itself seriously."

Yep, Republicans have a monopoly on perserverance (at screwing their fellow man), loyalty (to corporations), sacrifice (like hiding in Nebraska), redemption, mercy (yeah, right!) and hope. I saw "Return of the King," and I have to confess I don't recall much moral relativism. After all, they were fighting for their survival against one of the most hideous armies ever assembled on the silver screen. They weren't given much choice but fight to the death.

A moral absolutist himself, Ramsey notes that, "The Marxists and deconstructionists of English Lit may ignore 'Lord of the Rings,' and a few of them denounce it as racist (the marauding Uruk-hai in Peter Jackson's movies have dark skin anddreadlocks), but it remains one of the great stories."

Is "Marxists" a code word for "socialists," a term morally rigid conservatives apply to anyone who champions corporate accountability?

It would be interesting to conduct a survey of "Lord of the Ring's" stars and find out how many of them will be voting for George W. Bush. I suspect most would tell Bruce Ramsey to take his idiocy and stuff it where the sun don't shine - deep in his Middle Earth.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2001845035_rams28.html

[PVnRT]

1. It's neither

It's a story. That's it. Tolkein had no political agenda that I know of when writing, at least not one that he ever revealed (only ones that have been inferred by others seeking to co-opt the work for their own purposes).

[Terran]

9. and he specifically ruled out

any idea that it was a relgious allegory. He said such a thing would be blasphemous.

Why is it that rightwing nuts are so eager to see things in the LOTR that simply aren't there? Gee, just like the Bible...

Dirk

[Selwynn]

2. Tolkien despised corporate industrialization, therefore

capitalism in its current form of corporate domination. He said that the worst thing that ever happened to "man" was the invention of the combustible engine. He had an extreme love of nature, and believed that power held by the few was absolutely corrupting.

Yup, that's sounds real republican to me.

[bryant69]

3. The movies need to be taken as a whole

they are a complete work--any scene can be picked out and claimed as a republican or liberal scene. But I'm not sure those labels apply.

It's also described as a militaristic movie--supporting war. To that one might respond with the first scene with Faramir where he tursn over one of the Southerners who has died and asked if he was evil for fighting where he was told to fight.

On the other hand writers like incorporating pop culture references into their work; it's a lazy way to kill time.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[JCMach1]

4. Here is some classic DU to refute such a premis

What Hobbits Can Teach America
November 26, 2001
by Jerald Cumbus= JCMach1


With the impending release of the new film The Fellowship of the Ring, I thought it would be important to explore how this material is relevant to us in America today. There is little doubt that the film will be hugely successful. The large built-in fan base and Hollywood marketing will assure that. But, as good or bad as this film may be I want to launch a strike before America's film critics get hold of it. I have little doubt that our myopic critics in this country will reduce the story to one of Good vs. Evil. Also, there is little doubt that they will use that simplistic explanation to explain the probable success of the film. However, I believe Hobbits have much they can teach America and it goes far beyond such myopic reductions...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/01/11/26_hobbits.html

[NewJeffCT]

5. Well, Bush did perservere

He peservered through drug & alcohol abuse, multiple arrests, multiple failed business opportunities and a failed governorship to become the most hated man in the world!

[Judi Lynn]

7. Exquisite! He surely did. He's just our "pRes." n/t

[starroute]

6. Viggo Mortensen

---- Viggo on Charlie Rose (Early Dec. 2002) ---

Charlie Rose: You are obviously making a political statement with your
t-shirt. (Viggo is wearing a t-shirt, "No More Blood For Oil."

Viggo Mortensen: I wouldn't normally, but it's sort of a reaction to - I've heard a lot of people say to me, and I've read in a lot of places, about the first movie, and increasingly about the second one - I've seen where people try to relate it to, you know, the current situation and specifically the United States and their role in the world right now, and I.... If you're going to compare them, then you should get it right. I don't like hearing... I play the character that's defending Helm's Deep, and I don't think that "The Two Towers" or Tolkien's writing or Peter's work or our work has anything to do with the United States' foreign adventures, you know, at this time, and it upsets me to hear that in a way, and it upsets me even more that questioning what is going on right now, what the United States is doing , is considered treasonous, really, and "how dare you say that" and "how un-American of you." And really, this country is founded on the principal that if the government isn't serving the people, you at least have the right to say "Wait a minute! What's going on?" And there are no questions really being asked at large about what we're doing. Whereas in "The Two Towers," you have different races, nations, cultures, coming together and examining their conscience and unifying against a very real and terrifying enemy. What the United States has been doing for the past year is bombing innocent civilians without having come anywhere close to capturing Osama bin Ladin or any presumed enemy, and you know, as a distraction we're now - apparently it's a given - we're hell-bent on increasing the bombing that has been going on for the past 11 years in Iraq. And I don't think that the civilians on the ground in those countries look at us in the way that maybe Europeans did at the end of World War II, you know, waving flags in the streets. I think that they see the U.S. government as Saruman, you know.

http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~msgill/viggoflyer/ViggoCRoseInterview.html

[bryant69]

11. Yep

The oraganization in favor of bringing back the blacklist, Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti American Hollywood ( http://www.pabaah.com/ ) encouraged their mind controlled drones to steer clear of the Return of the King because of that statement.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[damnraddem]

8. The DI is a well-funded rightwing portrayer of lies.

They champion 'Intelligent Design' Creationism, deny that HIV causes AIDS, and so on. Their 'fellows' try to pass themselves off as scientists (the few who have science degrees have little in the way of scientific track records to show for them). Their arguments are continually debunked by knowledgeable critics, but they never let that keep them from using the same tired arguments again and again.

So now they want to be hobbits? Well, bless their little furry feet -- but watch those feet: they're made of very crumbly clay.

[Az]

10. Tolkien denied any message

But the distaste for industrial machinations without compassion is a recurrent theme. Thus it is anything but a testimony for current corporate values.

It does ring true in many ways for the religious right however. This is due to its absolute morality and battle between absolute evil and good. LOTR divides the world in the way the religious right wants it. Evil is Evil with a capital E and Good is just as defined. There is none of the ambiguity of right and wrong as found in Harry Potter.

[Cannikin]

12. Its Republican if you consider them the bad guys....read on...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=983455