Eldy
Tol Eressea
May 14, 10:02pm
Views: 9739
|
...YouTube comments, as well as (but even more than) internet comment sections in general, tend to be awful and make me want to gouge my eyes out, so they typically give an especially bad impression of any sort of Discourse. That said, Tolkien contained multitudes even more than most people, holding a wide array of views which are very difficult to map onto any common belief system, so people from all around the globe and across the political spectrum or spectrums, since it can be hard to generalise about ideology across every single country have long been able to find meaning in Tolkien's works. Far-right readings of Tolkien have been a notable thing since at least the 1970s, when Italian neofascists ran "hobbit camps" for their youth wings. White supremacist readings of Tolkien can also be found in Nordic countries. Varg Vikernes, who recorded music under the name Burzum (Black Speech "darkness"), is perhaps the most infamous example given his convictions for murder and arson of churches (including one from the 12th century; needless to say, not something I can imagine Tolkien condoning). But you are of course correct that there have been plenty of left-wing readings of Tolkien as well, most notably by the '60s counterculture.
I obviously have my own views and thus consider some readings of Tolkien to be self-evidently wrong, but I can see where they come from. Tolkien stated in Letter 45, "I have in this War [WW2] a burning private grudge which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler [for] Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light." He also disliked the word Nordic for its association with "racialist theories" (Letter 294), though in contemporary times its use is generally pretty neutral. I think this is telling as to Tolkien's own beliefs, but it's not surprising that people who already interpret Norse/Germanic mythology and culture through a white supremacist lens apply that same lens to any modern work which draws inspiration from the same, regardless of authorial intent. Furthermore, Tolkien's works are set in the northwest corner of Middle-earth because he was inspired by the languages, cultures, and geography of northwest Europe, and some readers consequently see the legendarium as "belonging" to northwest Europeans,* and react poorly to fan works or adaptations which implicitly or explicitly dispute this.** Not necessarily many readers in proportional terms, but Tolkien's readership is so huge, and people with strong views so vocal, that it can seem that way.
Anyway, I'm sorry that the comments you came across were upsetting. I withdrew from a number of Tolkien communities in the late 2010s because the alleged political agenda of ROP or the presumed agenda at first, from the moment it was announced and before we even knew what the show would be about significantly changed the tenor of discussion in a lot of places in ways I found draining to my mental health. I miss some of those communities and the friends I made in them, but I think pulling back was the right decision for me. I hope you make whatever the right decisions are for you! :)
---
* Not all of whom were considered white when Tolkien was born, or for much of his life, though a lot of people are very good at forgetting this.
** This is not, of course, to say that the only reason to dislike ROP, or any other Tolkien adaptation, is resentment of its purported political messages. I was, on the whole, unimpressed by ROP S1 myself.
(This post was edited by Eldy on May 14, 10:03pm)
|
