Tolkien’s Fantasy as Seen From His Grave
Thus far, I’ve seen the first two installments of Amazon’s The Rings of Power. I’ve also read several lengthy expositions on how closely the series reflects or departs from J.R.R. Tolkien’s true vision of the history of Middle Earth. Apparently, some Tolkien fans are furious enough over The Rings of Power to wage a war reminiscent of Sauron’s assault on Minas Tirith. Elon Musk went so far as to say “Tolkien is turning over in his grave”, leaving himself open to a scathing retort from Neil Gaiman.
Back and forth the arguments go. “Tolkien would have never dirtied his work by having a dark-skinned female dwarf.” Or, “Tolkien was a visionary who despised racism and celebrated diversity.” There are many other critiques beyond the racial make-up of the cast, but after a while my eyes glaze over, and I begin to wonder what fantasy world I have landed in. Maybe people just need to focus on something trivial. After all, the daily news outlets incessantly feed us stories more frightening than an army of Orcs pounding a battering ram against our castle gate.
Before I go much further, I confess that I have read The Lord of the Rings trilogy several times. I am an unapologetic fan of this series. I think The Lord of the Rings is the greatest road trip in the fantasy genre. The Lord of the Rings features ordinary (if you consider Hobbits ordinary) characters mingling with legendary figures while pursuing an epic quest. The stunning landscapes paired with the dramatic and fickle weather were just as important as the memorable characters. The Lord of the Rings even served as the inspiration for my first work of fantasy fiction, Brain Power.
But nerdy as I am, I didn’t freak out when Peter Jackson put Tolkien’s beloved story on the big screen. He left out Tom Bombadil, he threw Aragorn off a cliff, and he made Legolas into a mighty ninja. He also made a butt-load of money doing it. His visual creations of Tolkien’s descriptions were pure CGI genius and that alone made the movies worth watching. I knew they were movies, based on a fantasy that swam around for decades in one man’s head. I never expected a blow-by-blow recreation of Tolkien’s work. Film doesn’t work that way and never will.
My advice to those who are caught up in the arguments over The Rings of Power need to take a deep breath. If they need a cause to take up, I would suggest they read the news. People in Jackson Mississippi cannot drink their own water. For months, Russia has been trying to bomb Ukraine into oblivion. Several states in our country want to force ten-year-old rape victims to become mothers. Climate change is causing South Sudan to bake, Western Africa to drown, and California to burn. We even have a major political party in our country that has abandoned all pretext of democracy in order to cater to an autocratic madman. In times like these, perhaps some of these people could put their crusading zeal to better use.
If J.R.R. Tolkien is really turning over in his grave because of Amazon’s The Rings of Power, I would suggest that he get a life, or at least a more proper death. From my perspective, his corpse has little to complain about. At least his books got published. I’m still waiting for my ship to come in and take my manuscripts to the Undying Lands of publication. And if Amazon, Netflix, or Disney want to butcher my fantasy novels, I think I’ll deal with it just fine, even if I’m dead when it happens.