Movies offer theatergoers a reprieve from the real world and a glimpse into fantastical lands, the opportunity to escape the doldrums of life and enter the realm where anything is possible.
Black people love movies for this reason and, though they have great difficulty sitting through them and maintaining the required silence, depart from reality as easily as any other race.
In film, people can watch their heroes come to life in full grandeur and they can remove the worry, doubt and disappointment they feel with the triumphant achievements of the actors they view. Black people love film, although some films and directors they find less appealing than others.
One film(s) is firmly at the top of the list of movies that Black people do not like, and to ask any Black person of their least favorite film would invariably give you one answer: The Lord of the Rings and the the two sequels that followed.
J.R.R Tolkien's masterpiece will never be replicated in its scope, beauty and majestic presentation - in either film or in its book form - and Black people perceived this when watching Peter Jackson's epic 10+ hour films.
The tale of elves, dwarfs, hobbits and men pitted against the forces of evil in defense of Middle-Earth is the ultimate myth of European Man fighting for the only thing that matters on this planet: your own people. Black people understand the idea of universal solidarity almost better than any other race, and what their eyes saw in The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers and The Return of the King left them universally trembling.
You see, in the movies nary a Black face is to be seen, save for the potential metaphor of the Orcs and the armies of the evil Sauron as non-Europeans attempting to subjugate the combined white people of Middle-Earth.
Each movie stands alone as a glorification of whiteness, an idea that Black people see as but a social concept when used to define white people, but when the idea of racial brotherhood is ever discussed, it can only be synonymous with Black people.
In one of the more moving scenes in cinema history (see The Two Towers), the fortress of Helms Deep is about to be overrun by tens of thousands of Orcs, bent on the utter annihilation of the the Middle-Earth's main defense, the Rohirrim:
"Despite Aragorn and Gimli's best efforts, the Uruk-hai manage to penetrate the main door and soon the stronghold is overrun. In the midst of battle, Haldir is slain and the few remaining Elves fall back into the Keep. In the Hornburg, however, the Uruks have also scaled the walls, and have breached the gate, forcing the defenders to retreat into the Keep."Aragorn, the epyonmous King in The Return of the King, rallies those still alive to do what few men in history have ever dared; he tells the King of the Rohirrim to ride out and meet the enemy head on:
Theoden: So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?Black people weren't buying into the elves, dwarfs and wizards routine, no. What they see is only white people depicted as good and the darkened faces of the Orcs as bad. And then they heard Sam, the loyal bestfriend of Frodo, the hobbit in charge of destroying the one ring, utter these words, in a moment of extreme despair:
Aragorn: Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them.
Theoden: For death and glory.
Aragorn: For Rohan. For your people.
Theoden: The Horn of Helm Hammerhand will sound in the deep, one last time!
Sam: It's like in the great stories Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end it's only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it'll shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something even if you were too small to understand why. But I think Mr. Frodo, I do understand, I know now folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something.Black people viewed this movie as the attempted re-birth of some long dead spirit that white people once had, and were shocked such a movie that glorifies whiteness could be made. Black people view the movie as racist.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in the world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.
One writer wrote:
"Dr Stephen Shapiro, an expert in cultural studies, race and slavery, said the author used his novels to present bigotry through a fantasy world... He said: "Put simply, Tolkien's good guys are white and the bad guys are black, slant-eyed, unattractive, inarticulate and a psychologically undeveloped horde."In the trilogy, a small group, the fellowship, is pitted against a foreign horde and this reflects long-standing Anglo-European anxieties about being overwhelmed by non-Europeans, he said."Perhaps one-line in the entirety of movie history can induce shivers down all Black people's spine no more than the one Aragorn yells at the footsteps of the Black Gates of Mordor:
Aragorn: Hold your ground, hold your ground. Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you *stand, Men of the West!*Black people saw this scene in the theaters, they walked out in droves unconsciously. They had just seen a movie that depicted white people as the good guys - a major faux pas in Hollywood - whiteness as the supreme definition of beauty, and non-whites as the enemy.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy will never be replicated again. It is a movie without diversity, or at least to Black people, the wrong kind. And that is why Stuff Black People Don't Like will include anything that comes from Tolkien's pen, or Jackson's video camera.
46 comments:
I knew there was a reason LOTR was my favorite movie.
Gondor = White America
Rohan = Europe
I just hope we´ll unite in time.
Another film black people don't like: Hoosiers.
As you say, "The Lord of the Rings" will never be replicated again. It earnt the status of an autentic European myth, and as a myth it will last forever.
Tolkien was a great man, one of a kind.
Gondor is Dúnedain's homeland, it doesn't represents America.
Rohan is a Nordic realm, though Tolkien didn't like to use the word Nordic but Northern. So it's a Northern realm.
The Middle Earth as a whole represents Europe, with the surrounding areas, such as the Orientals at the East and the Haradrim at the South representing the arabs and blacks.
By the way, your blog is good, keep up the good work :)
Ah I see, you are trying to like the opposite of stuff, white people don't like. Except not as clever and without humour and you clearly are not using it as a means to understand your white friends better and pass that knowledge onto others who may be in the same predicament as you.
Your blog could be good, but its not.
Exactly how is LOTR an example of white unity when humans banded with.... non-humans?
The Elves represent History and the Past, constantly moving away from us, yet reminding of the all that has come before, brave deeds and failings (They are immortal, as is Time). Rohan, with it's superior military, represents America which saved Europe twice in Tolkiens lifetime in the 1st and 2nd World Wars. Gondor, with its failing Aristocracy, its "line of Kings Broken" and its great Castle city is clearly Europe.
Are Black represented by Orcs? Yes.
I don't know that the Orcs represent blacks. Tolkien wrote long before the mass immigration invasion of western societies. Maybe he just wanted them to look ugly and menacing.
Not only blacks dislike these films. Shortly after Aragorn said "I bid you *stand, Men of the West!," if I remember right, the movie ended. Then (I was watching cable) a background voice from the cable network immediately came on and started chuckling at that same phrase. He/they wanted to ridicule it, ridicule being a common method of ideological attack.
That said, as Dunadan put it, Tolkien's trilogy is an authentic European myth, touching on things very deep in the (northern at least) European peoples. Its relevance will last quite a while. It is a rallying point. Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant chronicles is also mythic, and northern.
This is one of the funniest blogs I've ever read.
I agree. This blog is funny. It's even more funny in the fact that apparently Black people are making something of nothing like they usually do. It's not going to be interesting unless a Black person can cry out racism. Imagine this for a moment. If racism stopped tomorrow then Blacks would be very disappointed. They'd have nothing to cry about because no one would care. No one would be afraid of being called racist. Blacks wouldn't know how to react if they had true equality. So to say LoTR as racist. Grow up. It's a fantasy movie. Take it for exactly what it is. Stop trying to make it as something that it's not just for the sake of bitching.
lmao...its funny to read yet its even funnier to pull racisms into the topic and orcs represent blacks? i see highly over rated imaginations...i agree most of the words from anonymous above :)
So, Saruman the white is evil, so he really must be... black??
Im Black and LOTR is my favorite movie.
Nuffsaid.
i don't know about black people hating this movie or not however i thought it seemed vaguely reminiscent of medieval Europe as they cope and combat the Moorish invasion and later the ottoman turks.
The first timr i watched all 3 movies i wondred why they didn't put not even 1 black person
this is my fav 3 movies
This blog shows some promise of wit.
Hey... I think Tolkien was sort of nominally kidnapped, by his black African housekeeper, while a young child in South Africa for a matter of days. Supposedly, the servant wanted to show off the 'handsome' white child to the village. That episode could definitely have peppered JRRT's opinion of the darker races, or at least fueled his avowed Anglophilia. In addition, anyone who has actually read 'The Lord of the Rings'(-never meant to be a trilogy-> might just recall the Uruk-hai being riders of "Wargs." These darkly evil Norse inspired wolves always sounded to me like "Wogs"(eg. dark featured/black)LOL!. Golliwog(the blackfaced doll) and wog don't have the same level of English vernacular ubiquity they did in days gone by. But, in Aussie the Greeks, Italians and other swarthy mixed-blooded Mediterraneans embrace the term 'wog.' It was orginally a pejorative term used against them by Anglo-Australians. BTW I love The LotR; The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. -And, I'm black. "Yes, I chief much Longbottom leaf, with Mithrandir and his peeps. Istari party, while the rest of ya'll benighted ones sleep. Wake up!"~
None of your references have any racist conotations or material - you are clearly scrambling to find facts in order to back up a theory of your race being "hard done by" rather than looking at the material and pulling an actual theory from it. Furthermore, you seem to misunderstand the entire notion of the representation of "evil" in Tolkien's works. The orks, uruks, uru-kai are a nature hating species who care for nothing but industrial progress - this is the main source of "evil" in tolkien's books - NOT the colour of their skin (which is BLUE by the way), if you were truely trying to find a racist conotation from the stories, you could say that tolkien discriminates against the chinese, as they also care for nothing but industrialization at the cost of their air, water and land (however at the time that tolkien wrote his books, it was the white man who cared for nothing but progress and had developped a "mind made of metal wheels" as Sauron the WHITE is described when he turns to the dark side). Lastly, if you're going to discriminate a book, you should also recognize that there are plenty of other "racist" materials out there that even black people adore - Consider The Bible. This dark and twisted fairytale, not unlike the fictional stories writen by tolkien at the turn of the the 20th cetury, is WAY more racist than Lord of the Rings, and yet there are millions of people of all races who are willing to submit to this folklore and the idea of a white god... My advice for the rest of your blog would be to try being a little more objecive and a little less "hard done by", It's the 21st Century, the world isn't against you anymore, stop segregatting yourself and join us.
Fantasy should not be viewed as race relations. Although in my work I include black characters. The Land of Grimney may appeal to you.
I like this film everyone I know likes this film (people from all corners)Why find an excuse to divide people up somemore. This seems like a very American thing to do.
So silly that this website even exist
Last anon,
I didn't know you liked this film! Now I do. There isn't an excuse to divide people with this post.
An American thing to do? The world has been divided since the dawn of time. One caveman got a better Wooly Mammoth and the other tribe attacked them for it and for the food it offered.
India, China, Dafur all have ethnic strife. There is no racial nirvana on earth... sorry to burst your Pandora dwelling bubble.
I smoke a ton of marijuana.
"There isn't an excuse to divide people with this post"
ok. so you find something to divide people. its his post...
i wish all ye black people luck in finding thing that all black Don't like , us white have'nt found any
Black people are orks...
Finest herb in the shire!~
i'm white and i think you're totally right. and was, in fact, just writing about the same thing.
i think that what is even worse to me than shit like this in movies, is that every single youtube video or blog entry with a person of color in it or writing it is followed by racist comments. it doesn't matter who it is, what it's about, some white person (whether they be a troll just trying to say something shocking or a real kkk member) feels a need to go on some rant about people of color.
thanks for writing this article, your perspective is really interesting, informative and not voiced enough outside of this website.
If this movie was racist, then the dwarves wouldn't represent the jews (Tolkein was quoted himself as saying that the dwarves represented the jews.)
Anyways, I'm really glad they didn't cast any black people in this movie, this movie portrays European culture and European fantasy. Not african fantasy or affirmative action.
God bless the European race.
This blog is kinda sorta...... dumb!
1)Just because you're black and you don't like the movie, doesn't mean all black people don't. I am black and I own the trilogy, extended edition.
2)The orks do not represent black people. All orks are not darkened. I actually recall a few being pretty pale. The Urak-Hai were quite blackened, but isn't black the color of the underworld? Anyways, most of the orks had no definate skin color. They were dirty, bruised, and actually seemed to resemble walking scabs.
3)I did actually see a black man in Return of the King today. Right before the orks attacked Osgiliath, there was a black man huddled by a fire.
4)Did you ever take into account that this movie was filmed in New Zealand? How many black people are there in this country?
5)I'm tired of people always searching for racist things in this world. Everything isn't meant to bring the black man down. The only reason we keep seeing things as evil is because we want to. We are too credulous to believe that the world is against us. Lord of the Rings is quite innocous.
I have said enough. Continuing will only further exasperate me.
Are you Black? Do you speak for all black people? Lord of the rings is one of my favorite movies of all time. Wow you really have a lot of time on your hand to sit there and say this movie was black people least favorite. I am black by the way, and Tolken did a damn good job with the books and, the movie trilogy was the best of all time. This is not a racist film. Your looking into this too much.
I think it's funny when certain white people talk about "what black people like or don't like" as if we're all the same. This post is retarded, literally. I love lotr. Go find other way to be racist.
I love this film. I love all books. I's very fantastic.
Sauron represents the ultimate evil - the noble and intellectual white man who uses the mongol and black hordes to take dominion over the world.
Saurman is the white liberal who sees the world coming to an end and decides to apply affirmative action and race blending (remember he composed orcs made of half man half orc) to retain his position in the new world.
Gandalf is the lone voice of reason villified by liberals for pointing out the obvious (almost like Winston Churchill in the 1930's).
The Elves are the Old orders of Europe gone but in memory.
Aragorn is the link between New Europe and Old. He represents the past Glory with the potential of the new Europe. He is both King and Commoner.
Gondor is Europe - corrupted by the evil of lesser men but still able to muster strength and fight.
Rohan is America - uncouth but mighty. No dealings with the Elves but willing to ally with Gondor to defeat the savages.
Dwarves are the Jews.
The Hobbits represent our children. They are why we exist they represent innocence and happiness.
Orcs are the Niggers and Mongols.
The Haradim are the Arabs.
If you can't see this then you are either an ignoramous or a nigger.
Dwarves are not the jews, dwarves are the Germans or the Scots. And all I'll say on churchill is, do more research.
Tolkien didn't include America in his works, he was working off ancient European languages and cultures to create a mythology for his beloved UK.
Last anon... The dwarves do mirror the Jews. Their language is Semitic and they are obsessed with gold. Tolkien even said they were like Jews in one of his letters. Tolkien was not antisemitic (unfortunately), he had a favorable opinion of Jews but also understood some of their weaknesses and character flaws.
I really got a kick out of the comment where the negro claims he has the 'extended' DVD's. That really makes you the expert don't it?
White people have the book motherfucker. We can even read it too boy.
Tolkien was born in Africa. Although he denied 'racism', he was from a time and place where wild cannibal savages were still the norm. The black Africans are the basis of the Orcs, people know this by instinct. Tolkien backpeddeled and said the Orcs were based on Mongols in order to deflect charges of 'racism'. In either case, I much prefer the Orcs over the blacks because they are at least productive and can exist without handouts.
Okay even though some people are being really racist about this saying the orcs and Urukai are black people in the movie i find it pretty ridiculous and funny, I dont think thats at all what Tolkien was going for he was a scholar not an ignorant racist like the guy above me... Just because no men are described as black in the book; and therefore the movie, doesn't mean that they then MUST be represented by the animalistic orcs just because they have dark skin the theme is clearly about MANKIND uniting as one stop reading in too much to things and blindly shouting RACISM at shit that isnt
I agree that there should have been at least one or two people of colour on the protagonist side IN THE MOVIE. Black people who got offended by this movie are ignorant; simply put. Those offended play too much into the media and deserve to feel offended by the movie. At this point in time Blacks did not have a significant presence in European mythology or even history so how can anyone expect people of African decent to be in the movie, if it is supposed to be historically accurate enough to be considered a myth?
Many Black people think EVERYTHING is directed toward them because there was once a time where they were oppressed. There comes a time where enough is enough. Stop ranting about white supremacy when you were never oppressed yourselves. YOUR ANCESTORS WERE. Those times are over. Get the fuck over it.
america is not represented in it you fucking retards. American saved europe from europe? is that what you fucking idiots are argueing?
http://i54.tinypic.com/zlq2j6.jpg
Spelt differently coming to too many cinemas near you
LOTR's was written to be the Anglo-Saxon epic, Tolkien wrote it to give us the Anglo-Saxon's a mythos. The different European tribes in the film represent different characteristics of the English.
There's no black's on our side because we're white and it was written for and about us.
Anonymous said...
LOTR's was written to be the Anglo-Saxon epic, Tolkien wrote it to give us the Anglo-Saxon's a mythos. The different European tribes in the film represent different characteristics of the English.
There's no black's on our side because we're white and it was written for and about us.
What do people think would happen if you made a movie based on works written during a time where racism/bigotry was the norm? Now you take a West African folklore story and make it into a movie, I bet it will be the opposite. People quit bitching, it's just a movie.
"Anonymous said...
america is not represented in it you fucking retards. American saved europe from europe? is that what you fucking idiots are argueing?"
LMFAO America did save Europe from Europe....sort of, during WWII :P
Can you not see the obvious contradiction in this argument? Why can white people not take pride in their heritage? Certainly, blacks are told to take pride in their past, in their history, in their heroes. Are they not?
Europeans have just as much right to glorify their own culture, their own history, and their own stories.
Race has very little to do with this movie, and culture has everything to do with it. There is nothing wrong with Europeans arguing and promoting their own myths, as all people do. Frankly, I welcome it.
It says a lot about people who DESPERATELY search for racism in places where it is nowhere to be found. You guys are a joke.
Basically, the absence of black people in a fantasy film based on EUROPEAN(Not African)folklore is grounds that it is racist. My, such rational thought!
The orcs ARE NOT BLACK PEOPLE. Most of the orcs are green! Do you know any green skinned African ethnic groups? The Uruk Hai have blackened skin, so what? Are black skinned monsters basically off-limits now?
@ Anon. at August 9, 2011
Why don't you write on the current thread? What's with the cowardly attitude, you be calling us raciss when nobody's around? I encourage you to comment on the latest post and explain to us, why your kind loots, robs, beats, maim and ultimately kills whitey just for being white. Come on Tyrone, you brave!
So immature and ignorant...even if LOTR was based on racist storyellings, the movie was far from showing any relation to that. remember dumbasses this is a screenplay, not a direct litteral adaptation. this movie is for all races to enjoy
he's only saying this shit because not enough black people like it.. and it's hardly a racial issue. I'm black enough (0.25) to speak as a black person and although it could be interpreted as such I watch the movies and read the books and haven't been the least bit offended.. if anything the Dwarves act more niggerish than the Orcs and Uruk-hai "...malt beer, ripe meat off the bone"
Sauron represents the ultimate evil -Lucifer- the noble and intellectual white man who uses the Mongol and negro hordes to take dominion over the World (Marxism). Remember that by this time 20 years had passed since the book "Decline of the West" had been written by Stoddard and Tolkien had certainly read it.
Saurman is the white Marxist liberal (both in Europe and the USA. Notice the reference to "two Towers" meaning two centers of power and two lands and the fact that Orthanc is located between the Lands of the West (Aranor, Gondolin, Westerness and of course, the Shire; and on the other side of the Misty Mountains, Rohan and Gondor). The Disingenuous White Liberal (DWL) Saruman decides to apply affirmative action (Wildmen from the hills) and race blending (remember he composed Uruk-Hi which were made by Crossing Orcs with Goblin men” to “build an Army worthy of Mordor".
Gandalf is the Christian Conservative voice of reason blind to the fact that the Liberals are not just dissembling and incorrect, but Evil and Traitorous. He is vilified by liberals for pointing out the obvious (like Whites today talking about illegal aliens) and is told to join the revolution or die.
The Elves are the Old orders of Europe gone but in memory; their position in the film is like referencing Rome or Greek logic. The film symbolized their decline by the leaves falling. Once glorious in the tradition of Richard the Lionheart or Charles Martel, they are leaving, gone in all but memory.
Aragorn is the link between New Europe and Old. He represents the past Glory with the potential of the new Europe. He is both King and Commoner, of noble blood blessed with long life. His mother said, "I have given Hope to Man, I have kept none for myself."
Gondor is old Europe - corrupted by the evil of lesser men but still able to muster strength and fight. It cities symbolically overrun with Orcs just as Paris and London are today. The loss of White children and low birth rate is the directly addressed in one of the most powerful quotes in the Movie:
“That a king will come and this city will be as it once was before it fell into decay. The old wisdom that was borne out of the West was forsaken. Kings made tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the names of their descent dearer than the names of their sons. Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry or in high, cold towers asking questions of the stars. And so the people of Gondor fell into ruin. The line of Kings failed, the White Tree withered, and the rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men.”
Rohan is America - uncouth but mighty. No dealings with the Elves but willing to ally with Gondor to defeat the savages. America's leaders and Journalists are corrupted and cover up the crimes of negros so that "Orcs roam freely over our lands, killing at will. Orcs bearing the "White Hand" of Saruman".
Dwarves are the Jews. They care nothing except for their Riches and Israel (Moria), the Ancient land long ago swallowed up and which they are surrounded by enemies.
The Hobbits represent White children and unawake whites in general. These Whites say, "Keep out of trouble and no trouble will come to you”, while the nearest large town, “Bree” (New York, Detroit, Birmingham, Philadelphia, New Orleans) are filled with the agents (gangs) of the enemy. Hobbits exist as in the times past, innocence and hope.
Orcs are the niggers. They fight amongst themselves and murder each other (just as they do here in the USA and Europe) but given the right leader (DWL) they become a force to be reckoned with. The DWL promises "you will taste Man-flesh!" or the wealth and women of the White man.
The Haradim are the Arabs, willing to side with known evil till their opportunity comes and they can seize power to implement their desires (Sharia), which will never come as the Orcs see them “outsiders”.
Tolkien hated allegory.
The orcs represent...orcs, brutish creatures manufactured in parody of the elves. They in no way are equivalent to any race of humans in Tolkien's world.
I first read these books about 50 years ago. I found nothing racist in them, but these is a sense of classes in the Shire that one would not find in an American book.
Sauron is the evil of Frodo's time; serving him are various species, including orcs, corrupted men, and mercenary men--some of those from southern lands with dark skin. But they are not evil; they clearly are paid servants who probably do not understand Sauron's nature.
Anyone who thinks that the orcs represent any human race is trying too hard to find racism where it does not exist. Sometimes a dark skinned orc is just a miserable orc.
I agree that there are strong "racial" currents in LotR, but in the books themselves, the orcs were not "black". They may rather have been stereotypical orientals. Tolkien explicitly described them as "repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types" and their skin is often described as "sallow" or "yellow". Many are still very adamant about defending Tolkien from allegations of racism, just because he repeatedly made statements that seemingly contract racism. I find that unconvincing, but I believe it's not easy to decide the other way either - the matter is undecided, at best.
Still, all things considered, I do not believe Tolkien was telling a tale of racial allegory. I believe he was a "culturalist", someone who, judging just by LotR, seemingly held the culture of the British, or perhaps Europeans in general, superior to at least the pre-Colonial ways of life of other peoples.
It may have turned into a racial allegory because these non-European cultures were primarily REPRESENTED in ethnically non-European peoples, so his "villains", being from these non-European cultures he may have believed inferior, NECESSARILY were non-European also. But I do not believe that it was his belief or intention that other ethnicities were in themselves inferior or "evil".
One also has to consider that LotR deals with a very specific timeframe of his fictional world, and had descriptions of other periods become as popular, the picture would perhaps look very different - the sinking of Numenor is about the corruption and wickedness of the supposedly most "noble" of the fair, tall and white people of ME, and other periods depict just these people as enslavers and perhaps original corrupters of the Haradrim (Haradrim would be Africans).
Post a Comment