this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2024
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Tolkien, Lord of the Rings (LotR), etc.
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I was skeptical of it and I'm a diehard fan of the books and the films because I grew up with them. I found the show to not be as good as the movies. However, my wife loves the show, and is lukewarm on the movies, and she's not typically into fantasy things.
I think the reason is because the movies and books are about 9 cis white men saving the world. There are a few pretty women who pop up to kiss them, tell them they're handsome, and send them on their way with nice gifts every so often.
The shows center on a strong woman doing what she thinks is best despite the naysaying of men.
In that view, it's no wonder my wife likes the new show so much more than the movies. It was an interesting look into how inclusivity matters. Not every story needs to be about a band of white guys saving the world. It's nice to have some stories from the Tolkien universe about other people.
So in that sense I'm a big fan. It provided an avenue for my wife to connect with this world of fantasy that I really love. The books and the movies are not very accessible or relatable if you are not a white man. This gave her a connection point, after we watched the show she asked all about the lore and the background, then she wanted to watch the movies again.
I understand people appreciating the ring of power for being inclusive but boy is that just a super dishonest representation of LoTR.
Literally the fellowship is a multiracial group, two of which being bitter rivals. Both of which probably having not much regard for humans due to the ring not being destroyed. The fellowship forming and succeeding occurs only because multiple different races put their prejudices aside and work together.
One of the “pretty women who pop up to kiss them” resists probably the greatest temptation in the story in which her power would make her “a dark queen” and provided the fellowship with multiple life saving items.
Eowyn literally kills the witch king and had the famous “I am no man” moment. A woman who was ignored and dismissed turned the tide of that battle.
Saying that lotr is multiracial because different characters are different races in universe is missing the point. No black kid is gonna look up to Aragorn and think "he's just like me". Also claiming gender diversity because of one character (and another that had one moment of significance that still could have been cut without much impact on the story resolution) is wild.
I love LOTR as much as the next guy but I can admit it does have somewhat of a diversity issue.
Well it was written nearly a century ago, so it's not too surprising that diversity of representation was not great. Many countries got women's suffrage much later than that point in history.