Writer Claims “Lord of the Rings” Racist, Discriminates Against Orcs

[rangerrebew]

Writer Claims “Lord of the Rings” Racist, Discriminates Against Orcs

Compares migrants to misunderstood fictional characters
 
By Dan Lyman Monday, November 26, 2018
 

A fantasy writer asserts that author J.R.R. Tolkien embedded themes of racism in his eternal classics The Lord of the Ring and The Hobbit by depicting orcs and similar creatures as races of evil, inferior brutes.

Author Andy Duncan offered this opinion during an interview on the Wired Magazine podcast ‘Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy.’

“It’s hard to miss the repeated notion in Tolkien that some races are just worse than others, or that some peoples are just worse than others,” Duncan said. “And this seems to me, in the long term — if you embrace this too much, it has dire consequences for yourself and for society.”

https://www.newswars.com/writer-claims-lord-of-the-rings-racist-discriminates-against-orcs/

[Sanguine]

 

[Cyber Liberty]

Treating Orcs as sub-human.  Scandalous!

[mountaineer]

“It’s hard to miss the repeated notion in Tolkien that some races are just worse than others, or that some peoples are just worse than others,” Duncan said. “And this seems to me, in the long term — if you embrace this too much, it has dire consequences for yourself and for society.”

Please, just shut up. You have absolutely nothing to add.

[Sanguine]

Orc is a race?  Sounds like what he is doing is equating an imaginary creature in a book with humans that he feels he needs to defend from a charge not made of being inferior. 

[mountaineer]

It's been a few zillion years since I read Lord of the Rings. I only recall that I didn't like it. So what's an Orc, anyway? Is this guy's complaint like those who assume every time anyone talks about a monkey it's really code for, *ahem*, something else (which wasn't at all what was in mind)?

[Sanguine]

It's been a few zillion years since I read Lord of the Rings. I only recall that I didn't like it. So what's an Orc, anyway? Is this guy's complaint like those who assume every time anyone talks about a monkey it's really code for, *ahem*, something else (which wasn't at all what was in mind)?

The Orcs were the bad guys.  I think Tolkien used them to portray fascists.  It's been a long time (and, I didn't enjoy the book either), but that's how I remember it.

[Cyber Liberty]

I suppose the rap on the books is the Orcs really are "sub-human," avoiding any morality play in killing them wholesale.  This is how Germany managed to get Jews into cattle cars..they had to dehumanize them before the population would cooperate in killing them.

[Sanguine]

In a letter of 1954 Tolkien gave orc as "demon" and claimed he used the word because of its "phonetic suitability"—its similarity to various equivalent terms in his Middle-earth languages.[1] In an essay on Elven languages, written in 1954, Tolkien gives meaning of 'orc' as "evil spirit or bogey" and goes on to state that the origin of the Old English word is the Latin name Orcus—god of the underworld.[2]

About the goblins of The Hobbit, Tolkien wrote:

    They are not based on direct experience of mine; but owe, I suppose, a good deal to the goblin tradition ... especially as it appears in George MacDonald, except for the soft feet which I never believed in.[1]

Wikipedia

Q: Who Are The Orcs in The Lord of the Rings?

ANSWER: The Orcs are a race of creatures who have been enslaved by the evil rulers who threaten the free peoples of Middle-earth. J.R.R. Tolkien used Orcs as a literary device to represent “the faceless soldiers of the enemy” while integrating a metaphor of corruption and spiritual downfall into their construction.

At one level the Orcs merely seem to be evil humanoid creatures who lead miserable lives without hope or joy. On another level the Orcs are pathetic and pitiable creatures who, while committing great evil against other intelligent beings and each other, are driven to do so by the will of their masters, the Dark Lords Morgoth and Sauron.

Tolkien used the motif of the Orcs to explore the themes of corruption, free will, slavery, and (according to some commentators) fascism and militarism. The Orcs are ideal soldiers for despots and dictators who follow orders without question; they sacrifice themselves willingly for their leaders; and they terrorize their foes by committing atrocities.

By assigning the most horrific roles in his stories to imaginary creatures, Tolkien was able to sidestep the historical practice of stereotyping specific ethnic groups. Nonetheless, Tolkien admitted in one of his letters that the Orcs’ physical characteristics are a “debased” form of Mongoloid people. In other words, Tolkien drew upon the ancient western and central European fears of Asian “hordes” (such as the Scythians, Huns, Mongols, and Turks) for inspiration in creating a race of enemies for free men.

It was not Tolkien’s intention to suggest that Orcs are Asians; rather, he created the fantasy race of Orcs to be the nearly willful followers of Evil in order to provide Asians the same grace of being creatures of free will just like men from Europe. Perhaps the fact that some people wrongly assume that the black-skinned Orcs represent southern African peoples proves that Tolkien successfully distinguished these creatures of fantasy from any true historical peoples. The inability of audiences to identify a “true” source for Orcs means they are really NOT racist caricatures of living peoples.;


https://middle-earth.xenite.org/who-are-the-orcs-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/

Remember, Tolkien was a Christian and wrote LOTR immediately following WWI and in the lead-up to WWII. 

[Cyber Liberty]

Remember, Tolkien was a Christian and wrote LOTR immediately following WWI and in the lead-up to WWII.

A similar motif created post-WW2 was the "enemy as Nazis."  Even the people at Disney took a bite of that apple in Lion King by depicting Scar as a modern-day Hitler, complete with the Hyenas as foot-soldiers and a military parade.  A song sung by Scar had just about every Nazi symbol imaginable for a children's tale.

[mountaineer]

Remember, Tolkien was a Christian and wrote LOTR immediately following WWI and in the lead-up to WWII.

Yes, and I kind of felt bad that I didn't like the book. Made up for it by liking C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, I guess.

[Free Vulcan]

What about the Klingons? Nobody ever stands up for them. Racist bastards always screw the Klingons.

[Cyber Liberty]

What about the Klingons? Nobody ever stands up for them. Racist bastards always screw the Klingons.

Yeah, even Cardassians got better press.

[Wingnut]

I alway thought "Lord of The Flies" was discriminating against people who are or identify with the fly.

[GtHawk]

Well I fully support the Orcs filing a class action suit against Tolkien! As a matter of fact I can't wait to see them in court, I'm pretty sure of where they can dig up Tolkien but I'll be damned if I know where they'll find some Orcs.

Hmmmmmm, somehow familiar, where have I seen.................maybe Michelle could stand in for them!

[bigheadfred]

Yeah, even Cardassians got better press.

There is a difference?

[Cyber Liberty]

There is a difference?

Ummmm..no.  They're all micro-brains with macro-heads.   

[bigheadfred]

Yes, and I kind of felt bad that I didn't like the book. Made up for it by liking C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, I guess.

Like many things. How it is taken in context. My dad's dad showed me... a lesson in loyalty. Ummm... that isn't quite it. I'll speak more later so I can ensure I piss off as many readers as possible.

[bigheadfred]

Ummmm..no.  They're all micro-brains with macro-heads.   

From the knees up.