Morgoth (Melkor) is Tolkien's reworking of Shakespeare's Hamlet, inspired by the personality of Beethoven. Sauron (Mairon) is Tolkien's reworking of the folkloric figure of King Arthur, inspired by the personality of Goethe.
Why is every attempt to adapt Tolkien’s fantasy with a racially diverse cast doomed to fail? Generally speaking, this is because the “Lord of the Rings” saga is based on an evil philosophy. If a director wants to make Legolas Black, then he will also have to make Frodo, Éowyn, Gandalf, and, in general, all the servants of Eru Ilúvatar Black as well. This is because in Middle-earth, only Sauron systematically fights against everyday xenophobia—and even he does so mostly unsuccessfully. The other factions regard everyday xenophobia as the norm, at least until it becomes a threat to their survival.
Dwarves are capable of reproducing with Hobbits, Elves, and Men, but this has never happened. Interracial friendship in Middle-earth is an extremely rare phenomenon. Therefore, although a racially diverse cast could theoretically work well in an adaptation of the “Odyssey” or “The Witcher,” it is doomed to fail from the outset when it comes to adapting Tolkien’s sagas.
It's not enough to be a genius to truly understand Goethe. You should either be an excellent historian or read Ken Wilber—the metamodern Goethe of our time.
What ambition of J. R. R. Tolkien, apart from his interest in artificial languages and his desire to make money, led to the creation of The Lord of the Rings saga? Although the answer is obvious, it remains far from self-evident to most scholars of the history of fantasy. The desire to create a work that would be as impervious to criticism as possible—that is what primarily drove Tolkien. This does not mean that the world of Middle-earth is kitsch or a piece of meaningless graphomania. On the contrary, there is a great deal of meaning in this book; it has simply been distorted beyond recognition. Tolkien was not creating kitsch, but camp (in Susan Sontag’s sense of the term), and he did so quite consciously. This famous writer did indeed passionately hate allegories, but not all allegories—only the obvious ones. He wanted to create a book no less mystical and esoteric than Friedrich Nietzsche’s fantasy Thus Spoke Zarathustra or Goethe’s saga Faust. And in this respect, strictly speaking, Tolkien succeeded.
Why is every attempt to adapt Tolkien’s fantasy with a racially diverse cast doomed to fail? Generally speaking, this is because the “Lord of the Rings” saga is based on an evil philosophy. If a director wants to make Legolas Black, then he will also have to make Frodo, Éowyn, Gandalf, and, in general, all the servants of Eru Ilúvatar Black as well. This is because in Middle-earth, only Sauron systematically fights against everyday xenophobia—and even he does so mostly unsuccessfully. The other factions regard everyday xenophobia as the norm, at least until it becomes a threat to their survival.
ОтветитьУдалитьDwarves are capable of reproducing with Hobbits, Elves, and Men, but this has never happened. Interracial friendship in Middle-earth is an extremely rare phenomenon. Therefore, although a racially diverse cast could theoretically work well in an adaptation of the “Odyssey” or “The Witcher,” it is doomed to fail from the outset when it comes to adapting Tolkien’s sagas.
It's not enough to be a genius to truly understand Goethe. You should either be an excellent historian or read Ken Wilber—the metamodern Goethe of our time.
ОтветитьУдалитьWhat ambition of J. R. R. Tolkien, apart from his interest in artificial languages and his desire to make money, led to the creation of The Lord of the Rings saga? Although the answer is obvious, it remains far from self-evident to most scholars of the history of fantasy. The desire to create a work that would be as impervious to criticism as possible—that is what primarily drove Tolkien. This does not mean that the world of Middle-earth is kitsch or a piece of meaningless graphomania. On the contrary, there is a great deal of meaning in this book; it has simply been distorted beyond recognition. Tolkien was not creating kitsch, but camp (in Susan Sontag’s sense of the term), and he did so quite consciously. This famous writer did indeed passionately hate allegories, but not all allegories—only the obvious ones. He wanted to create a book no less mystical and esoteric than Friedrich Nietzsche’s fantasy Thus Spoke Zarathustra or Goethe’s saga Faust. And in this respect, strictly speaking, Tolkien succeeded.
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