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Critical Analysis - Blog Posts
"The best thing we can do with power is give it away" - On the leftist critique of superhero narratives as authoritarian power fantasies:
The ongoing "Jason Todd is a cop" debate has reminded me of a brilliant brief image essay by Joey deVilla. [EDIT: I SCREWED UP! This was created in 2019 by the guy who runs the Midnighter-Core page on Facebook, and Joey just reposted it!]
So here it is, images first and the full essay text below:
"A common leftist critique of superhero comics is that they are inherently anti-collectivist, being about small groups of individuals who hold all the power, and the wisdom to wield that power. I don’t disagree with this reading. I don’t think it’s inaccurate. Superheroes are their own ruling class, the concept of the übermensch writ large. But it’s a sterile reading. It examines superhero comics as a cold text, and ignores something that I believe is fundamental, especially to superhero storytelling: the way people engage with text. Not what it says, but how it is read. The average comic reader doesn’t fantasize about being a civilian in a world of superheroes, they fantasize about being a superhero. One could charitably chalk this up to a lust for power, except for one fact… The fantasy is almost always the act of helping people. Helping the vulnerable, with no reward promised in return. Being a century into the genre, we’ve seen countless subversions and deconstructions of the story. But at its core, the superhero myth is about using the gifts you’ve been given to enrich the people around you, never asking for payment, never advancing an ulterior motive. We should (and do) spend time nitpicking these fantasies, examining their unintended consequences, their hypocrisies. But it’s worth acknowledging that the most eduring childhood fantasy of the last hundred years hasn’t been to become rich. Superheroes come from every class (don’t let the MCU fool you). The most enduring fantasy is to become powerful enough to take the weak under your own wing. To give, without needing to take. So yes, the superhero myth, as a text, isn’t collectivist. But that’s not why we keep coming back to it. That’s not why children read it. We keep coming back to it to learn one simple lesson… The best thing we can do with power IS GIVE IT AWAY." - Joey deVilla, 2021 https://www.joeydevilla.com/2021/07/04/happy-independence-day-superhero-style/
- Midnighter-Core, 2019
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0bU6TrKdX6QgMLnUFk64jResHMVwiSyENASvJk7efasgZ94G4c81XJCVgGcLFPgPsl&id=594855544368212&mibextid=Nif5oz
Race in Tolkien Masterpost
I have compiled a list of some of the resources available on the topic of race and racism in Tolkien. By no means is this list exhaustive, and I welcome anyone to include their own additions which I will include and update on the original post when more resources are made available.
If you are having any trouble accessing any of the links listed below, please shoot me a DM and I can either send you the PDF if it is an article, or a working link if available.
Last updated 30/09/2023
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@antiracist-tolkien
@diversetolkien — The whole blog honestly, but these posts on Galadriel in particular as Ayesha, and the personification of Manifest Destiny. Her very important take on Eöl is linked below.
@askmiddlearth — now defunct, but they have a downloadable guide on racism in Middle-Earth here.
@tolkienillustrations’ post
@maglors-anion-gap’s post and follow up on the Petty Dwarves and critique of Tolkien.
@chutzpah-haver’s post on Tolkien’s antisemitism in his portrayal of dwarves.
@itariilles’s post and follow up on my personal experience of racism at a fan event, and the systemic problem of racism in fan spaces. I am looking to write more media interpretation/personal Tolkien essays in the future so keep your eyes peeled!
This thread by Helen Young explaining Tolkien the anti-nazi, but not anti-racist.
@diversetolkien‘s twitter linked here.
My twitter here. I will occasionally post about race and Tolkien, but the focus is more generalised on Tolkien fandom, media and reception.
Youtube
(N.B. searching “Tolkien racism” or any variant will produce… interesting results to say the least. Lots of white people coming to the age-old “ToLKiEN WaSN’T rACIsT He hATEd nAziS AnD WAs A prODuCT oF hiS TiME” arguement. That or it’s the silly SJWs and cultural marxism/relativity yada yada yada.)
“The Source of the Rings” series by Moth’s Audio and Videos.
@visibilityofcolor‘s video essay on the “Brute Caricature Trope and its prevalence in media”. Eöl and Aredhel are touched on briefly in the video, but it points out how prevent this trope is in fantasy fiction overall.
Marlon James, “Our Myths, Our Selves”. The seventh annual J.R.R Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature, Pembroke College, Oxford, 26th February, 2019. https://tolkienlecture.org/
The Prancing Pony Podcast, “114 - Race, Tolkien and Middle-Earth”.
Podcasts
Dani Holtz and Craig Franson, American ID Episode 1 “Eye of Sauron: Rings of Power” touches on the American right’s obsession with Lord of the Rings and the far-right trolls that have flooded Rings of Power with waves of racist and misogynistic hate.
Into It: A Vulture Podcast with Sam Sanders, Black Hobbits and the Whiteness of Fantasy (Plus: What Are Abbi Jacobson and Chanté Adams Into?) touches on black characters in fantasy and the Rings of Power TV adaptation about 17 minutes in.
Other blog posts
Stronach, Alex. “Aotearoa is not Middle-earth” The Spinoff, 2020, https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/03-09-2020/aotearoa-is-not-middle-earth
Echo-Hawk, Roger. “Tolkienland.” Would highly recommend reading all of his blog posts. Link to his book “Tolkien in Pawneeland” listed below! http://tolkienland.wordpress.com/
Fimi, Dimitra. “Was Tolkien Really Racist?”. The Conversation, 2018, https://theconversation.com/was-tolkien-really-racist-108227.
Fimi, Dimitra. “Revisiting Race in Tolkien’s Legendarium: Constructing Cultures and Ideologies in an Imaginary World”. Dimitra Fimi, 2018, https://dimitrafimi.com/2018/12/02/revisiting-race-in-tolkiens-legendarium-constructing-cultures-and-ideologies-in-an-imaginary-world/.
Yatt, John. “Wraiths and Race” The Guardian, 2002, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/dec/02/jrrtolkien.lordoftherings
Crossley, Laura. “Stand, Men of the West! The Battle for Middle-Earth (and Britain)” Film International, 2015, http://filmint.nu/stand-men-of-the-west-the-battle-for-middle-earth-and-britain/
Crossley, Laura, “Multicultural Middle-earth: Constructing “Home” and the Imaginary in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings” Film International, 2014, http://filmint.nu/multicultural-middle-earth-constructing-home-and-the-post-colonial-imaginary-in-peter-jacksons-the-lord-of-the-rings/
BNP, “No 2,110″ The Guardian, 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/dec/20/thefarright.lordoftheringsfilms
Perry, D. and Young, H. “HOW CAN WE UNTANGLE WHITE SUPREMACY FROM MEDIEVAL STUDIES? A conversation with Australian scholar Helen Young”. Pacific Standard, 2017, https://psmag.com/education/untangling-white-supremacy-from-medieval-studies.
No Alternative. “Lord of the Rings and structural Orientalism” No Alternative, 2012, https://noalternative.org/2012/09/14/lord-of-the-rings-and-structural-orientalism/
Hodes, J. “Orcs, Britons, And The Martial Race Myth, Part I: A Species Built For Racial Terror”. James Mendez Hodes, 2019, https://jamesmendezhodes.com/blog/2019/1/13/orcs-britons-and-the-martial-race-myth-part-i-a-species-built-for-racial-terror.
Stone, Ryan. “‘The Daily’ Transcript: Interview With Former White Nationalist Derek Black”. The New York Times, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/podcasts/the-daily-transcript-derek-black.html. The use of LOTR to recruit white nationalism is mentioned.
Lopes, Reinaldo José. “In the skin of the elves: to what extent is “The Lord of the Rings” tainted by racism?”. Super Interessante, 2022, Original portuguese: https://super-abril-com-br.translate.goog/cultura/na-pele-dos-elfos-ate-que-ponto-o-senhor-dos-aneis-e-contaminado-pelo-racismo/?fbclid=IwAR2A3DZlYsn56Esr9iWUkfHDGI57b_mBUZj7aFxvfl692A310lf69mKx1ek&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp English Translation: https://super-abril-com-br.translate.goog/cultura/na-pele-dos-elfos-ate-que-ponto-o-senhor-dos-aneis-e-contaminado-pelo-racismo/?fbclid=IwAR2A3DZlYsn56Esr9iWUkfHDGI57b_mBUZj7aFxvfl692A310lf69mKx1ek&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Young, Helen. “The Rings of Power is suffering a racist backlash for casting actors of colour – but Tolkien’s work has always attracted white supremacists”. The Conversation, 2022. https://theconversation.com/the-rings-of-power-is-suffering-a-racist-backlash-for-casting-actors-of-colour-but-tolkiens-work-has-always-attracted-white-supremacists-189963.
Rambaran-Olm, Mary. “DEAR AMAZON PRIME, I’M NOT A RACIST, BUT WHY ARE YOU DESTROYING MY PRECIOUS MIDDLE-EARTH WITH BLACK HOBBITS?”. Religion Dispatches, 2022. https://religiondispatches.org/dear-amazon-prime-im-not-a-racist-but-why-are-you-destroying-my-precious-middle-earth-with-black-hobbits/ (this article is satirical btw.)
Serwer, Adam. “Fear of a Black Hobbit”. The Atlantic, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-fantasy-sci-fi-racist-criticism/671421/
Page, Carolyn. “The Unfortunate Stereotype Reinforced By The Harfoots In ‘Rings Of Power’”. Cracked, 2022. https://www.cracked.com/article_35418_the-unfortunate-stereotype-reinforced-by-the-harfoots-in-rings-of-power.html
Welch, Andy. “‘Irish people have faced centuries of discrimination’: why are Lord of the Rings’ accents so offensively bad?”. The Guardian, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/sep/28/irish-people-have-faced-centuries-of-discrimination-why-are-lord-of-the-rings-accents-so-offensively-bad?fbclid=IwAR1Hd8eikkx1aqxmsFf6tzv7W89kO6Q_VUWiGbrO2R4EvBhNPCMsiEyyugs
Blair, Andrew. “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Why Fandom Has To Embrace Change”. Den of Geek, 2022. https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-why-fandom-has-to-embrace-change/
@diversetolkien. “Maeglin and Eöl, and the Brute Caricature Trope:”. Diverse Tolkien, 2019, https://diversetolkien.wixsite.com/website/post/what-we-can-learn-from-plants.
@weirdnaturalscience. “Our Failure to Address LOTR’s Racism”. tolkienaboutscifi, 2016, https://tolkienaboutscifi.wordpress.com/2016/12/21/our-failure-to-address-lotrs-racism/.
Not really a blog post but Tolkien Gateway has a page on “Racism in Tolkien’s Works”. Treat it with the same degree of skepticism you would on a wikipedia page.
Published academia
(N.B. The visible academic “authorities” of race and racism in Tolkien are white and this is something one must bear in mind when reading this kind of work. There is a lot of discussion on theory and historical context, but there is little on the harm and stereotypes perpetuated by Tolkien’s racialist thoughts a person of colour may read/perceive differently.)
Mills, Charles W. “The Wretched Of Middle‐Earth: An Orkish Manifesto ☆”. The Southern Journal Of Philosophy, 2022. Wiley, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sjp.12477.
I implore you to read this one in particular as it is one of the only existing pieces of postcolonial critique written by a black Jamaican author. It’s hidden behind a paywall, and DM me if you can’t access it through the link above.
Kim, Sue. “BEYOND BLACK AND WHITE: RACE AND POSTMODERNISM IN ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS FILMS.’” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 50, no. 4, 2004, pp. 875–907. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26286383.
Rearick, Anderson. “WHY IS THE ONLY GOOD ORC A DEAD ORC? THE DARK FACE OF RACISM EXAMINED IN TOLKIEN’S WORLD.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 50, no. 4, 2004, pp. 861–874. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26286382.
Brackmann, Rebecca. “"Dwarves are Not Heroes”: Antisemitism and the Dwarves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Writing.“ Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature, Vol. 28, No. 3, 2010, Article 7. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol28/iss3/7
Reid, Robin Anne. "Race In Tolkien Studies: A Bibliographic Essay.” Tolkien And Alterity, 2017, pp. 33-74. Springer International Publishing, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-61018-4_3. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-61018-4_3. This article can also be accessed by contacting me via DM as I have permission from the author to circulate it in this capacity.
Baker, Dallas John. “Writing back to Tolkien: gender, sexuality and race in high fantasy.” Recovering history through fact and fiction: forgotten lives, 2017. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, pp. 123-143. ISBN 978-1-5275-0325-0. Available at: https://eprints.usq.edu.au/33493/#:~:text=It%20suggests%20that%20the%20privileged,arising%20from%20those%20privileged%20readings.
Pratama, Fredy W. et al., “Orientalism and Religious Aspects on Characters and Objects In J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings : A Semiotic Analysis” Artikel Hasil Penelitian Mahasiswa 2013, I (1): 1-8. Available at: http://repository.unej.ac.id/bitstream/handle/123456789/60741/Fredy%20Widya.pdf;sequence=1
Winegar, Astrid. “Aspects of Orientalism in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” The Grey Book, Volume 1, 2005. Available at: https://anyflip.com/njuf/pwvi/basic
Redmond, Sean. “The whiteness of the Rings.” Routledge, 2007. Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203939741-13/whiteness-rings-sean-redmond
Fimi, Dimitra. Tolkien, Race, And Cultural History. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. (Amazon UK link)
Young, H. Race And Popular Fantasy Literature. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2015. (Amazon UK link)
Echo-Hawk, Roger. Tolkien in Pawneeland. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. (Amazon UK link)
‘Of Meadows and Blue Skies’ by Melody Money
‘Of Meadows and Blue Skies’ by Melody Money was a solo show at Visions Art Museum in San Diego in 2021 that now lives on the form of an online and video exhibition on the Visions website. Melody Money is a mixed media textiles artist who prides herself on attention to detail and is “motivated to take a medium that is traditionally worked on a smaller scale and expand it to a larger version” and that's evident in this show.
After Melody Money received her Fine Art degree from the University of Colorado, she went on to study prismatic colour theory at Rudolph Schaefer school of design, and this schooling in colour theory shines through throughout the show. This works’ colour pallet is almost exclusively bright warm blues, greens and yellows. Few of the pieces from this collection use colour pallets that could be described as realist. Instead, Money opts for the sort of colours that you could imagine a child choosing for a scribbled marker pen landscape that features a buttercup yellow sun in the corner of the page. It’s clear that these colours, maybe even more so them the actual pieces themselves, were designed to invoke a child-like wonder and love for nature.
Money’s piece ‘field studies’ is more reminiscent of a sample board than a fine art piece but that makes me love it even more. The piece itself is a 4 x 10 grid of textiles field studies, these studies are predominantly beaded embroideries of local wildlife like birds, butterflies and various flora. Money clearly prefers creatures that fly as, apart from one solitary fish, all the animals depicted have wings of some variety. I do not find this preference shocking as the sky is a constant reoccurring character in her work, always lovingly decorated with swirling winds. This piece being a series of studies and not one final piece makes the work seem a lot more personal to Money, I feel like I am witness to a before unseen part of her process which is both greatly endearing and gives greater context to the rest of the work in this collection.
Money uses beading throughout these pieces, most significantly in ‘Rain’ but also rather heavily in ‘Field Studies’. All the beads she has chosen have either an iridescent or metallic quality to them, this means that in the bright lights these pieces shine. In ‘Field Studies’ a trio of blue iridescent swallows pull your focus immediately and in ‘Rain’ the whole lower third of the piece is alight, shimmering with silver bead work. These circles of beads and stitch create pools and puddles of rain that reflect both the faux, stitched light in the piece as well as the real, dynamic light of the exhibition space. Melody Money has said that light is the key to making her art sing, and I couldn't agree more, the beading on both these pieces would have been significantly less impactful and appealing had she opted for dull beads; it would have completely lost the magical shifting colours of the swallows and apparent glow and movement of the pooled water. The effect that light has on these pieces and really all of Money’s work make it such a shame I was only able to view this exhibition in the form of consistently lit photos and a lower quality than I would have liked video. I do think her work is lovely but to have seen her work in reality, especially in shifting sun light, would have been something else entirely.
‘Rain’ is an incredibly dynamic work, though the art itself is ever-stationary. Money’s use of layered vertical strips of differing shades of blue draws your eyes up and down the piece. This paired with the influx of cascading, downward-pointing triangles, which colours fade from navy to white, creates a faux sense of gravity, like the fabric rain is really falling. This effect and the way that Money has achieved it is beautiful and, in my opinion, makes ‘Rain’ the most visually stimulating piece in the collection.
By comparison, ‘Chant’ at first glance is a much simpler work; the colour pallet is more muted, and it lacks the flashy beading and intricate forms of some of the other pieces. Instead, most of the piece is made up of layers of silk shaded fields. From a distance this embroidery looks simply like blended colour, but up close the individual threads are evident and reminiscent of thousands of single plants and grasses. Due to the simplicity of the design of this piece, the intensity of the silk shading shines through. The most impressive element is the scale of the piece and volume of stitches - this amount of embroidery is a feat to undertake. But what I can only assume is dozens and dozens of hours of work has absolutely payed off, as all these dense stitches create this sense of never-ending, empty fields. This feeling is accented by the inclusion by seventeen beads of small iridescent birds in flight, up over the fields into the waiting bright blue sky above. These tiny birds seem little and insignificant in scale, compared to the force of nature that surrounds them, to a degree that I can’t help but feel small alongside them.
‘Of Meadows and Blue Skies' is undeniably a love letter in fabric and thread to the ever-changing natural world that surrounds Money’s home in Colorado. Having grown up in an environment similarly surrounded by nature, Money’s work really speaks to me, it reminds me of the importance of enjoying and protecting the wild spaces around us. Money says in her artist statement “I try to shine a light on everyday moments” and for me she does that both completely and beautifully.
"The best thing we can do with power is give it away" - On the leftist critique of superhero narratives as authoritarian power fantasies:
The ongoing "Jason Todd is a cop" debate has reminded me of a brilliant brief image essay by Joey deVilla. [EDIT: I SCREWED UP! This was created in 2019 by the guy who runs the Midnighter-Core page on Facebook, and Joey just reposted it!]
So here it is, images first and the full essay text below:
"A common leftist critique of superhero comics is that they are inherently anti-collectivist, being about small groups of individuals who hold all the power, and the wisdom to wield that power. I don’t disagree with this reading. I don’t think it’s inaccurate. Superheroes are their own ruling class, the concept of the übermensch writ large. But it’s a sterile reading. It examines superhero comics as a cold text, and ignores something that I believe is fundamental, especially to superhero storytelling: the way people engage with text. Not what it says, but how it is read. The average comic reader doesn’t fantasize about being a civilian in a world of superheroes, they fantasize about being a superhero. One could charitably chalk this up to a lust for power, except for one fact… The fantasy is almost always the act of helping people. Helping the vulnerable, with no reward promised in return. Being a century into the genre, we’ve seen countless subversions and deconstructions of the story. But at its core, the superhero myth is about using the gifts you’ve been given to enrich the people around you, never asking for payment, never advancing an ulterior motive. We should (and do) spend time nitpicking these fantasies, examining their unintended consequences, their hypocrisies. But it’s worth acknowledging that the most eduring childhood fantasy of the last hundred years hasn’t been to become rich. Superheroes come from every class (don’t let the MCU fool you). The most enduring fantasy is to become powerful enough to take the weak under your own wing. To give, without needing to take. So yes, the superhero myth, as a text, isn’t collectivist. But that’s not why we keep coming back to it. That’s not why children read it. We keep coming back to it to learn one simple lesson… The best thing we can do with power IS GIVE IT AWAY." - Joey deVilla, 2021 https://www.joeydevilla.com/2021/07/04/happy-independence-day-superhero-style/
- Midnighter-Core, 2019
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0bU6TrKdX6QgMLnUFk64jResHMVwiSyENASvJk7efasgZ94G4c81XJCVgGcLFPgPsl&id=594855544368212&mibextid=Nif5oz