No connection can be made between ordinary people and these malformed uglies. In "Fellowship," we saw non-human foes: Orcs, trolls, Uruk-hai, Ringwraiths and the like. The first controversy may be decided in Tolkien's favor once the present generation of literary critics passes from the scene (I admit some bias in this regard), but the second probably always will flare up whenever some skinheads read more into the "Rings" than really is there.Īnd with the enormous popularity of Jackson's film interpretation of Tolkien's work coinciding with the current international crises, it's possible some will start confusing villains on the screen with real-life adversaries on the battlefield. Unhappily, in "The Two Towers," Jackson may reflect the "Rings'" racial view of the world as well.Īs the United States wages war against an ominous "other" - currently Al Qaeda terrorists, soon perhaps Iraqis and eventually, North Koreans? - it's worth keeping in mind Tolkien's stern admonition against viewing his work as allegory.įor years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own. Tolkien, director Peter Jackson stayed true to the fantasy author's artistic vision in "Fellowship of the Ring," the first film in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
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