In post-Soviet Russia, Sauron is good actually? “It became a story about hobbits, elves, dwarves, and men oppressing the not-so-evil Sauron and his nation of Mordor.”
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Comments 3
Heh, that's fun. I live in Birmingham UK a mile or so away from where Tolkien grew up and have always thought LotR is a piece of anti-modernist agitprop. As the 20th century progressed he saw the urban sprawl of Birmingham subsume the pastoral idyll of his childhood, just as Saruman did to the forests surrounding Isengard.
The "scouring of the shire" is totally about bringing social democracy and indoor plumbing to Hobbiton.
(A decade or so ago I wrote a dumb listical about it which I mostly stand by.)
Loving the listicle! "Dan Brown is popular but I doubt his childhood home bangs on about it."
For the record I am a LOTR fan but don't disagree with anything you said
I'm dozens of hours into the Serkis-narrated audiobooks and yeah there's causal mentions of the "lesser" (often darker, shorter) and "greater" (often fairer, taller) races and their "blood". Likely more a reflection of the times than Tolkien's particular views but still noticeable.
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