The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Good versus evil: Downplayed, or overplayed?

Lord of Angmar · 04-11-2004, 07:32 PM

I'm not quite sure what the argument here is, Knight. You started off by saying that the Lord of the Rings "shines with a steady Good versus Evil message," but that does not seem to be the full scope of what the above article is really addressing.

I think most clear-headed individuals would agree that there is obviously a high degree of battle between what is depicted as "good" and what is construed as "evil," since hey, how many times does Tolkien describe Sauron and Co. as evil? I think that part is pretty obvious. But I don't think the struggle of Good versus Evil is portrayed by Professor Tolkien in a way that would make it open to interpretation solely as an external conflict (i.e. the U.S. vs. Saddam). It could easily also be interpreted as representing one's basic internal conflict between desire and contemporary moral standards (this is all, of course, if anyone wishes to 'interpret' the conflict in the Lord of the Rings as anything more than an exciting and well-written war).

But anyway, the concept of Good versus Evil is not by any stretch of imagination a purely Christian ideal, but more of a universal concept.

The Lord of the Rings is not imbued with any intentional Christian allegory, overt or subtle. If I were involved in the making of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, I would be hesitant to try to describe it from a purely Christian viewpoint, since the best outcome of such a description would at best cause indiscriminant moviegoers to draw parallels between LotR and Christian ideology in a manner in which Tolkien would probably have scorned, and at worst cause non-Christians to feel alienated or reluctant to experience the Lord of the Rings movies or pick up the book.

Also, two major points that I second Lush on: 1) A press junket is not the right place to launch into an impromptu discussion of the ideology behind a film (and I will add that actors such as Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen should not necessarily feel responsible for understanding and being able to coherently and accurately convey any such ideology), and 2) The women who wrote the article did so in a manner that made her seem somewhat condescending and supercilious.

04-11-2004, 07:32 PM	#9
Lord of Angmar Tyrannus Incorporalis Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: the North Posts: 833	I'm not quite sure what the argument here is, Knight. You started off by saying that the Lord of the Rings "shines with a steady Good versus Evil message," but that does not seem to be the full scope of what the above article is really addressing. I think most clear-headed individuals would agree that there is obviously a high degree of battle between what is depicted as "good" and what is construed as "evil," since hey, how many times does Tolkien describe Sauron and Co. as evil? I think that part is pretty obvious. But I don't think the struggle of Good versus Evil is portrayed by Professor Tolkien in a way that would make it open to interpretation solely as an external conflict (i.e. the U.S. vs. Saddam). It could easily also be interpreted as representing one's basic internal conflict between desire and contemporary moral standards (this is all, of course, if anyone wishes to 'interpret' the conflict in the Lord of the Rings as anything more than an exciting and well-written war). But anyway, the concept of Good versus Evil is not by any stretch of imagination a purely Christian ideal, but more of a universal concept. The Lord of the Rings is not imbued with any intentional Christian allegory, overt or subtle. If I were involved in the making of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, I would be hesitant to try to describe it from a purely Christian viewpoint, since the best outcome of such a description would at best cause indiscriminant moviegoers to draw parallels between LotR and Christian ideology in a manner in which Tolkien would probably have scorned, and at worst cause non-Christians to feel alienated or reluctant to experience the Lord of the Rings movies or pick up the book. Also, two major points that I second Lush on: 1) A press junket is not the right place to launch into an impromptu discussion of the ideology behind a film (and I will add that actors such as Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen should not necessarily feel responsible for understanding and being able to coherently and accurately convey any such ideology), and 2) The women who wrote the article did so in a manner that made her seem somewhat condescending and supercilious. __________________ ...where the instrument of intelligence is added to brute power and evil will, mankind is powerless in its own defence.