[Orual]

I've heard this argument before, and I can see how this idea is formed, but I think that it's held by people who haven't looked deeply enough into the book.

The physical differences between good and evil are always there in mythology, and since the Lord of the Rings was meant to be mythology for England, it's reasonable for that stark contrast to exist. I find that part of fantasy is that real, apparent line between right and wrong, as I said in the "To love, or not to love fantasy" thread. It's really easy to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys in the Lord of the Rings, just by looking at them. (And, on a more personal level, I never saw the orcs as black. I don't really know quite how I saw them, but more of a green thing going on. You can describe them all you want, use Tolkien's words, but I've got my own little movie going on in my head, and it would be vain to attempt to convince me that my image is wrong.)

Dr. Shapiro referred to the Fellowship as "uber-Aryan." That I found a little ridiculous. Aryans are stereotypically blond, blue-eyed, and fair-skinned, which does NOT apply to the entire Fellowship. Legolas, yes. Anybody else, no. Faramir (I know he wasn't in the Fellowship) had black hair.

It's always possible to read almost anything you want into almost any piece of literature. Dr. Shapiro was not the first to read racism into the Lord of the Rings, and he won't be the last. It's really no use to get angry about it--people will think what they will think. It's enough for us to know that Tolkien didn't intend racism, and the majority of rational readers don't find it.

~*~Orual~*~

By the way, did anybody else notice that Faramir, in the movie, has light hair? Honestly. It wasn't like Tolkien didn't make it clear that his hair was black in the book!