Oh Gawd, not this again.
It's rather ironic this time. They're responding to an attack on
Star Wars by some people on another board (probably Trekkies, given the context) who denounce it as backward-looking and fascist.
That's a favourite ploy by a certain type of fan– decide that the only measure of a novel or film is how "modern" or "progressive" or whatever it is. Then attack your perceived rival for failing to live up to
those qualities. This allows you to bypass questions of worldbuilding, plotting, dramatic interest, characterization, visual or literary style– and well, any other point on which a work of fiction is
usually judged.
Unfortunately, in order to defend
Star Wars, this lot have taken the tactic of finding a third party to beat up. It looks like Tolkien just got caught in the crossfire.
What's sad about this is that Warsies and Ringers should really be sticking together– our fandoms tend to be attacked by the same people and on the same grounds. Note that David Brin has made targets of both
Star Wars and
The Lord of the Rings. I have read both critiques and I'm not inclined to take either seriously– each involves blatant distortion of the work in question. I mean, David Brin isn't a bad writer, judging from short stories of his that I've read, but I wouldn't call him "indestructible". His articles seem to me to be breathtakingly naive about history and politics.
Now, I myself feel Tolkien's a bit of a Luddite in some ways– so what? Likewise, the Jedi thing is a tad elitist. That only matters if you think the
sole purpose of art is to promote the "right" political and social agenda (i.e. the one you happen to agree with).
As for the old "denounce your rival as Fascist/Communist" trick– ever hear of Godwin's Law?
Finally: this lot, and the unnamed board they're quoting from, seem to have by and large accepted David Brin's simple old vs new model: either you're conservative and anti-technology (bad) or progressive and pro-technology (good). Anyone
not see the flaw in this?