Seems Like Someone's Rooting for the Wrong Side

[The 1,000 Reader]

LOTR, Sil, etc. are great books which tell tales of hope, combat, and most importantly of all are entertaining. The main characters, who support the good side of life, range from Frodo to Fingolfin. Though the majority of the tales are quite "black and white", Tolkien never fails to tell a grand story.

However, after reading the books and observing the Professor's letters, there is an odd group of fans that stand out. It appears as if they cast aside any message the works of Tolkien are made to tell, and key points are forgotten. To put it in short:

These people like/root for the bad guys.

In all honesty, this makes no sense whatsoever. As displayed numerous times, the orcs and such beasts are nasty, intolerant, lack honor, and are excessively violent. Morgoth was selfish and bent on ruining the lives of those who were happy and did no wrongs. Sauron was exactly like Morgoth, except bent on ruling them (and dumber, in my opinion.) Mordor and Angband were savage wastelands, and no effort was made to improve them.

On the other side of the spectrum, the men of Middle-Earth are kind, wise, and less narrow-minded. The elves are gentle and respectful. The hobbits are an ideal race who are peaceful, content with life and one with nature. They are all living harmless, happy lives. With care, their lands are lovely.

So, why do people root for and like the forces of evil? It seems like a lost cause. As a closing and powerful note, I have a message written by a former fan of Darkness which drives the point home.

Originally Posted by Second of the Nine

I used to be a rabid supporter of Melkor and Sauron and their ilk, but not anymore. Why? Mainly because they were a lot of selfish ********.

Let's go back to Melkor's theme. Now, once I would have said this was a grand expression of creativity; Melkor was putting his rights of sub-creation to the test, being true to himself and not a slave. But really, playing that theme was just plain wrong. Let's think: creator vs. creation, who knows better? Now as much as you want to romanticise his rebellion, the fact of the matter remains plain: Melkor's will have mistakes in it while Eru's will not; or, assuming Eru is not perfect but only very powerful, it will logically have fewer mistakes because of his higher position.

Then, let's look at the results: Valinor vs. Utumno/Angband. Where would you rather live, honestly? Honestly now. We have our fun on this board talking about Elf-roasts and whatnot, but in all seriousness the realms of darkness were not nice places. They were filled with violence, filth, destruction and degradation. Where would you rather live, the Shire or Mordor? The Shire is a lovely place filled with kind folk who enjoy nothing more than eating and giving one another presents. Mordor is a militaristic society that runs on slave labor and is ruled by a megalomaniac.

The point of the above comparison is, who REALLY had a better plan for the world? The followers of Eru, or the followers of Melkor? His "rights" to follow his own plan notwithstanding, Melkor was a bloody evil idiot who, judging from the sort of places he produced, could not possibly have had anyone's best interests in mind, and he should have just sat down, shut up and played along with the rest.

So, why do certain readers find themselves supporting the evils of Tolkien's world?