If ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Is a Cautionary Tale, It Was Lost on JD Vance

The New York Times ^ | Aug. 3, 2024, 11:16 a.m. ET | Jamelle Bouie, Opinion Columnist

[E. Pluribus Unum]

It is just my luck that the week I was on vacation also happened to be one of the most consequential weeks in recent American political history. In addition to the attempt on Donald Trump’s life and the subsequent Republican National Convention, there was also President Biden’s decision to stand down from the presidential race and hand the baton to his vice president, Kamala Harris.

I have a lot of thoughts about all this, but for now I want to talk about one of the minor characters in this saga — JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president.

That Vance, more than two weeks after the convention, is still in the public eye as a subject of controversy over his remarks condemning childless women is evidence enough that he is, so far, a burden to the Trump campaign and not an asset. But at the moment I am less interested in the ways that Vance has adopted the tropes of online “manosphere” influencers than I am in the stories he tells about himself and his ideology.

A few days after he received the nomination, Politico published a story on his deep affinity for “The Lord of the Rings,” the series of fantasy novels by J.R.R. Tolkien that were adapted, about 20 years ago, into blockbuster fantasy epics. Vance has, according to Politico, “pointed to Tolkien’s high fantasy epics as a window into understanding his worldview.”

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Article present under top "humor" to grant it the respect it deserves.

[Mr. Jeeves]

The Times appears to have developed a Vance obsession. Which suggests to me he was exactly the right pick for VP.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Jemelle sounds like he’s got a race thing going there. Doesn’t like “White” Dudes.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

The Ring trilogy was indeed a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked totalitarianism. I think that Mr. Vance understands this much better than does Ms. Bouie.

[PGR88]

https://archive.is/4S15J

archived version.

Author fails to point out that undeniably, the best metaphor for the “Ring Wraiths” are people like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden

[JayGalt]

Jenelle should read the book. It is a tale of heroism and commitment, of self sacrifice & loyalty.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Vance obsession"

Indeed. The anti-Vance hit pieces are lined up like cars at a toll booth and are released one after the other.

[irishjuggler]

Kamala is like Sauron. No one is supposed to look her in the eye.

[mad_as_he$$]

👍

[blueunicorn6]

A unit of The Democrat Party Organized Crime Syndicate’s propaganda arm working for criminals.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Linking to full versions of paywalled articles violates the consent decree that grants FR fair use rights.

[Antihero101607]

𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 “𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘴” 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯

I like that, very much. Also, I’d much rather hear the shriek of the Ring Wraiths to that of Hillary Clinton.

[Indy Pendance]

This liberal dictionary should know (doubt that he knows anything other that what he’s programmed to know) that J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were very good friends and Lewis encouraged Tolkien to write the books. And Tolkien helped Lewis (an atheist) to become a Christian.

[kiryandil]

I suspect that Jamelle Bouie isn't literate enough to grasp the breadth and depth of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Jamelle is a failed English major, after all.

[shanover]

Let the Tulsa King handle it.

[Sirius Lee]

Jamalle is an Orc. Anything out of it’s mouth should be afforded the poverty of esteem it merits.

[kiryandil]

He likes White women, though...

[Clutch Martin]

Awwww some NYT virtue whore signals that they read that tripe and maybe even saw all the movies. Good on ya, I reckon...

I couldn’t get much past the 1st chapter of the Hobbit, and it was required reading for some odd reason... Cliff Notes to the Rescue!!!

I did read the first Dune but Tolkien... nah to bizarre.

[kiryandil]

Linking to full versions of paywalled articles violates the consent decree that grants FR fair use rights.

I did not not know this.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I used to link to full versions until the admin told me not to and why.