Tolkien, Serling, and their unlikely fans

Vanity | 11/16/02 | Zionist Conspirator

[Zionist Conspirator]

I have often wondered if there are any conservatives who are fans of "The Twilight Zone," the classic series created by the notorious liberal Rod Serling.

Then earlier today I saw a PBS show about J.R.R. Tolkien and was reminded that this conservative icon not only was a hero to radical flower children in the Sixties (with which his work seems to have no connection whatsoever) but also spawned the entire "fantasy" genre, which many conservatives condemn as being evil and satanic, even while giving Tolkien a free pass.

What was there about Tolkien and his decidedly pre-modern vision that appealed to those "ultimate modernists" of the Sixties? How did their "peace and love" philosophy find anything in Tolkien's extremely dualistic, military epic that appealed to it?

As to Serling (my original intended topic), while he was well known as a militant liberal, many of his shows seem to contradict the liberal stereotype (for example, the alien plot to destroy manking through the drinking water, in which the paranoids are right and the normal people are wrong).

It is often claimed that Serling had to disguise his liberal messages to get them past the censors, but some of his liberal messages seem to be buried very deeply. Are not his critiques of the totalitarian, groupthink society (in such eps as "Eye of the Beholder" or the episodes in which everyone picks an attractive body to be transplanted into or the episode in which Hollywood leftist Burgess Meredith defends the existence of G-d) just as "conservative" as they are "liberal?" He also used conservative actors a lot (perhaps because they were available) and he also cast or presented several stories in which the upland South "hillbilly" culture is presented sympathetically (perhaps as a cipher for Black culture). Chr*stian references are also quite common (Serling was born on chr*stmas day).

I am sure that he became in his later years--and would be today were he alive--a much more conventional leftist, but I am asking specifically about the classic series of 1959-1963.

Does Serling have any conservative fans here? Any thoughts about Tolkien's seemingly unusual fandom?

[jim_trent]

I have been a fan of Rod Serlings since I saw the Twilight Zone series. I can still see just a few minutes of any show on TV and identify the plot. I don't know if he was liberal or conservative, but every one of the shows was an obvious morality play. I don't find the morality he was showcasing to be against my morality as a conservative.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Well, I can't speak for ALL conservatives, but I think the bottom line is that I have no problem with 'Fantasy' books, movies, etc... because I know that no matter what a I read, hear, or say, it's MY choice what I do with whatever I may have gleaned from it...

It's the whole concept of personal responsibility - I may play violent video games, but that doens't mean I'm going to go on a killing rampage or anything like that... And If I did, it wouldn't be because of the video game, but rather a conscious decision that I made...

Books, music, art, films, etc... are all harmless - it's how people choose to react to them that is the problem...

[cornelis]

An artists that understands a few essential features that make us tick, will find fans on both sides. Even Hegel was a fan of Jesus.

[Ciexyz]

Does Serling have any conservative fans here?

I'm dating myself here but I remember watching Twilight Zone on TV when I was a kid. It was on Friday nites when my parents went bowling and left me with the babysitter, and I'd watch TZ and then be afraid to go to sleep.

I never looked at shows as being liberal or conservative back then. I just remember getting the bejesus scared out of me by that talking doll, the guy throwing himself off the train when he really thought he was getting off at his station, and the beautiful girl undergoing plastic surgery so she could get a pig face like everybody else.

[cornelis]

Sorry, it should read, "easily attracts fans on any side" Hegel's ghost is ubiquitous.

[cornelis]

horror writer--are morally "conservative

eh? Ever since Plato was made to shut up, there was nothing but to dabble in but the grotesque. Some of us who have seen Matrix know what that's all about.

Of course nobody should disagree with you. Whichever turn one takes, the masked avenger stands ready for a flip-side show.

[Joe 6-pack]

I've always been intrigued by the fact that Serling is not more widely recognized as the screenwriter for, "Seven Days in May," what I consider one of the greatest political thrillers of the last 50 years.

[jude24]

I'll field the J.R.R. Tolkien question:

It is certainly true that J.R.R. Tolkien is wildly popular amongst Christians. Last night, 17 of us from Campus Crusade crowded one of our apartments to watch the Director's cut of The Fellowship of the Ring. Many of us considered The Lord of The Rings to be amongst our favorite fictional books. And now, I've been repeatedly asked by others if they can borrow my LOTR DVD.

Why was the movie so popular? Well, part of it was that in a 3 hr. movie, there wasnt so much as a single use of profanity, nor was there any nudity -- always refreshing in an era when Hollywood's films often go for cheap titillation over substance. But it has to go much deeper than that: my belief is that the worldview of JRR Tolkien was fundamentally Christian, and he could not help but see it influence his work.

Granted, Tolkien specifically noted that The Lord of the Rings was not a religious allegory, and that he intentionally left out any (overt) religious imagery. My contention, however, is that Tolkien, as a committed Christian, could not help but have Christain figures influence the shape of his fantasy. Thus, when we see an exiled King return to take the crown that is rightfully his, or when we see a man upon whom the Ring of evil has no power over (Tom Bombadil), or the like, we see a glimpse of Jesus Christ was in the mind of J.R.R. Tolkien. And that is refreshing in an era when Christianity is ridiculed by American culture.

[muir_redwoods]

I like any good writer who can tell a good tale, entertain me and surprise me or delight me with the unexpected. Serling and Tolkien certainly did (and do)and I'm not too interested in their politics unless it finds its way into the story.

Ray Bradbury is my favorite in this genre and I haven't a clue how he votes.

In my mind an ability to create convincing fantasy is frequently (and understandably)associated with Leftist thought. That about describes their politics as well as their literature.

[Snake65]

"Seven Days in May" BUMP!

Great movie. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

[Senator Pardek]

TZ is perhaps my top show of all time. Though he was clearly a liberal, he was staunchly anti-communist, just as Gene Roddenberry was (creator of another great show).

Anti-totalitarianism/communism was highlighted in many episodes of both "serious".

[Media Insurgent]

I've been a fan of Twilight Zone since I was a kid. I never found the messages to be overly leftist by today's standards. Secular humanist definitely, but not overtly politcal.

The bottom line with both Serling and Tolkien is that they were both good story tellers who were able to create interesting alternate realities. That appeals to people of any ideology.

As for Tolkien specifically, his works are so rich that they appeal to people on many different levels. A 13-year-old and a 40-year-old will take different things from them. Likewise, there are things contained in LOTR for people on both sides of the political fence. 60s liberals liked the environmentalism and Gandalf's smoking of the "weed". Some saw the ring as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, although Tolkien denied it. Traditional conservatives like the focus on the battle of good vs. evil and standing up to tyrants. And of course both liberals and conservatives need good old fashioned escapism.

[eastforker]

Why do you have a problem writing God,Christ or Christian and even Christmas.This in itself tells me you have a big problem,so why worry yourself about Rod serling?

[Hot Tabasco]

What was there about Tolkien

Nothing, absolutely nothing! Tolkien is already on the record as denouncing any relevance to Hitler or nazi Germany that many people seem to think his trilogy implies. It was nothing more than a brilliantly written fantasy that has given myself and millions of other folks much enjoyment.

I have read the trilogy 2 times so far and if I still had the time, I would try to read it again. In my uneducated opinion, it is perhaps the best work of literature ever written second only to the Bible......

[Livfreeordi]

I'm old enough to rememeber watching the original Twilight Zone series in its original black and white in its first run. It was a ritual when i was ten years old to stay up late on the night when it was on to see an original episode.

Serling may have been a liberal...but you wouldn't know it by the message of many of his episodes.

That being said, I was always, as long as I can remember, a fan of science fiction and fantasy.

I consider "Lord of the Rings" one of the greatest works of fantasy..and of literature.. of the 20th century.

In his heart, J.R.R. Tolkien was obviously one of us. Even some leftist critics acknowledge that..by engaging in attacks on his work ..as an essentially..conservative work.

Other obviously conservative sceince fiction writers over the years?

The libertarian-minded Robert A. Heinlein ( Starship Troopers, the Moon is a Harsh Mistress), Poul Anderson and Theodore Sturgeon (if the short story "Helping hand" isn't a story with a conservative message, I don't know what is!)

[America's Resolve]

I'm a big fan of both Serling and Tolkien.

And I agree with the comment above. If you're embarrassed to know or be identified with God, don't be surprised if he feels the same way about you.

Godspeed

[Cicero]

Tolkien loved trees and nature and hated modern machinery. In the latter part of his life he never rode in a car (he converted his garage into a study).

Love of nature is neither liberal nor conservative. Most of the conservation organizations used to be conservative. Hippies liked Tolkien because they liked the idea of going back to the land and simplifying their lives, and they liked the idea of innocent little people like hobbits. There's a bookstore in Montpelier, Vermont, called Rivendell, which is still rather hippyish.

During the 1950s there was a lot of great science fiction about people revolting against an oppressive and dictatorial regime. Fred Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth collaborated on several excellent books in this line. Here, too, I think revolt against oppression is something that both hippies and conservatives can identify with. When the liberals wrote these stories, they were thinking of Senator McCarthy and the "conformity" he represented. But when conservatives read them, they could as easily think of Stalin and Mao. Another SF story along these lines, in fact one of the first, was Ayn Rand's "Anthem," which I recall first reading in a pulp magazine.

The great appeal of fantasy is that it's an essential element in life and in stories, but it was kicked out of literature during the nineteenth century by the "realist" movement. Earlier, fantasy was a normal part of literature, as in The Odyssey or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight or Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. In the nineteenth century, it was kicked out of serious fiction and went its separate way. Tolkien was preceded by William Morris, George MacDonald, and others who wrote heroic fantasy back then.

[fporretto]

I would say that Tolkien's appeal to the youth of the Sixties and early Seventies was rooted in the richness of his imaginary world and the support it lent to their escapist impulses.

That particular phase in youth culture was heavily rejectionist. It sought to turn away from everything established, everything previous generations had taken for granted, most especially what it saw as the "materialism" of America -- a set of influences that appeared to be absent from Tolkien's fantasy world. It was foolish, of course, and not really germane to Tolkien's vision, but note this: very little space in The Lord Of The Rings goes to descriptions of the workaday world of Middle-Earth. Almost all of its focuses narrowly on the wars that close the Third Age, and the incredible adventure of the Fellowship, particularly Frodo and Sam, as they wrought the destruction of the One Ring.

Tolkien himself tried his best to stay unaffected by the absurd levels of devotion his tale inspired. He was reluctant to publish more about Middle-Earth and its sustaining mythopoetry, in part for these reasons. Betty Ballantine and C. S. Lewis nagged him from opposite sides; eventually Ballantine won and he issued The Silmarillion, but with misgivings. I wonder what he'd think of all that's happened to his fictional legacy since his death.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
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