An Insult to Both Tolkien and America

Oregon Magazine ^ | December 4, 2002 | Larry Leonard

[WaterDragon]

December 4, 2002, Charlie Rose (PBS) -- Viggo Mortenson. He is the actor who plays Strider (Aragorn of Arathorn) in the Ring Trilogy. He is, he says, an American. He appeared on this program with Peter Jackson, the director and Elijah Wood, who is Frodo. Wearing a t-shirt that he made himself, which said "No more blood for oil....(snip)

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[Skywalk]

But now about Viggo,
the master of evil
try to battle my boys?!
That's not LEGAL!

OH-WEE-OH! We in control!
OH-WEE-OH! Ya ya ya know it!

On our own

Well I guess we're gonna have to take control
on our own
If it's up to us, we've got to take it on!
(too hot to handle, too cold to hold, they're the Ghostbusters and they're in control!)

[WaterDragon]

Actors don't think, they are mouthpieces. It all depends on who's pulling their strings.

[poet]

The insults are so common from people like you. I'm FOR drilling in Anwr you idiot, I just don't want people dying in a foreign land for a personal vendetta or some other vague reason or for oil interests.

[John Farson]

So in order for us to be "good" in Tolkein's eyes we would have had to destroy the ring (nukes)

No, no, no. Tolkien specifically rejected allegory. He was writing myth about the prehistory of the world. There is not a modern day comparison to the one ring -- save Power (of goverments).

"Of course my story is not an allegory of Atomic power, but of Power (exerted for domination)"
--J. R. R. Tolkien
_The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien_ p. 246 (1995)

"I am not a 'democrat' only because 'humility' and equality are spiritual principles corrupted by the attempt to mechanize and formalize them, with the result that we get not universal smallness and humility, but universal greatness and pride, till some Orc gets hold of a ring of power--and then we get and are getting slavery"
--ibid.

Click here for more on Tolkien's political opinions.

[HairOfTheDog]

Right. The allegory between the Ring and Atomic power doesn't even work at the story level. The evil in the Ring is the lust it creates for power over other people. The Ring brings domination and slavery of people, not the ability to kill people.

[A_perfect_lady]

I think you feel that Viggo is eccentric because he was "staying in character" during the filming of the movie. That's eccentric to us in the real world but quite common in Hollywood. I've heard of actors and actresses who maintain a fake accent all throughout filming of a movie, who refuse to answer to their real names, who gain or lose extreme amounts of weight, who have nervous breakdowns and "lose" their own personality while filming... and it sounds so exotic to us. But if they are surrounded by people who are doing the same thing, how eccentric are they, really? The one I admire most is Meryl Streep, who doesn't do any of those silly things. She said in an interview once, (paraphrasing) "What? Lose my identity? No... it's acting. It's just pretend, okay?"

Hey, you want to keep rewarding him with money for spouting his hostile views, go ahead. Me, I'm not going to patronize him. That's how we do things here, if we don't approve of a product, we don't buy it. You want to buy it? Go ahead. Me, I'm not gonna.

[A_perfect_lady]

HEY!!! That's MY daughter you're talkin' about! (She looks good in blue hair BTW, it really brings out the blue in her eyes)...

LOL! My point exactly. If she can't squeeze some disapproval out of you, her bluff's been called and her rebellion was a failure. You're going to be a hard parent to rebel against, I can see.

[HairOfTheDog]

Go ahead.

That is exactly what I said to you. I am enjoying my way quite a bit. This guy is one small part of a great group effort. A group effort that has nothing to do with his politics.

[sneakers]

You're right. It makes no never-mind to me what he thinks - any more than he would care what I thought. Let him think what he wants. Nobody but his Hollywood cronies and some left-wing extremists would listen anyway. It's not going to stop me from going and enjoying this movie MANY TIMES.

[A_perfect_lady]

Might as well add Johnny Depp and Tom Cruise.

[John Farson]

Whigs of a century previous: classically liberal, mainly middle or upper middle class, strongly in favor of property rights and democracy,

Tolkien probably favored most of those things, but not democracy.

[A_perfect_lady]

I do not want to know the politics of my soup maker, my toilet paper maker or the guy that cuts my hair.

I do.

[2nd Amendment]

Once these Actors and Actresses strap on a pair of tights they're experts on everything. Didn't Sissy Spacek become an expert on Appalachian poverty because she played a role in Coal Miner's Daughter?. Didn't Meryl Streep become an expert on Apple preservatives because she ate one on a movie set? I think we need to quit looking to Washington for direction and look at distinquished actors like Alec Baldwin and Barbara Streisand.

[HairOfTheDog]

I do.

I hope that brings you joy.

Tell me... Were you planning to go see this movie before knowing this about Viggo? - I am sure you already should have been boycotting it because of somebody else in the film, or the theater that supports other horribly corrupting films, or the maker of the popcorn the theater sells, or the soft drinks. I think the makers of Red Vines are against the war too. Best just to stay home and boycott everything to be sure!

[A_perfect_lady]

LOL... no, I was going to go see it. I have to say, this is not so much a conscious decision as a sick feeling I get in my stomach to know that here is yet another one using his status to influence the young to hate their own country. I just don't want to look at him now. I find him repulsive now, at the visceral level.

And I'm not after "joy," I'm after understanding. Don't you understand? One's politics is manifest in everything they say and do. Yes, even the hairdresser. Seriously. You can see remnants of politics in every hairdo. Long, dark, curly locks with lots of make-up? Romantic movement. Long hair pulled back, little/no make-up? Traditional. Bleached blond, fake tan? Lost generation follow-the-sun nouveau riche. Short hair, lots of make-up? Second wave feminism negotiating with femininity. Short hair, no make up? Third wave lesbian separatist. Long hair in dredlocks? Radical ethnic hippie chic. I know you've seen each of these people.

[HairOfTheDog]

wow

[A_perfect_lady]

Geez, you scare easy. One of those "keep it light" guys, eh? Okay. Forgetaboutit. Go see the pretty movie.

[HairOfTheDog]

I am a lady.