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An Insult to Both Tolkien and America
Oregon Magazine ^ | December 4, 2002 | Larry Leonard

Posted on 12/04/2002 6:59:43 AM PST by 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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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: Alaska; US: California; US: Idaho; US: Oregon; US: Texas; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: antiwar; oil; ring; tolkien; viggo; viggomoronsen; viggomortensen
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To: rintense
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!)
181 posted on 12/04/2002 5:35:13 PM PST by Skywalk
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To: All
Actors don't think, they are mouthpieces. It all depends on who's pulling their strings.
182 posted on 12/04/2002 6:06:30 PM PST by WaterDragon
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Comment #183 Removed by Moderator

To: AdA$tra
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.
184 posted on 12/04/2002 6:35:23 PM PST by poet
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To: rmmcdaniell; HairOfTheDog
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.

185 posted on 12/04/2002 6:40:13 PM PST by John Farson
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To: rmmcdaniell; John Farson
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.
186 posted on 12/04/2002 6:44:03 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: HairOfTheDog
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.

187 posted on 12/04/2002 7:00:39 PM PST by A_perfect_lady
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To: null and void
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.

188 posted on 12/04/2002 7:03:19 PM PST by A_perfect_lady
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To: A_perfect_lady
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.

189 posted on 12/04/2002 7:04:57 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: Dark Knight
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.
190 posted on 12/04/2002 7:08:22 PM PST by sneakers
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To: wolf24
Might as well add Johnny Depp and Tom Cruise.
191 posted on 12/04/2002 7:11:23 PM PST by A_perfect_lady
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To: The Iguana
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.

192 posted on 12/04/2002 7:11:36 PM PST by John Farson
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To: HairOfTheDog
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.

193 posted on 12/04/2002 7:14:52 PM PST by A_perfect_lady
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To: WaterDragon

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.
194 posted on 12/04/2002 7:15:07 PM PST by 2nd Amendment
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To: A_perfect_lady
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!

195 posted on 12/04/2002 7:24:17 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: HairOfTheDog
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.

196 posted on 12/04/2002 7:37:31 PM PST by A_perfect_lady
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To: A_perfect_lady
wow
197 posted on 12/04/2002 7:47:47 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: HairOfTheDog
Geez, you scare easy. One of those "keep it light" guys, eh? Okay. Forgetaboutit. Go see the pretty movie.
198 posted on 12/04/2002 7:58:52 PM PST by A_perfect_lady
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To: A_perfect_lady
I am a lady.
199 posted on 12/04/2002 8:01:50 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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Comment #200 Removed by Moderator


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