Tolkien Fans, We MUST Do Better About the Racism in Our Midst

Everyone has a part to play in excising the most toxic elements of the fandom before its darkness can fully take root.

I’ve loved Tolkien for almost 30 years, ever since my mom put a copy of The Hobbit into my grubby little fingers and then, after I’d finished it, introduced me to the sprawling, magisterial, poetic, operatic The Lord of the Rings. I’ve re-read the novel countless times, I’ve pored over the various other writings that have been published by his son, Christopher. Middle-earth is, for me and for many others, a haven in times of turmoil and doubt. 

This is as true of Peter Jackson’s adaptations as it is of Tolkien’s original work. When I rewatched the film trilogy recently, I was struck by how pleasant it was to return to this world. I don’t agree with every creative decision that Jackson made, of course, but overall I thought he came very close to capturing the spirit–the ethos, if you will–of Tolkien’s creation, and for that we owe him a great deal. No matter how often I watch these films, I always relish the chance to return home to Middle-earth.

I’ll be the first to admit that I had my doubts about Amazon’s The Rings of Power, but it had nothing to do with the diversity of the casting, which I thought was a step in the right direction. Instead, I wasn’t sure that anything could approach the heartbreaking artistry of Peter Jackson’s films. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried. While not every storytelling choice paid off quite as well as I would have liked, overall I thought the series was a majestic and touching and powerful interpretation of Tolkien for a new era. Since the last episode aired I’ve tried to keep the negativity out of my mind, so that I can just savor the opportunity to return to Middle-earth in all of its beauty and, yes, all of its darkness. 

Unfortunately, I can’t just sit by any longer. The recent reports that the production had therapists on staff to help cast members, including Ismael Cruz Córdova, who plays the noble and long-suffering Elf Arondir, deal with the racist onslaught from slavering fans of Tolkien’s work. If this nonsense were limited to the world of social media that would be bad enough–though no one should have to endure racist nonsense there either–but, as Córdova pointed out to Variety, it didn’t stay online. “My phone got hacked,” Córdova recalls. “I had bank account attempts of being hacked. My PayPal got hacked. My friends got messages. I got death threats. I got things mailed to me. People found out my address. It was a lot of that.” 

Let’s be blunt. The fantasy community has long proven to be a haven for racists and the alt-right. There are a whole host of reasons why this is the case, but there is absolutely no excuse for this kind of behavior. If there is one thing that The Lord of the Rings has always stood for and encouraged its readers to do it is to find and to give grace whenever and wherever they can. I fail to see how ranting about the “wokeness” of The Rings of Power (whatever that means) is in any way either remaining true to the spirit of Tolkien or defending his work against the sinister forces that are supposedly out to corrupt everything they touch. It’s also worth pointing out that, at the very least, Amazon’s series is far less excessive and silly than The Hobbit which, though enjoyable, shows all of the signs of being the victim of the preceding trilogy’s success.

All of the actors who appear in The Rings of Power deserve a great deal of credit not just for bringing so many memorable and lovable characters to life but for doing so through the barrage of hatred and ignorance that has met their every move. I wouldn’t have blamed any of them for making the choice to abandon the project, once it became clear just how much opprobrium was going to come their way. I’m very glad they didn’t, because without them we wouldn’t have the wounded dignity of Arondir, the blunt wisdom of Sadoc, or the sly affability of Disa. If you’ve ever read the works of Tolkien in all of their voluminous complexity, you’ll recognize that diversity and inclusion make his world better, not worse. 

We must, must do better. It is absolutely reprehensible that the stars of the show have been met with an unrelenting stream of harassment from racist trolls on social media. Though I’m usually hesitant to ascribe any sentiments to the late Tolkien–who was, as has been amply documented and pointed out, very much a man of his time, with all of the prejudices and blind spots that entails–I do think that he would be horrified at the behavior of those claiming to speak in his name. I can’t imagine that the good professor would be at all in favor of people hurling epithets and insults at individuals just because of the color of their skin or because they think that diverse casting somehow sullies the racial purity of Middle-earth. 

The power of fantasy lies in its ability to conjure worlds that have never been and might never be but which we nevertheless wish might exist. The power of fantasy fandom stems, in large part, from a shared pleasure in a genre that, for much of its existence, has been sneered at and dismissed by those in positions of cultural authority. It saddens me deeply that there are far too many in the Tolkien fandom who think it’s acceptable to engage in the most despicable acts, saying and doing things that would make an Orc blush in shame. While I know it won’t do much good to shame such people–since they don’t have much shame–I do hope that at least some of them take a few minutes to look at themselves in the mirror, decide whether it might be better to stay silent, and stay the hell off of social media. 

It’s probably vain to wish for such a thing but, if Tolkien has taught us anything, it’s that hope springs eternal.