Lord of the Rings

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   Bismillah,
And poor Gollum/Smeagle saved the world, and nobody said thank you. There was that song they wrote.
Well, Angela, I'll take your point of good sticking together against evil as the most vital thing about the movie.  My thoughts on the unblackness of the good cultures in the film still allow me to focus on one of the important issues that it raised in my mind:  How I look at things changes with time and perspective, and it's important not to exclude cultures and colors in our struggle to defeat evil.
The symbolism of white, black, good and evil is a subject I have pondered for this very reason.  Allah, SWT, uses this device to communicate to us in the Quran.  Maybe that emphasizes its symbolic nature in an effort to make us understand the really difficult ideas.  So symbolism is not reality, I'm pretty sure, but reality is influenced by symbolism when people take it literally as, for example, the American slavers did to justify their abuse of the Africans they abducted.
Did Tolkien mean to present his ideas as an exclusion of people of color depicted in good ways?  I didn't think about his intentions, nor those of Pete, just the effect this absence had on me as an individual.  And I was wondering if anyone else here had felt this at all. (I see that you didn't, and that's my answer on that!)

Edited by herjihad

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herjihad Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 26 January 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2473	Post Options Post Reply Quote herjihad Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 December 2005 at 6:00am
	Bismillah, And poor Gollum/Smeagle saved the world, and nobody said thank you. There was that song they wrote. Well, Angela, I'll take your point of good sticking together against evil as the most vital thing about the movie. My thoughts on the unblackness of the good cultures in the film still allow me to focus on one of the important issues that it raised in my mind: How I look at things changes with time and perspective, and it's important not to exclude cultures and colors in our struggle to defeat evil. The symbolism of white, black, good and evil is a subject I have pondered for this very reason. Allah, SWT, uses this device to communicate to us in the Quran. Maybe that emphasizes its symbolic nature in an effort to make us understand the really difficult ideas. So symbolism is not reality, I'm pretty sure, but reality is influenced by symbolism when people take it literally as, for example, the American slavers did to justify their abuse of the Africans they abducted. Did Tolkien mean to present his ideas as an exclusion of people of color depicted in good ways? I didn't think about his intentions, nor those of Pete, just the effect this absence had on me as an individual. And I was wondering if anyone else here had felt this at all. (I see that you didn't, and that's my answer on that!) Edited by herjihad
	Al-Hamdulillah (From a Married Muslimah) La Howla Wa La Quwata Illa BiLLah - There is no Effort or Power except with Allah's Will.

Community Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group Joined: 19 May 2005 Status: Offline Points: 1135	Post Options Post Reply Quote Community Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 04 December 2005 at 2:21pm
	I think the best sollution would have been if they gave the role of Frodo to Arnold Swartzenegger, this way black people would recognize a black man in him, Asians(chinese/japanese/koreans) would recognize an Asian and white people would recognize a white person. Problem would this way be solved. And that japanese guy from Karate Kid should have been given a role in a WW2 movie in which he is a pilot of a "japanese zero", but that's a different story.

Community Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group Joined: 19 May 2005 Status: Offline Points: 1135	Post Options Post Reply Quote Community Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 04 December 2005 at 2:26pm
	Or they could remake Lord of the Rings with black actors and make the bad guys white.

Community Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group Joined: 19 May 2005 Status: Offline Points: 1135	Post Options Post Reply Quote Community Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 04 December 2005 at 2:41pm
	[all men are created equal under God], "just try not to get frustrated on the way to it."

Ketchup Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 10 February 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 349	Post Options Post Reply Quote Ketchup Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 February 2006 at 4:20am
	Why does every debate turn in to one of colour? While the original story is great the film is however pretty disappointing and a damn waste of �5.60 enterance fee and parking.

Tim Evans Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 31 January 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 273	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tim Evans Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 February 2006 at 11:34am
	What colour are elves really? Tolkien wrote the hobbits to reflect the the 'British Tommy' the ordinary soldiers, the little man who gets on with the struggle and triumphs over adversity when all the lords etc are doing other important things. I thought Sam was the hero - his unswerving loyalty kept his 'mate' 'pal' 'buddy' going even when despairer was setting in. Orks were the Nazi SS battalions and tank regiments = Black uniforms (maybe) kenski70 to advise? Edited by Tim Evans
	Tim in Britain

Angel Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 03 July 2001 Status: Offline Points: 6641	Post Options Post Reply Quote Angel Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 February 2006 at 2:39pm
	Did anybody know that Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were good friends ? I didn't know that until watching some doco on C.S. Lewis a few weeks back
	~ Our feet are earthbound, but our hearts and our minds have wings ~

abgansa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 14 February 2006 Location: Ghana Status: Offline Points: 21	Post Options Post Reply Quote abgansa Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 March 2006 at 12:34am
	What about the use Jeffrey Hunter, a man with blue eyes and blond hair, in the movie "King of Kings' as Jesus Christ? Where lies the 'closeness to reality' in that? Surprisingly, this picture is becoming a worldwide new of Christ!