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quixoticanarchy · 4 years ago

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Cartographic Practices of Arda: Men

[overthinking fantasy cartography series: Elves, Orcs, Dwarves, Hobbits, and Men]

o Men might seem like the most straightforward group to analyze, but they’re not. Why should we assume that humans in Arda use the same cartographic practices that we do? For that matter, who is “we”? Cartography is not a set of objective and universally or historically standard techniques; it is not an exact science; the modern maps treated as real or correct maps are not the one true way to represent space. Tolkien’s Edain may be based on Western Europeans, but they’re still fantasy, and there’s no reason that their cartography should look like Western Europe’s

Further, Western European cartography wasn’t standardized in terms of techniques or even units of measure until early states began to want visual representations of their territory that would make them more easily taxed and managed, especially as enclosure policies took off, market forces became increasingly dominant, and controlling a standardized populace became an important goal of government

o Western cartography is also deeply intertwined with maps as a colonial and imperialist tool, which impacted the development of mapping practices, the lands those maps reflected, and the ways in which space was imagined. I think that governing, planning military operations, maybe taxing the populace, and carrying out various expansionist programs would be the activities in Middle-earth driving cartographic development among Men, similar to Europe, but it’s not inevitable at all that the maps they make for such things would look the same. Maybe they could make maps of layered symbols rather than mimicking on-the-ground spatial relations, or paintings whose details correspond to geographic referents, or physical models of space a la Polynesian stick charts (although I do think there’s an artifacts-have-politics argument to be made about which cartographic practices are most conducive to certain uses and conceptions of space, but I digress)

o But presuming Men do make maps in the same vein as those found in the books (though I should say I don’t take those as being real in-world maps, per se), what would they map? And how would they map it?

Starting with the Edain and the kingdoms they founded, since their influence is so centered in LOTR, I think their cartography would develop as a formal practice in Númenor, and prior to that, they might use the maps of Elven realms of which they were vassals, or might create their own spatial navigation techniques, not necessarily cartographic

Likely, considerable influence of Elvish cartography on Númenórean maps would carry over to Gondor and Arnor. While Elves might only need maps as reference for memorization, or for military strategy planning, I think Men’s reproduction of and reliance on maps would increase greatly, especially during the colonial age of Númenor and the realms they established. Cartography could become a more established discipline; populations could be managed more effectively, at least under the more competent rulers; similar to early-state-formation Europe, you could see cartography as an increasingly important tool of state

(this is a long one, so the rest is under the cut)

o I think Middle-earth political borders are likely more important for Men than any other group (except maybe Elves in Beleriand) – you have kingdoms claiming huge expanses of territory, large populations, and constant pressure at the borders, especially from the South (and previously in the north, in the wars with Angmar)

Population maps? Would there might be something akin to a census? I don’t think these kingdoms were at the stage of providing “services” to their populace beyond military defense (of which the people themselves served as the actual agents), but there might still be interest in basic population maps, even if just for military conscription reasons

What about scientific maps? Were Men involved in mapping physical geography? (Can I blame them for the geomorphology crimes therein?)

Economic and trade maps would be useful; depending how the internal economy functioned, maps for calculating taxation, tribute owed, agricultural production, etc. might be relevant. Whether this is negotiated at a town level or standardized under the aegis of a king, hard to say

o Men (their leaders, at least) seem to have the most conflicts with others and the most expansionist political orientation, so their maps would likely reflect social sentiments toward those deemed enemies

This goes for both the people of kingdoms like Gondor and Arnor, etc. as well as those in Harad, Khand, Umbar, etc.

o There aren’t abundant details about the populations of western Middle-earth before Númenórean colonization, but it’s fair to say their spatial conceptions of the world and visual representation practices, could have looked quite different – who’s centered on the map (if they use maps)? What areas are (de)emphasized? How is land used and valued? How are distances measured? How is territory demarcated or power represented?

These are also questions I have for the potential cartographic practices of the Easterlings, Southrons, etc. Given how demonized they are, why assume that the maps in the books are even an accurate sketch of space, let alone place-names, borders, landmarks? (the maps are scant as is, and their authorship questionable, but it’s fair to assume they represent a northwest, Númenórean-descendent perspective - not drawn by someone from Harad, etc.)

Sparse as they are, those maps’ details might have very little fidelity to even physical geography in the south and east, let alone to how the people there would represent their own lands according to their own cartographic conventions

o Men would likely be some of the most affected by the change from flat earth to planet, since they wouldn’t have the same understanding of what happened that the Elves might, and the Elves also have their weird dual vision in which the straight road to Valinor is still flat for them (personally I imagine it as being able to see a hidden plane that lies tangent to the earth, invisible to others). How did they respond cartographically when their old maps are no longer accurate? How do they develop map projections? How do they learn to recalculate distances and scales (and climate patterns, and everything else that would’ve been upended)?

Presuming they do figure out map projections, there might be some convenient size distortion to indicate relative perceived importance, a la Mercator projections

And for these questions, like all of them, remember: which Men are we talking about? Under what ruler? In what time? And of course, where?

#this one's nearly a thousand words lmao #and i could have gone on #it's a bit edain centric and i'm sorry #i just have more substantiated speculations re their cartography but i don't mean to privilege their spatial perspectives(whatever they are)#cartography is very dicey in human history especially if we are drawing western europe parallels #which i want to think beyond but also acknowledge them #anyway this series is over (for now) (unless i decide to do like. Ent cartography)#tolkien #edain #lord of the rings #arda cartography #geography things #tolkien meta #skravler

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kinnoth · 10 months ago

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More on this:

The base of the problem is that, historically, the speculative fiction genre has been structurally anti-authoritarian. It's always the little guy up against the dragon, the disenfranchised up against the tyrannical, the rebellion against the empire. The hobbit up against the representation of all evil, etc

But the MCU is, in its essence, military/cop propaganda. It's all about how change is inherently bad, self determination is inherently scary, and how the only way to be morally "good" is to wrest change away from the change makers and bring things back to the status quo.

The modern superhero robs classic fantasy and sci-fi for its aesthetics, but ultimately, they are not stories about resistance or allegories about the power of the common man, they are power fantasies. The powerful are powerful and they stay powerful. The rich are rich and they stay rich. The common man is an insect, scrambling away from the wake of their falling skyscrapers: at every point powerless, at every point faceless and inconsequential.

At no point is the hierarchy of their worldview ever allowed to be disrupted; in fact, the disruption is the evil, and it is never around for long. Physical violence quells the disrupter. And the superhero is the supreme dispenser or physical violence.

Might is the only right

I think at least some of this is because the modern superhero has done away with the concept of secret identities and alter egos. Since the first Ironman, where Tony Stark subverts our expectation and announces himself Ironman to the world, all superheroes are only themselves. Everybody knows captain America is Steve Rogers. Everybody knows ironman is tony stark. Everybody knows Bruce banner is the hulk. They exist in a narrative where they are given everything including adulation, where they want for nothing including governmental approval, where they are too big to fear anything, so they have nothing to hide.

When your superheroes are literally another branch of the fucking military industrial complex, I think we can dispense with the illusion that they are somehow vigilantes who work at a disadvantage "outside the system"

I dunno. Something about the lack of private life vs public life. Something about celebrity. Something about how even within the constructed world of the MCU, captain America is a branded trademarkable IP, selling plastic shields and plastic helmets, presumably made in a Chinese sweatshop, same as it is in the real world

Nobody knew the ringbearer was frodo, except for those entrusted to keep his secret. There was power in the secret. There was power there, to preserve him from the Eye.

Everybody knows the avengers, up in their tower. They watch over us all.

The irony of Tolkien plundering Norse mythology to create Lord of the rings and then the MCU Thor franchise plundering the lotr movies to create a generic fantasy vibe.

The irony that MCU Thor borrows aesthetics from lotr as a source material but somehow missed the whole fucking moral and has recast Mordor as the protagonist

All the things that were supposed to elicit horror in lotr? They're good now actually

The horror of Sauron's ever-seeing eye, watching everything, knowing everything? Actually that's good, odin's ever-seeing eye is actually here for our protection

The horror of the empire that is trying to consolidate all the wealth and resources of all the lands into theirs? Asgard is a utopia, where resources are so easy and plentiful that they guild their walls in gold

The unnatural orcs of Mordor and the uruks of isengard, who understand nothing but violence, fighting and swarming at their enemy as if untouchable by fear or pain, spreading fear and pain wherever they go? Actually they're Asgardians now and that's their very noble warriors code actually

But yeah, the MCU is totally not an unsubtle vehicle for casual authoritarianism

#''good guys dont hide their face'' yeah. ok.#the mcu is a vehicle for casual authoritarianism #internal thor tag

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tidalcreek · 4 years ago

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are you awake yet?? i wanna hear all about your kishi bashi lotr plans pls

omg THANK YOU <3 okay so ive been thinking about this for all of 24 hours specifically in relation to My Tolkien Adaptation Plan In My Brain which is VERY vague but covers th → lotr → silm. and what i was thinking is that there is NO way to reboot lotr in particular with a score thats stylistically similar to howard shore’s bc it will just feel like a pale imitation!! he put an insane amount of work and depth into that music and the themes are soooo iconic you can’t not have them if youre doing a classic film score. so what if we did something completely different and had an orchestral psychedelic indie score? cue readmore of shame

i definitely dont want to use kishi bashi’s existing songs partly bc they are like. songs not a fantasy film score whsfkjf and a lot of them use more electronic instrumentation than i would want for this. and also bc a lot of them are inspired by very specific subjects like most of the omoiyari album is about japanese internment in the us and im not really gonna throw that into a tolkien movie.

BUT in listening to his music i feel like there is soooo much potential to use all the different styles he works with to create the moods of different scenes and cultures in lotr like howard shore did. + the general structure of mr ishibashi’s music is also something that i think would work SO well as a film score and for tolkien specifically— it’s really layered and lush with varying levels of Full Orchestra and Chamber and Guy With A Guitar, and the richness and often like. shimmering quality? idk it fits so so well with my vision of tolkien based on the books and it has the lightness and playfulness that is maybe sometimes less present in howard shore/pj’s work, but also the ability to create really emotional Big Score moments with standout themes and orchestral layering..i think there is just such a rich world he could create with the music of all the different distinct cultures in middle earth that have nonetheless been influencing each other for thousands of years, and in my brain it’s a musical style that fits really well into my 2d animated silm concept too :3

umm specific songs to illustrate some of this:

brandenburg stomp: this song (in a more acoustic arrangement) is so much like what EYE imagine the elves’ music could be like, like the silly songs in rivendell and mirkwood from the book that are more teasing and jolly. the fast vocals + high register/competing background violin line/playful rhythm changes all feel SO elvish to me, in the mischievousness and brightness and slight scariness that i picture for the elves. like it’s a musical flex! it feels like it could get faster and faster and take you to some other universe but it slows down again bc theyre just playing with you! anyway i have a whole little scene in my head of the hobbits and aragorn and arwen dancing to this with the other elves in rivendell the night before the council and it is very precious to me

annie heart thief of the sea polyvinyl version has a folk quality that i really love for some of the cities of men and maybe the hobbits as well. folk songs of rohan! laketown! i would fucking love to work with mr ishibashi on setting the songs from the book to music oh my godddd

for the actual Score moments rather than in-universe songs: violin tsunami, in fantasia, theme from jerome (forgotten worlds), and conversations at the end of the world string quartet live version are really good representations of the different emotions and recognizable themes he’s able to create with both simple and layered instrumentation. and those motifs could then be repeated and recreated throughout the movies in different arrangements! he’s also so good at using instruments to create a mood rather than a specific melody like in impromptu no. 1 and i would love that kind of music for other scenes too. ive also messed around transcribing his vocal lines for violin for fun in the past and i think his music works VERY well with a single instrumental line carrying the melody rather than a singer, which would work better for a score and also gives it so much musical flexibility to create different moods and sounds. idk i miss playing music with people and mr ishibashi is so good at music it makes me physically ill and im obsessed with this now help

#ALSO ALSO he used to play violin in regina spektor’s band and if she sang on my tolkien score i would cry. CRY #lotr

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alsoknownaskoedynn · 5 years ago

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But there was in Thranduil’s heart a still deeper shadow. He had seen the horror of Mordor and could not forget it.

***

SO guys i am BIG PASSIONATE about lord of the rings, the hobbit, tolkien in general, you know. this was SO MUCH FUN to do. this is the first real illustration i've attempted, and i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. BUT PLS ENJOY THIS LENGTHY EXPLANATION under the cut bc i'm such a nerd and there's a lot of actual purpose put into how this whole thing is set up

SO this is my illustration of the Battle of Dagorlad and it's personal aftermath in the Second Age. this was basically THE major battle during the War of the Last Alliance. and one of my favorite characters in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings is Thranduil, even though he's at most a minor character in both of them. Thranduil was a prince at this point, as his father, Oropher, was the king of the Greenwood. Oropher took his son and many of their people to fight alongside Gil-Galad against Sauron. Oropher led a premature charge against the enemy, resulting in not only his own death, but that of 2/3rds of his people. Though Sauron was ultimately (supposedly) vanquished, Thranduil had to lead that remaining 1/3rd back to their home and become king. There's so many people that dislike Thranduil and how he's portrayed in the Hobbit movies, saying that he's cold and selfish and just an overall jerk, but like, this is a guy who watched his father die, and watched so many of his people die due to impulse and folly. I wanted to capture that transformation that Thranduil had into someone who's reserved and cautious, and illustrate that moment. Artistically, i went with a sort of art-nouveau operatic poster set up, with some hard outlines and a sort of stained-glass window feel. I really enjoyed the visuals presented in Peter Jackson's movies, so in some aspects i stuck with that. I really had fun with Oropher though. I decided to split the painting across the middle with the sword, kind of as a representation of Thranduil's past and his present. Oropher is pierced by his own sword, as a nod to his death due to his own mistakes. Sauron is at the top overlooking everything, as he was the calamity that was brought down on Thranduil's family. There's the tower (I know the Eye is more of a Third Age, Lord of the Rings thing, but aesthetically it's pleasing and it's easily recognized as another representation of battles against evil), and I chose to leave the ring off of Sauron's finger as ultimately he is defeated and separated from the ring. Thranduil's eyes are closed to represent how after this he basically closes his eyes to the outside world and turns his kingdom into a very isolated realm, and the throne sort of looms in the background behind him as a physical representation of this responsibility that's been set on his shoulders. guys i just really really love thranduil, he's been through so much and it's not talked about enough.

#thranduil #lord of the rings #the hobbit #the hobbit movies #lord of the rings movies #oropher #sauron #illustration #watercolor #battle of dagorlad #war of the last alliance #lord of the rings lore #lore #tolkien #jrr tolkien #elves

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modernlotrhobbitthoughts · 6 years ago

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Tauriel - Day Four

Next is one of the more controversial characters in the whole Hobbit/Lord of the Rings series: Tauriel. She didn’t exist in the books, yet was put into the movies as a female elf fighter, alongside Legolas (who also wasn’t in that book). I know that there are some people who were unhappy with Tauriel, and some who just straight up didn’t like her. Personally, I think that she’s a really interesting character, and that she did add to the story. (In addition, it’s not necessarily canon that she WASN’T there, but I’ll talk about that later.)

Tauriel, by MariaNovikova on deviantart

Quick notes: Basically, Evangeline Lilly, who portrayed Tauriel in Desolation of Smaug and Battle of Five Armies had two conditions for her to be in the films: 1) she needed to play a character that she thought was true to the Tolkein universe, and 2) she would not be involved in a love triangle. We’re all well aware of the love triangle that Tauriel ends up involved in, and the debate is still out on whether she was true to the universe. While she wasn’t technically part of the book, it must be noted that the entire novel is told from the perspective of Bilbo, and, as the two characters have no interactions, it is possible that Tauriel did exist (in the scope of Middle Earth, not necessarily Tolkien's vision). That’s not, however, what I’m going to be talking about in this post (so please take your discourse elsewhere).

The thing that I really want to appreciate about Tauriel is how her character varies from the other Elf maidens in the series. We see Arwen, the perfect and beautiful daughter of Elrond, and Galadriel, the ethereal and powerful Lady of Lothlorien. Tauriel is our first look at how an elven warrior, or someone of non-royal blood, may act. She has a job in the kingdom of Mirkwood, and seems to be very good at her job, as she works closely with the prince, Legolas.

She’s a very good fighter, as first displayed against the spiders in Mirkwood. Her style of fighting is very precise and intense, without too much fluff or unnecessary movements. Based on the fact that she works directly for the king, we can infer that she’s been trained to end battles quickly, which seems to be in the style of Thranduil, so that makes sense. She’s a good fighter, etc.

The one scene that I do want to talk about is the scene after Barrels out of Bond, where Tauriel shoots an orc’s arrow out of the air with her arrow to save Legolas. Ignoring the physics of this scene (unless you don’t want to, in which case click here), the important thing is what’s addressed at the end of that article: What was Tauriel thinking? Rather than just shooting the orc, she shoots the arrow, showing not only her fighting skills, but revealing a bit about her personality as well. The orc that she didn’t shoot is later shown in the throne room, and reveals some information about the “real enemy.” Perhaps she knew that they wanted someone for that? The more likely explanation is that she simply wanted to show-off. Not necessarily because she’s vain or wants attention, but more because she’s just frustrated as being seen as just another soldier, or, in Legolas’ case, a love interest. Obviously, we can’t know for sure, but it seems fairly reasonable to me.

ANOTHER THING THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT IS HOW SHE’S PORTRAYED AS A FEMALE CHARACTER. I want to talk about this mainly in relation to her relationship with Kili. This is certainly one of the areas where I will say that Peter Jackson did well. Her fighting skills and good actions are not diminished by her emotions. Throughout both DoS and BoFA, the audience can see that she develops feelings for Kili, based on how her manner towards him changes throughout the two films.

Kili and Tauriel, by @drawblog

The thing that I REALLY want to applaud is that there’s no scene where Tauriel seems to lose her fighting abilities and has to be “rescued” by Kili (or Legolas). In fact, quite the opposite might seem to be true. AND she still has emotions and a personality, rather than being the “strong female character” that’s strong because she can fight. Yes, part of her personality revolves around her feelings for a man, but she was awesome before she met Kili, and she didn’t change after that. I’m going to stop on this subject, for fear of just repeating myself over and over again, but I really love this about Tauriel.

Fanart, finally!

Tauriel, by EM-MIKA

formal!Tauriel, by @adylainne

Modern Tauriel, by Kaye Magistro - I love the visual of her in stared themed clothing.

Tauriel, by Helen Kupp

Okay let’s just jump straight in:

Modern AU - personal thoughts time: Tauriel was very popular in school. She came from a lower-class family, but her parents (seperated, but both good people) relentlessly encouraged her to do well in school. She interned at Thranduil’s law firm for the last two years of high school, having known Legolas through many of her years at school as well as co-ed sports. She got into a prestigious law school on sports scholarships and a hefty donation from Thranduil (who hoped that she’d come work for his firm after graduation). She became a public interest lawyer, specializing in class action lawsuits and non-profit representations, working for Thranduil’s company (though she didn’t quite agree with all of his policies). She met Kili while working a case where people had sued against a prominent and discriminatory industry, along with its feared head “the Goblin King.” One of the people suing was Thorin, who claimed to have been physically attacked while on the Company’s premises. Tauriel was called to interview his witnesses, one of whom was Kili. When the war came around, she joined along with Legolas, and their team fought alongside Thorin’s in several main battles. Her relationship with Kili progressed, mostly in secret, until he was killed in battle. She survived and returned home, quitting her job with Thranduil’s company and moving across the country, to pursue a new career.

This was kind of a long one, but I have a LOT to say about Tauriel. I just want to emphasize again that I believe that she is a great character. I understand if you don’t like her, but I hope that you can still appreciate some aspects of how she was portrayed in the films.

Tauriel, byMelusine-FleurAvalon on deviantart

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tolkien-fandom-history · 6 years ago

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Interview with Angela P. Nicholas--author of "Aragorn: J.R.R. Tolkien's Undervalued Hero"

We were very excited to have the opportunity to interview author Angela P. Nicholas. Her book "Aragorn: J.R.R. Tolkien's Undervalued Hero" is an extremely detailed, in depth examination of Tolkien's Aragorn--his life, his relationships, his achievements, his skills, and his personality. It is a very worthwhile addition to any Tolkien library. She has some fascinating insights into Aragorn, book vs movie representations of the character, thoughts on the upcoming Amazon series and fan fiction as part of the Tolkien fandom. Hope you enjoy reading it!

1. How did you first become interested in Tolkien?

Answer:

Although The Lord of the Rings was very much in fashion during my student days in the late sixties and early seventies I wasn't interested in it at that stage – probably because I didn't tend to follow fashions! It was not until a few years later, in 1973, that a friend persuaded me to read it. He stressed that it would be a good idea to read The Hobbit first and promised me that I was "in for a treat". I was hooked immediately and when I got together with my future husband soon afterwards I wasted no time in introducing him to Tolkien's works as well! I re-read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings several times during the seventies and bought The Silmarillion as soon as it was published in 1977. Further readings have followed since, especially while working on Aragorn, extending to Unfinished Tales, the twelve volumes of The History of Middle-earth and Tolkien's Letters as well.*

2. Aside from reading the books, have you had any other immersion in the Tolkien fandom? Online, through societies, other venues?

Answer:

My Tolkien-related activities include membership of the Tolkien Society since 2005, leading to attendance at Oxonmoot (most years) plus a number of AGMs, the occasional seminar and the event in Loughborough in 2012. I've contributed several articles to Amon Hen and also gave a talk about Aragorn at Oxonmoot a few years ago. In addition I attend meetings of my local smial (Southfarthing) which is actually a Tolkien Reading Group.

3. There are so many richly written, deeply compelling characters in Tolkien. How did you decide to focus on Aragorn?

Answer:

There wasn't really any decision to make, as right from the start I found Aragorn the most complex and appealing character in the book. Every time I re-read The Lord of the Rings - including delving into the Appendices - I found new depths to his character and significance.

4. What prompted you to write this book? How did the impetus to write about him, in such rich detail, come about?

Answer:

The actual impetus came from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films. Although I enjoyed his portrayal of Aragorn in some ways, it was clear that there were significant differences between the film and book versions of the character. For my own satisfaction I decided to re-discover Tolkien's Aragorn by studying all the Middle-earth writings and making detailed notes on anything of interest. I did not, at that stage, see myself actually writing a book.

5. Did you initially plan such an exhaustive and detailed study of this character, when you first decided to write the book?

Answer:

No, I didn't envisage anything so detailed. It just got out of hand: the more notes I made the more ideas I had and the thing just grew exponentially!

6. The title makes use of the word ‘undervalued’—how do you define that in terms of Aragorn and how did you come to associate that word with him?

Answer:

While studying Aragorn it became clear to me that his role in the story is a lot more significant than is immediately apparent. This is partly because the book is “hobbito-centric”, to use Tolkien's own word [see end of Letter 181 in The Letters of J R R Tolkien edited by Humphrey Carpenter], so is largely written from the hobbit viewpoint. For this reason Aragorn's ancestry and earlier life are only described in the Appendices, which not everyone reads. Thus his deeds - and their significance - are often overlooked, causing him and his role to be undervalued. Chapter 1.5 of my book in particular aims to address this problem by concentrating on the story of The Lord of the Rings from Aragorn's point of view. He does many crucial things behind the scenes, for example: the lengthy search for Gollum; standing in for Gandalf as shown by the secret vigil he conducts over Frodo during the months before the latter's departure from the Shire; and - the most significant achievement - confronting Sauron in the Palantír of Orthanc thus implying that he himself has the Ring and so diverting Sauron's attention away from Frodo.

7. If you were to consider writing a similar book about another character from Tolkien’s legendarium who would you choose to focus on?

Answer:

I find Finrod Felagund, Galadriel and Elrond interesting, especially in the light of their impact on Aragorn and his ancestry. Among the hobbits, Merry Brandybuck is rather appealing. However I have to say that I am not planning to do another book on this scale!

8. What were your thoughts on the portrayal of Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies?

Answer:

Given “book” Aragorn's lengthy struggle to regain the kingships of Arnor and Gondor and to be deemed worthy of marrying his beloved Arwen, it was extremely disappointing to be presented with the image of “Aragorn the reluctant king” who breaks off his engagement so Arwen can sail west.

In general I felt there was too much emphasis on Aragorn as a fighter, along with almost total neglect of his formidable healing skills, impressive foresight and knowledge of history and lore.

Another great disappointment was the omission of the challenge to Sauron in the Orthanc Stone. Yes, this incident was included in the extended version of The Return of the King, but it appeared in the wrong place and also gave the impression that Aragorn lost the confrontation. (The credit for seeing the enemy's plans in the Stone was actually given to Pippin!)

In addition I found the beheading of the Mouth of Sauron particularly disturbing.

9. Did you find Viggo Mortensen believable and appealing as Aragorn?

Answer:

In spite of my answer to the previous question I liked Viggo Mortensen's performance. He did actually look something like my image of Aragorn and he seemed to capture the sadness, remoteness, physical courage and protectiveness I associate with the character. Basically I thought that Mortensen did very well with the part he was given to play - but the part was not that of Tolkien's Aragorn!

10. Amazon has bought the rights to the appendices of the Lord of the Rings and is planning a 5 part series. Rumor has it that the first season will focus on young Aragorn. What do you hope to see in this adaptation and are there any particular incidents/scenes/events that you think merit particular attention or inclusion?

Answer: The following seem to me to be important:

- Putting Aragorn's early life in the context of “Estel”, the Hope of the Dúnedain, who has been prophesied to be the one who will atone for Isildur's failure to destroy the Ring, and who will restore the kingship of Men.

- Some emphasis on his family members: Ivorwen, Dírhael, Gilraen, the death of Arathorn, subsequent fostering by Elrond, and training by Elladan and Elrohir. Some indication of the close relationship with his foster-father would be good: Elrond loved Aragorn as much as his own children but this was not made apparent in the Peter Jackson films.

- The scene when Elrond tells the 20-year-old Aragorn his true identity.

- First meeting with Arwen

- Friendship with Gandalf from age 25 onward

- Betrothal to Arwen, and Galadriel's involvement: he was 49 by this time, so that may not be considered part of his early life (though 49 would be young for one of the Dúnedain!)

- Perhaps some reference to the events of The Hobbit in 2941-2 when we know that 10/11-year-old Aragorn was living in Rivendell.

11. What do you find most inspiring about Tolkien’s world?

Answer:

The depiction of such a complete and seemingly realistic world, and the fact that one can pick up extra hidden depths in both story and characters on each re-reading. There is always something else to discover or a new interpretation of a familiar passage.

12. Are you involved in any more projects involving Tolkien?

Answer:

Not at the moment. I have one or two ideas for possible short articles.

13. What advice would you give to those first encountering Tolkien’s work and wanting to learn more about Middle-earth and its inhabitants?

Answer:

Speaking from my own experience I would say: Read The Hobbit first then The Lord of the Rings several times, including the Appendices, before delving into other works: The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth and Tolkien's Letters, plus critical works, etc. - and of course online sources which were not available when I first became interested in Tolkien.

14. In the preface to your book you mention discovering the online Tolkien fanfiction community—what are your thoughts on Tolkien fanfiction? What time frame was this and did you join the fanfiction community at that time?

Answer:

I started writing fanfiction during 2003 and continued doing it until about 2007 which was when I made the decision to write a serious work about Aragorn. One piece of fanfiction appeared in Amon Hen, and the rest on a couple of websites which I think no longer exist.

My main thought about fanfiction is that it was this which started me off writing. It was very much an experiment as my last attempts at creative writing dated back to my school English lessons in the 1960s! Without trying the fanfiction first I don't think I would ever have got round to writing articles for Amon Hen, let alone my book.

15. Did encountering fanfiction or even writing it have an effect on your thoughts on Aragorn and the salient points of his character that truly defined him?

Answer:

Yes - because the chief aim of the fanfiction (mine and, I suspect, that of other fanfiction writers) was to fill in the gaps in Aragorn's story. I scoured the text for possible motives and feelings of the people I was writing about. My fanfiction was always based on the “book” version of the story and characters (never on the film version). I did sometimes use invented characters but only to add detail and interest to the story. For exampIe this approach was used when writing about Aragorn's Rangers and when describing his interactions with the inhabitants of Bree. Some stories were actually based on invented characters, in order to try and see Aragorn through the eyes of others. This probably helped me when writing the “Relationship” chapters [see next question.]

16. One aspect of your book that to me is truly unique is Part 2, where you study and interpret his interactions and relationships with the other races and individuals he encounters in Middle-earth. What made you decide to pursue this format?

Answer:

It just seemed the most logical approach. I couldn't study Aragorn's relationships properly without also studying the other half of each different relationship. There was so much to be revealed about both parties in these studies, many of which were based around families and generations (such as in Rohan, and Gondor, and in the Rivendell and Lothlórien communities).

17. Aragorn as a character brings together elements and bloodlines from the First Age into the Fourth Age—you outline these genealogies and relationships quite thoroughly in your book. How do you think this knowledge of his genealogy affected him in his transition from youth to Ranger to King? Is there a character from the earlier Ages that you think had a more significant impact on him or that he resembles the most in character?

Answer: Aragorn would presumably have learnt about these people as a child during his history lessons, but would not have connected them specifically with himself until he was made aware of his true identity at the age of 20.

Elendil, Isildur and Anárion stand out as the obvious significant ancestors whom Aragorn would have striven to emulate - plus, in the case of Isildur, also to atone for his failure to destroy the Ring.

Other ancestors who may well have inspired admiration and/or gratitude in Aragorn include:

- Elendur the self-sacrificing eldest son of Isildur. A passage in Unfinished Tales refers to Elrond seeing a huge similarity between Elendur and Aragorn, both physically and in character. [See footnote 26 at the end of The Disaster of the Gladden Fields.]

- Amandil, the father of Elendil, who advised his son to gather his family and possessions in secret and plan an escape from Númenor in the event of a disaster, before himself courageously setting out for the Undying Lands to plead for mercy for the Númenóreans. He was never heard of again, but the Númenórean race was saved due to Elendil's successful escape to Middle-earth after following his father's instructions.

- Tar-Elendil the 4th King of Númenor and his daughter Silmarien. The royal line of Númenor and its heirlooms only survived via this female line.

- Tar-Palantir the penultimate King of Númenor who resisted the influence of Sauron and tried to turn the Númenóreans back to friendship with the Eldar.

Another notable ancestor for a different reason was Arvedui, the last King of the North Kingdom, who tried to claim the throne of Gondor as well but was rejected and ended up losing both kingdoms before fleeing to the frozen north where he died in a shipwreck. Aragorn must have regarded his own mission to reunite the two kingdoms just over 1,000 years later with some apprehension.

Ar-Pharazôn would clearly have served as a dire warning!

I wonder if Aragorn felt any unease about his namesake, Aragorn I, being killed by wolves!

A comment in Appendix AI(i) of The Lord of the Rings states that the Númenóreans came to resent the choice of Elros to be mortal, thus triggering their yearning for immortality and their subsequent downfall. Did Aragorn ever resent his ancestor's choice? Personally I think he would have had the knowledge and wisdom to understand Ilúvatar's purpose in reuniting the immortal line of Elrond with the mortal line of Elros (through the marriage of Arwen and Aragorn) in order to strengthen the royal line prior to the departure of the Elves and the beginning of the Age of Men.

18. What are your thoughts on the original premise that Aragorn was Trotter, a hobbit?

Answer:

Eeek! The grinning and the wooden shoes! I don't think that the book could possibly have had the same impact, depth and sense of history if the main characters had all been hobbits. I seem to remember that the name “Trotter” still survived for a while after he became a man. “Strider” sounds much better. I'm so glad Tolkien didn't pursue the original idea.

19. Do you have any advice for budding Tolkien acolytes and scholars who are first delving into the legendarium?

Answer:

Read and re-read, record thoughts, ideas, passages worth quoting. Read what JRRT wrote and what others have written. This worked for me, over a very long period - more by accident than design.

*this answer is the same as Angela's answer in the Luna Press interview with her as it has not changed! Take a look at that article for more information on Angela and her book. https://www.lunapresspublishing.com/single-post/2017/09/04/Aragorn---A-Companion-Book

Interviewed by @maedhrosrussandol

July 14th 2018

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intoxicatinginsanity · 7 years ago

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How not to be offensive this Halloween!

I keep seeing people complain about not knowing what's offensive and not offensive for Halloween anymore ( when I damn well know y'all do know but y'all just wanna make a slippery slope argument so you don't have to actually be respectful to other people)

So here's a list of awesome non-offensive Halloween costumes to choose from ( so y'all can stop making excuses). Showing you that omg!!! You totally have so many options to wear. And that omg what?!? Marginalized cultures and communities are like a few out of the thousands of costume ideas possible that we ask you to not wear! So why do something that harms oppressed groups when you can do something way more fun and creative and not hurt anyone in the process ( except maybe yourself, fuck hot glue)

Let's start!:

Horror Film/Tv characters ( Chucky, jigsaw, Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees, Ghostface, Leatherface, Pin-head, Samhain, Ash, Dr. Loomis, Hannibal Lecter, Dean and Sam Winchester, Vanessa Ives, ect.)

Fantasy film/tv characters examples ( Hobbits, Princess Buttercup,

Harry Potter, John snow, Galavant, Buffy, Jack Sparrow, Indiana Jones, etc)

Basic stuff like; Pirates, ghosts, vampires, werewolves,mermaids, witches( minus the big nose because that was anti-Jewish), a wizard, trolls, fairies, mummy's, a motherfucking dragon!

Sci-fi film/tv show characters examples: ( Doc Brown, Ripley, Spock, The Doctor, A Jedi, Men in Black, Bill and Ted, etc.)

Super Heros and Villans( Superman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Scarecrow, The Joker, Harley Quinn, Thanos, Squirrel Girl, Misty Knight, Martin Manhunter, Gamora, Iron man, etc)

Inanimate objects: a tv, a toilet, spoon and fork, a cellphone, a game boy, a lamp ( possibly with a fishnet leg in high heels), a teapot, etc.

Professions; ( nurse, doctor, lawyer, firefighter, teacher, etc)

Animals ( there are so many comfy ass kigus available online of all different types of animals)

Most anime characters.

Legitimately anything fucking Tim Burton.

Okay so y'all want sexy costumes?

Aight I fucking got you fam!

Sexy-up legitimately anything in the above list, go ahead figure out how to be a sexy Hobbit. Be a sexy turtle (maybe even a ninja one) for all I care. You do you boo boo.

Sexy Cryptids yo. Haven't seen that yet. Make mothman sexy, fucking do it. I dare you.

Okay but what about Disney stuff? Can we do that?

Fuck yeah you can. Disney princesses, Disney princes, and Disney villains. Disney bounds. Fuck just Disney characters for the most part. Do it! Do almost all the Disney (Execpt for Pocahontas as the film is incredibly divisive and while there are many who are okay with it, there are still many who are not okay with it. And then many that aren't are still just as important as the many who are. And while Disneys film is a very loose account and portrayal she was still a real person and not a fictional character.(This is directed to non-natives.) )

Oh but aren't some of those Disney characters people of color?

Why yes thanks for asking. Some of them certainly are! But because this is in the fictional Disney universe and they are specifically for animated characters it's different.

Say you want to be

Tiana from the Disney film Princess and the Frog, that's extremely different than dressing up like a caricature of a black person.

Why?!? because you are specifically that one character as designed by Disney and for Disney that is only representing that character in Disney not anything else other than Disney's Princess and the Frog; as opposed to dressing as a culture and caricature of real human beings that are still alive and kicking and representing them in a negative way while appropriating precious things about their culture.

It's fine to dress up as fictional characters that aren't the same race as you, as long as you aren't changing your skintone to do it.

Now things you shouldn't dress up as:

Caricatures of Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, Middle Easterners, Asians, The Romani, disabled people and LGBTQ (don't be a Trans person whatsoever).

No black face, yellow face, brown face ect. Don't fucking do it. Just don't.

Don't dress up as things that make fun of people with mental illnesses. That's hella lame and just not cool.

Don't dress up as things that make fun of people's body types ( aka don't buy fat people costumes)

Don't dress up from closed Religions. By that I mean shamans, witch doctors, Voodoo priestess or priest, etc. Close religions are religions that are only passed on and open to people of that culture and heritage. Things like Jesus, Nuns and Priests, Greek gods and goddesses, Egyptian gods and goddesses, are fine because they are open religions and their religions don't state that you can't have physical representation of said figures faces.

Wow look how small this list is in comparison to the first list of all the things you can dress up as without offending anyone. Amazing I know right?

Now if you still end up dressing up as any of the stuff that is extremely offensive after reading this. No excuses, you're just an uncreative asshole.

So instead of being disrespectful to others this Halloween, why not have fun while being excellent to each other instead!

#Halloween #cultural appropriation #black face #offensive halloween costumes #appropriate halloween costumes #be excellent to each other

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theharellan · 7 years ago

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RP POSITIVITY MEME

DAY 14: FREE DAY!

so this whole week i’ve kept myself from mentioning joly when possible. i promo joly on my dash every day. my very existence is a joly promo. it was mostly a way to make sure that i gave other people attention, and also b/c i saw the last day was a free day and wanted to use it to write about how much i love joly’s characters.

if it weren’t for joly i doubt i’d still be here. that’s not to say that i didn’t love rping solas beyond what i have with joly, but after my hiatus it was the desire to rp with joly again that really brought me back. and i’m so thankful for that b/c it’s allowed me to meet ppl like merc and lisa and kae, ppl who either weren’t around or i didn’t know before. also just when i was having a rough time last year and whenever i’ve had a rough time since then joly’s been there for me. they’re a really special person, who deserves even more kind words written about them than their characters do. but if i keep going i’ll probably make myself cry.

suffice to say if you like my blog, then you have joly to thank. not just for me being here, but how their ocs have shaped my solas. i cannot recommend joly’s blogs enough. they don’t have as much time as they did to write, but it doesn’t make them any less dedicated to their characters as someone who posts a dozen things a day.

before i get to their actual blogs, i want to talk about the npcs or characters that no longer have rp blogs.

first, deshanna. i’ve loved how they made a mother who is flawed and sympathetic, and who i don’t feel 100% good about solas disliking her in modern. it’s my secret desire to be able to rp in a thread where she’s npc’d one day, either in modern or batb. next, layne. what a piece of shit. i don’t know TOO much about layne, and i’m in this position where i want to know more but also i dread it. hoping one day solas and mio can shank him. and then, june. june had a blog (and may again one day??) and he was a fuckin hermit mamma’s boy that was too boring for fen to want to have anything to do with. joly’s recently been toying with some ideas for his character that i think only strengthen what they have, and i’m excited.

@ancientimpudence -

mio is petty. mio is mean. mio is stand-offish. mio is loyal. mio is driven. mio is honest. i love mio.

if you want a character who is flawed and not always nice, you’ll love mio. they’re a really good example of how you can make a character not always be a very pleasant person, but still get plenty of rp mileage off of them and develop meaningful relationships. how two characters’ relationship can somehow be incredibly deep and yet broken. i love what joly and i have built for mio and solas, two ancient friends who aren’t always the best friends.

i could really talk about about their relationship. solas goes through a period where he becomes very empathetic and in-tune with the problems of everyone around him, but mio’s somehow always escape him. i love the gap, and i love how it’s both not his fault b/c mio hides how they feel, but also he needs to do better by them. i love how mio wants what’s best for solas and their cause, while simultaneously suggesting things that actually wouldn’t be best for solas, because mio isn’t omnipotent and is also, to an extent, still trying to keep solas as he was.

i love how mio doesn’t like ian but is still there to help him. i love how mio expresses themself in ways not everyone understands. i love how modern mio has purse dogs and brings vher food b/c they spent all weekend playing the sims.

and vher / mio?? one of those ships that just kinda happened. one of the best things about talking to joly about characters is how often two just kinda cling to one another. vher is aro and can’t return the romantic feelings mio feels for them (and open enough to be accepting when mio finds romantic love elsewhere) but they still care for mio so much. everything about mio that i listed above, even the petty and vain stuff, vher loves. also sometims vher decides they wanna kiss mio and i can only imagine what it does to the poor child.

basically, what i’m getting at here is, joly lets mio be flawed but also shows how those flaws can still lead to positive interactions. joly lets mio be unadmirable at times, but still likeable and lovable. joly introduced some extra diversity in background to the rebellion and i’m eternally thankful tbh.

@betterthanmaps -

harding is one of those characters everyone adores, and so it makes sense that joly, one of the most adorable ppl on the planet, chose to write her. i love seeing characters with stable and normal backstories. harding is just such a steady influence, and i’ve loved seeing her contrasted with the sad backstories most canons and ocs possess. which i wanna be clear isn’t a criticism of sad backstories! i merely mean that it’s also nice seeing variety. not everyone has had a past that has made them cruel or kind, some people were raised by caring parents and lived simple lives until they heard the call to adventure. those people are just as interesting and worthy of telling stories about.

joly’s harding reminds me somewhat of tolkien’s hobbits, i suppose, now that i’m writing this out. and they’re some of my fave characters in literature. only w/ harding we also get fun dragon age dwarfy lore-- someone who is as un-dwarfy as varric but not quite so loud about it and we get actual queer representation.

@spiritualjourneys -

i adore spirits? i do not adore how the fandom treats spirits. things like treating human cole as superior to spirit cole, rather than a person making different choices, both paths making them happy, even if one is for reasons we can’t all understand. pinning everything wrong with anders in da2 on justice. assuming lord woolsey, an innocent spirit-ram who has done nothing but help, has always been a rage demon (even tho the ways in which he has been shown to help the family that adopted him aren’t typical rage-related qualities) but ANYWAY.

the point is, spirits are given something of a raw deal by the fandom and are almost always judged by their ability to conform to human standards. joly’s spirit multi is fuckin fantastic and making spirits different and complex and alien, while also familiar and very much people rather than set pieces in the stories of others. though all of them started out as npcs created by either joly (love, sincerity), myself (joy), or bioware (wisdom) it took joly no time at all to establish their stories. love and joy especially...

what i appreciate about love is the path they took to get where they are. how they weren’t always love, how they focus upon a specific kind of love, how they can’t always see when love is best working past. though i’ve only just started rping peace, i’m in love (get it) with the dynamic the two of them have formed. how they balance one another out and keep one another from straying too far into their own interests, and thereby corrupting themselves. it’s a dynamic that i wasn’t expecting at all when i made peace as an au to my zenyatta blog, but i think that’s the amazing thing about writing with joly. something falls into place and then it grabs you and the idea just won’t let go.

and as for joy, it’s probably the least developed of the spirits, having no form that’s recognisably alive nevermind a person. but it demonstrates well, i think, how “humanity” in elvhenan wasn’t defined by shape. when solas says he dislikes when people see him as just a pair of pointed ears, and that he doesn’t necessarily identify much with modern elves, the idea is expressing multiple things. one of them, i think, is that being an elf sometimes meant being a physical body with pointed ears, but sometimes you could just be bubbles and you’d still be considered a valid member of elvhen society. joy doesn’t exist as we do. joy forgets, joy prefers to never touch the earth, and it exists in a state of cycles to keep itself from becoming something like despair. joly depicts the beauty and the drawbacks of existing in this state and i’m just??? so glad they decided to write joy. b/c they do it more justice than i ever could.

@paragoninexile -

tam’s new blog isn’t fully set up but i wanna talk about her anyway. tam is a good hero and a good person, and in many ways sort of made to be a hero. when i found out about tam i was rly excited simply b/c she was very much like my warden, only with so much more care and thought put into her that now she’s basically replaced my canon warden in my heart.

i think my favourite thing about tam is how much of a front she puts up for everyone. crowning bhelen, even if it meant the death of another father figure. recruiting loghain, even if it meant losing her friend or possibly lover. it shows that even neutral good heroes still have to make decisions that could be considered ruthlessly practical. bhelen is not necessarily the better choice morally, especially not as an aeducan (especially especially not as an aeducan who doesn’t kill trian). i imagine tam knows that crowning him will have dire consequences not just for harrowmont, but the entire harrowmont line. she does it anyway, not because she wants to, but because for orzammar it’s the best choice.

i’ve loved finally having a chance to write one of my fave dragon age ships: gorim/aeducan. i have a weakness for ships who have been together since they were only young, and the progression they take in the au is so good?? being able to find freedom for their love in a life that is literally killing tamar, and the reason they only get 12 or so happy years together rather than 50. but tam is so good that i’m honestly proud to be able to give her those twelve years with gorim. one day i’m gonna make joly hurt w/ thoughts about the kid gorim adopts after tam dies and who he tells them all about. 8)

@cadashsmash -

cadri i think was the first joly character i interacted with, though i believe i remember ian from way way back when i tried rping merrill and couldn’t quite get a foothold like i did with solas and thora.

i’m in love with dwarves u all should know this, so ofc i’m in love with cadri. i love how rough around the edges she is, how she tries to do the right thing, and how doing so can lead to some messed up shit like killing abelas. the work joly’s done with reaver lore is perfect, working with how dirty and raw the specialisation is without making it too hardcore for an inquisitor to ever hope to specialise in it (stop assuming all reavers are cannibals fandom smh). one of my fave threads on thora continues to be the post-battle thread where both are recovering from the drawbacks of their own specialisations and clash because of them. it’s just a really unique idea that is what makes writing with joly so... rounded? like i’m never just writing one thing with joly. they push me as a writer in the best possible way.

overall cadri is just a rly excellent character who, like tam and harding, do credit to dwarves that the series doesn’t always. i’ve loved exploring how differently her and thora react to their position in life, i’ve loved seeing cadri’s anger or indifference towards dwarven society. it’s so valid and realistic and good. i’ve loved exploring the specific ways in which she bucks the presumptions solas has about dwarves, how even in universes where she’s not inquisitor her individuality is still nothing he expects from her kind and how she changes him anyway. i also will always be fond of this being their friendship song.

cadri: hey solas, what d’you call a flower before it opens? solas: a bud. cadri: I LOVE IT WHEN YOU CALL ME BUD. solas: UGHH.

@dalishfreckles -

it’s really hard to not write a post just about ian, honestly. all of joly’s characters are special to me, but i won’t deny ian is my favourite and has a very important place in my heart. if i were to truthfully answer those top 5 fave characters questions, ian would be on there no question.

as someone who goes through some of the same struggles as ian, he’s inspirational. seeing him struggle to keep surviving, to keep loving, to keep helping even when everything inside him is screaming to stop. i love seeing him make mistakes, honest ones or ones born of anxiety. b/c anxiety is more than just hating yourself or having trouble talking to people, although that is very real. sometimes anxiety can cause you to project some really terrible things onto people, things that aren’t really fair to them.

when i see ian doing things like... projecting his own feelings of worthlessness onto solas, assuming he must think the same rather than giving solas a chance to explain? it’s realistic, and it’s not good. it’s trying to pull people into the same destructive game you do to yourself. it’s also realistic, esp since in the thread i’m referring to solas fucked up and has shit to apologise for. idk, it’s just really comforting to see ian pull the same shit that i do, but knowing he’s still a good person and that i love him is an act of self love.

ian’s an important character for so many reasons, that i could probably write a 20 page thesis on him and his development / how much he means to me. i’m proud of him so much. i’m proud when he finds the strength to tease solas, i’m proud when he stands up for himself, even when he’s standing up against the people he loves. especially when, tbh. how as he grows he can see inara’s faults but doesn’t hate her for them, and tries to help her, when he’s under no obligation to. how he still tries to connect with solas after solas coldly brushes him off the first time ian admonishes him. and i love how joly shows it’s not easy. none of it is. and that ian has to keep choosing to be good, it makes everything he does that much more meaningful.

finally, ian isn’t a hero, necessarily. he’s not the sort of person people tell stories about, which is one reason i love the solas/ian pairing so much. it’s really all about the person for solas, and ian is just so much about what solas loves about people. it’s not always about battles and heroes, sometimes it’s just about a person who has the patience and love in them to make a tree grow in the middle of a desert alienage. sometimes the most wonderful things about people are the little, radical things they do for themselves and those they love rather than how they change the world.

this has gotten to be very long, and probably rambling, but to be fair to me this is like two weeks of joly-positivity i’ve been holding in.

i’ll probably be doing one more free day tomorrow, even if today is the last day, just to do a v general positive post for those i follow. but i wanted to take at least one day to credit the person who has inspired me with their words and characters. like. this was just their characters? i didn’t even get a chance to go into the ways joly’s prose shines, how it’s descriptive and yet never difficult to comprehend. how many different types of plots they’re here for.

but to make a long story short, joly is an incredibly talented writer. i’ve said this before, but i can look back on things i’ve written years ago with joly and still like what i wrote (as well as what they wrote but that should go w/o saying), which is a rare feeling, simply b/c joly lets me access the best writer in me. we often here in the rpc use “muse” as a shorthand for “character we write that inspires us” and i’ve found it a difficult word to rly use-- simply b/c joly and their characters are as much my muses as my own characters. at least in the sense that thinking about them inspires me to write.

tl;dr- pls follow and write with joly. b/c the only thing i love as much as writing with joly is reading what they write with other people.

#[ sure do hate this tumblr glitch ]#( positivity )#dalishfreckles #( ooc )#rpc positivity week

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unkaglen · 7 years ago

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Monsters and nacho cheese theology

milktea-mikey asked: Hello awesome Unka! Can having an interest in the 'unknown' and 'creepy' be un-Christian? I've always been intrigued with folklore about creatures, monsters, and other spooky stuff (think Edgar Allen Poe or Guillermo del Toro). I also enjoy a good scary movie every now and then. I want to maintain a healthy Christian life, but does that mean I have to sacrifice my interests and the weird stuff I geek about? Is there any way I can balance all these things? Thanks Unka!

Unka Glen answered: Oh yeah, there’s a way to make everything in your life serve a Godly purpose. You just have to figure out where to point it.

In order to work that out, we need to familiarize ourselves with a simple concept: allegory. Dictionary.com defines allegory as “a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms”. Simply put, it’s using art to make a point about our interior spiritual lives.

So think of Gollum from Lord of the Rings with his “precious”. The story is all about dragons and orcs and hobbits, but the journey of the ring is really about giving us a unique viewpoint on greed and the all-consuming fixation we can develop with the things we desire. Harry Potter books have spells and magic, but ultimately they’re about the power of friendship, the blessings of wise counsel, and the struggle to be who you were made to be.

So it would be a mistake to focus in on the specific details of magic, or hobbits, or Jedis or Hellboys. It’s all about where those things are taking you. It’s about the sermon they’re preaching, if you will.

When I watch a Star Wars movie and they talk about The Force, it somehow helps me be more aware and mindful that there is an unseen spiritual realm that is the truest and deepest reality, and that our physical world is the one filled with illusions.That is to say: there is no spoon.

We do have access to powers beyond the physical. We can speak something into existence that can change the world around us. Courage, love, faith, peace, hope, these things tear down strongholds, break the power of toxic lies, and move mountains.

So ultimately, it’s about looking at what these movies, or books, or graphic novels are saying. Allegory, if you use it right, can allow you to see your own struggles in a different light, and that might just give you the breakthrough you need.

One scary movie might be about how evil can never be destroyed (otherwise, how could we have a sequel?), but another scary movie might give us important lessons about what happens when people act on their selfish desires for power.

I mean, you can be a Nazi, and you can try to use the Arc of the Covenant for your own evil purposes, but make no mistake, your face is gonna get melted like nacho cheese, because that’s how God handles His business. And believe me, the idea that God is angered by people trying to hijack Christianity to justify their own craven grab for power is a pretty sound theological premise.

Every day I give this advice to the pastors I work with: you need to be wiser about evil, and darkness, and emotional pain. As Jesus says in Matthew 10:16, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

Sometimes Poe can just be morose and sad, sometimes an Ewok is mostly about selling movie-related merch, and yeah some scary movies are really just about, well, scaring us. But if you can use allegory to be wiser about the dark side, then you'll be able to fight it in a whole new way.

Bonus awesomeness: we covered a very similar question on a recent episode of the Say That Podcast, you should definitely check that out!

#scary movies #Christianity #allegory #evil #fantasy #imagination

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bensportfolio2017-blog · 7 years ago

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Film Studies - Queer Theory

Queer Theory - the investigation into the positive and negative representation of the LGBT community within media, such as, film, television, and literature.

Self-identified Queer Artists and Filmmakers

Dustin Lance Black (born 1974) Black is an American screenwriter, producer, and LGBT activist. He came out as gay when he was 17/18, and in May 2016, he married openly gay Olympics diver, Tom Daley. Throughout his career, he has created several popular LGBT-oriented films, including:

‘Milk (2008, directed by Gus van Sant)’. Black wrote the screenplay for this film, which was based on the life of gay rights activist, Harvey Milk, who eventually became the first openly gay person elected to public office in California. Sean Penn portrayed the main character, who won an Oscar for Best Actor, for his role in this film. Black also won an Oscar for his screenwriting credits.

‘J. Edgar (2012, directed by Clint Eastwood)’. Black wrote the screenplay for this film, which is about the life and career of J. Edgar Hoover, who was the first Director of the FBI, and was rumoured to be either gay or asexual. Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed the titular character, and he gained mostly positive reviews on his performance of the historical figure. The film was also praised on its story, direction, and production; Todd McCarthy from The Hollywood Reporter wrote “This surprising collaboration between director Clint Eastwood and ‘Milk’ screenwriter Dustin Lance Black tackles its trickiest challenges with plausibility and good sense, while of its controversial subject’s behaviour, public and private”.

Ian McKellen (born 1939) - McKellen is a British actor and LGBT activist. He has been openly gay since 1988. He has always been a massive activist for LGBT rights, and he campaigns regularly to gain equality for his community. He is the co-founder of Stonewall, which is an LGBT rights lobby group in the United Kingdom, who currently are working towards equality for LGBT people at home, work and schools. He is also the patron for LGBT History Month, Pride London, Oxford Pride, GAY-GLOS, The Lesbian and Gay Foundation, and FFLAG. He hasn’t starred in any recognised LGBT-subject films; however, he has starred in huge film franchises such as:

The X-Men series, in which he starred as the elder version of villain, Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto.

The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit series’, in which he starred as wizard, Gandalf the Grey/Gandalf the White.

Jonathan Groff (born 1985) - Groff is an American actor. He came out as gay in October 2009. In his career, he has starred in several different LGBT-orientated media, such as:

‘The Normal Heart (2014, directed by Ryan Murphy)’, a TV movie about the rise of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City in 1981-84. He portrays Craig Donner, a young gay man who dies suddenly of suspected gay-related immune deficiency (GRID), which was later known as AIDS.

‘Looking (2014-15)’, a comedy-drama series, about a group of young gay friends living in San Francisco. He portrays Patrick Murray, an openly gay video game designer.

Representation of LGBT characters in film

In 2013, GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) started to release the Studio Responsibility Index, which is an annual report of statistics on the representation of LGBT characters in films produced by the six major production companies (20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Colombia, Universal Pictures, the Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros.), in the previous year.

In 2012, 13.9% of films released contained lesbian, gay, and bisexual characters. No transgender characters where portrayed. But, only 28.6% of these films, had LGBT characters as major characters.

In 2013, Lionsgate Entertainment was added to the list of major production companies. 16.7% of films released involved LGBT characters, with the majority starring in comedies.

In 2014, Focus Features, Fox Searchlight, Roadside Attractions, and Sony Pictures Classics were added to the list of studios. This year, 17.5% of films included lesbian, gay, and bisexual characters, with no identifiable transgender characters. This year, Warner Bros. was the most inclusive studio, with 32% of their films were LGBT-inclusive.

In 2015, 17.5% of films included LGBT characters. In these films, there was 1 transgender character, and 47 lesbian, gay and bisexual characters.

Queering the canon

Queering the canon is the theory that characters in film can be assigned as being LGBT, judging by their personality, actions, metaphorical storylines, and the characters they associate with.

Walt Disney Pictures, is mainly used as an example of having non-explicit LGBT characters. Disney have always maintained a positive relationship with the community, as they were the first company to extend healthcare benefits to the partners of gay employees. They also host regular pride festivals at their theme parks. Therefore, the company and their films have always been the subject of gay theories about characters.

Films that include confirmed or suspected LGBT characters are:

Ursula from the film, ‘The Little Mermaid (1989, directed by Ron Clement and John Musker)’. The character of Ursula, is a suspected lesbian or bisexual woman. This is because she resembles the popular drag queen, Divine. Her personality also reflects this. Some viewers also interpret the character as an overtly male ‘butch’ lesbian, who represents the evil of homosexuality, and wanting to turn the innocent, Ariel into a lesbian woman.

Timon and Pumbaa from the film, ‘The Lion King (1994, directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff)’. The characters of Timon and Pumbaa, are suspected to be in a gay relationship. This is reinforced in the fact they have a ‘married couple’ type relationship. They go through popular LGBT struggles, of being social outcasts and gay adoption. They are also negatively represented as they are the flamboyant comic relief for the film.

Elsa from the film, ‘Frozen (2013, directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee)’. The character of Elsa, is portrayed as a young girl who was born different to everyone else. Her parents hid her away, because they feared they would be judged, and she would be rejected by the world. When she reveals her ‘icy powers’ (a metaphor for her being a lesbian), she is called a freak and cast out of her home into isolation. Multiple elements of the story, can be metaphors for coming out, and suppression of her sexuality from her parents. Her bedroom acts as her ‘closet’ which she eventually comes out of, and her parents tell her to ‘conceal, don’t feel’. All of these elements indicate to the character likely to be a lesbian. She even has a ‘coming out’ song – “Let It Go”, in which she says ‘Let It Go, Let It Go. Turn away and slam the door’ and ‘I don’t care what they’re going to say’. Elsa is also a good representation of women, as she is the only Disney princess not to require a love interest to survive.

Films with an LGBT subjects and characters‘

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, directed by Jim Sharman)’ - This film is about a young couple who, after their car breaks down in the rain, seek help at a castle, where they come across a group of strangers celebrating an annual convention. They meet Dr. Frank N. Furter, a mad alien transvestite, who creates a living man for his own sexual desires. This film was written by Richard O’Brian, who is openly transgender. He also starred in this film as Riff Raff, the house handyman. This has become a cult film for members of the LGBT community, including their allies, as this film would regularly bring everyone together, disregarding their sexuality, dressed up in stockings and heels, to participate in screenings of the film in movie theatres. The popularity of this film and similar films helped to bring LGBT rights to mainstream media, and to the attention of the public. Most of the LGBT-orientated films of the 20th Century were usually about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other gay-related issues, whereas this film depicts the gay community in a friendlier, more accepting way.

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‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012, directed by Stephen Chbosky)’ - This film is about a young student called Charlie, who suffers from clinical depression because of childhood setback. He is very shy and finds it difficult to make friends. When he meets two fellow students, Patrick and Sam, he is invited along to several social activities with them. The film carries on telling the story of their friendships and of Charlie’s depression. The character of Patrick, is openly gay, and is in a secret relationship with Brad, a closeted football player. They get caught kissing at a party by Charlie. Later on, Patrick and Brad are caught having sex by Brad’s dad, who then kicks out Patrick and beat up his son. Brad is then forced to tell his friends that he was jumped, to hide the fact that he is gay. The next day, Patrick walks past Brad and his friends, and Brad shouts out and calls Patrick a ‘faggot’, which provokes Patrick to ‘out’ him to his friends, who then beat up Patrick, and he gets saved by Charlie, who beats up all the friends then blacks out. This film was subject to mainly positive reviews, commenting on the strong cast performances, and “heartfelt and sincere adaption” of the 1999 book it was based on.

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‘Moonlight (2016, directed by Barry Jenkins)’ - This film is about the main character, Chiron, and his difficulties he faces, relating to his race, and sexual identity, which includes his physical and emotional abuse that he received whilst growing up. The film is presented in three different parts, Little, Chiron, and Black. ‘Little’ tells the story of young Chiron, who is a withdrawn child, who lives with his drug-addicted mother, Paula. He befriends drug dealer, Juan, and gets bullied at school by fellow students, who called him a ‘faggot’. ‘Chiron’ describes Chiron’s teenage life, as he avoids bullies, and spends time with Juan’s girlfriend, after Juan dies. One night, he spends time with his friend, Kevin, they eventually kiss and engage in sexual contact. The next day, Kevin beats him up reluctantly. In ‘Black’, Chiron, who is now adult, sells drugs. His mother is in a rehabilitation centre. He goes and visits Kevin, who after talking for a while, go back to his house and Chiron breaks down, Kevin comforts him and they embrace. This film received huge critical acclaim, gaining an Oscar for Best Picture, being the first film with and all-black cast, and LGBT theme, to do so.

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‘Call Me by Your Name (2017, directed by Luca Guadagnino)’ - This film is based on the 2017 novel which has the same name, and was written by André Aciman. It is about the gay relationship between 17-year-old, Elio, and his father’s student, 30-year-old, Oliver. When this film was aired at Sundance Film Festival, it gained huge acclaim and mostly positive critical reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 98% which was based on critics and public reviews, which had an average rating of 9.1/10. The site describes the films as “a melancholy, powerfully affecting portrait of first love”.

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Representation of LGBT characters in Hollywood films

Ever since the beginning of Hollywood, there has always been controversy over their negative representation of homosexuality. Critics and activists would usually focus on how portrayals would often demean and try to silence the LGBT community.

At the beginning of Hollywood (1890’s to the 1930’s), homosexuality was usually presented as an object of mockery and laughter. Films regularly used the archetype of ‘the sissy’ – which were feminine men who usually have delicate emotions. This was popular, and was used as a source of amusement for the viewers. However, this was not a negative representation, because it was in the middle of masculinity and femininity.

In the 1930’s to 50’s, Hollywood was criticised by religious and homophobic groups, because films would apparently contribute to immorality. Therefore, the Hay’s Code was introduced. The Hay’s Code was a system of self-censorship that mainly affected the representation of homosexuality. During this time, films were unable to include openly gay characters, so instead homosexuality would be included into the character’s mannerisms and behaviour.

During the 1960’s and 70’s, the Hay’s Code was loosened. This was during the dawn of the gay rights movement, and because gays and lesbians were becoming more vocal and visible in society, therefore representation became increasingly more homophobic. Gay characters were portrayed as dangerous, violent, predatory, and suicidal, shown in films such as ‘Midnight Express (1978, directed by Alan Parker), ‘Vanishing Point (1971, directed by Richard C. Sarafian), and ‘The Boys in the Band (1970, directed by William Friedkin).

In the 1990’s, Hollywood improved their representation of LGBT characters. Films such as, ‘Philadelphia (1993, directed by Jonathan Demme)’, ‘To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995, directed by Beeban Kidron)’, and ‘In & Out (1997, directed by Frank Oz)’, proved that audiences can and do enjoy films that have gay and lesbian characters. But, the film industry was still cautious of their representation of gay characters, themes, and experiences. Because Hollywood films were designed to appeal to as big an audience as possible, producers were scared that gay and lesbian themes would offend audiences, and potential investors.

11 notes · View notes

almaasi · 8 years ago

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reaction post typed while watching SPN 12x12 “Stuck In The Middle (With You)”

well THIS is some delightfully interesting bullshit right here

06:43

frankly i am not ready and i don’t think i will ever be ready

i saw some shit on instagram and i went from being “scared but interested” to HYPED and now i’m scared again

i just want cas to come out of this okay

like that’s what i’m here for, just cas being alive and loved (by dean. but also sam and mary)

06:48

*DEEP BREATHS*

06:50

mr ketch is definitely cute, in a murderous stephen fry kind of way

06:52

cas: “cheese isn’t a carbohydrate”

i guess cas read up on the ketchup vs vegetables debate

give me a nutritionist!cas au stat

06:54

cas: “sunrise special please”

CAS IS SUNSHINE

also flustered under mandy’s attention BECAUSE HE ALREADY HAS A BOYFRIEND

RIGHT

RIGHT???

06:55

guess sam’s magic wifi hair doesn’t work any more

06:56

what i have learned here is that dean is turned on by the smell of food

give me cas bathing himself in strawberry syrup before bed

06:57

obviously there’s something else going on but right now it kind of looks like mary’s uncomfortable with either a) using mandy as part of a plan, or b) dean instructing his boyfriend to go flirt with someone else

edit: probably more like uncomfortable that they’re trying to make cas flirt and not focusing on the issue at hand

06:59

CAS SNIFFING PEOPLE

OH GOD CAS YOU’RE SO INAPPROPRIATE AND SO UNAWARE OF IT

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

sidenote, cas was the only one who didn’t get screentime when mary asked if everyone understood the plan

07:01

DEAN: “MY SHY BUT DEVASTATINGLY HANDSOME FRIEND”

OKAY THAT’S CANON

GUYS THAT JUST HAPPENED DEAN JUST DESCRIBED CAS AS DEVASTATINGLY HANDSOME

CONTEXT DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE THOSE WORDS CAME OUT OF DEAN’S MOUTH

07:03

dean: “when do you get off?”

mandy: “whenever i can”

woooowwwww go mandy

also i’m so concerned for cas right now DID HE CONSENT TO BEING USED AS A HONEY TRAP I DON’T THINK SO

HE HASN’T SAID A WORD ON THIS

edit: mandy wasn’t even part of the plan ?? i’m ????

07:05

DID I JUST SEE A BLACK GUY DIE FIRST

///SQUINTS REALLY HARD

07:06

and then a white guy BUT THEN THE (asian? native american?) LADY

AAAND WE’RE BACK TO ZERO REPRESENTATION

WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

ARE THEY ACTUALLY KIDDING LIKE

DO THEY EVEN SEE THE ISSUE

DOES ANYONE MAKING THIS SHOW EVEN REALISE WHAT THEY’RE DOING

fuck

y’know i’m just gonna have to let this go right now because i can’t even comprehend how ferociously problematic this show is

i just wanna enjoy it for my fave characters and i can’t do that unless i bundle the problems into a box and forget about them for now

07:09

still thinking about it though

this is trump’s america, where problematic bad things happen so often and with zero time to process that you just get to the point where it’s like “oh great another social apocalypse, must be thursday”

07:12

“the wounded angel” // “earlier”

i feel like i’ve watched a movie like this (certainly a lot of tv show episodes clearly all based on the same source material)

pulp fiction or something idk

something bizarre and character-action-driven that doesn’t make a lot of sense until the end

07:14

AW MAN THAT SLOW MOTION WALKING SHOT IS GONNA MAKE A REALLY GOOD GIF

THANK YOU GABRIEL RICHARD SPEIGHT JR

07:20

IS THAT YELLOW EYES

WHAT

WHAT WHAT WHAT

07:21

nOOOOOO CAS

NOBODY HARPOONS MY BABY AND LIVES

except dean, who stabbed him first, married him later

07:21

YYYEEEEEEE MARY SAVING CAS WITH THE CAR

07:23

and while mary and sam are talking about yellow-eyes, dean is smothering cas in kisses and magic healing tears, yes? yes

07:26

WOW WAS THAT FLIRTY LOOK DEAN GAVE DIRECTED AT CAS

I THINK SO

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE THO

07:26

i watched that bit again I THINK DEAN WAS SIGNALLING TO CAS THAT MANDY’S RESPONSE WAS A POSITIVE THING

aaaah the people who subtly and automatically support autistic friends are the best

also why is dean so determined to get cas to like other people?? CAN’T YOU JUST ACCEPT THAT CAS IS ALL YOURS AND WILL FOREVER BE YOURS