Yes sir *spins around*
Let’s talk about the Hobbit (and LotR, and high fantasy in general) a little bit.
Now, I know what you’re all thinking: “A feminist reviewing the Hobbit? But there’s aren’t any woman in that book!” And you’d be right. In the book there is not a single female character, at all. The movie made the choice to include Galadriel (a trend I hope they’ll keep up in the future.) so we have ONE lady in the movies. ….yay.
Not exactly a feminist treasure trove. LotR, which I have talked about before, fairs only slightly better. The movies once again made the choice to give the ladies, especially Arwen, a lot more screen time than the books, to the movie’s benefit.
But let’s be clear: whatever minimal improvements the movies made, the world of Tolkien is still very very much a white, cis, able-bodied, straight, dude world. ALL the main characters in the Hobbit are white, presumably straight, cis, men. ALL of the Fellowship is as well. In ALL of LotR, four women come to mind (Eowyn, Arwen, Galadriel, and, oddly enough, Rosie Cotton, who I only remember because she has the same name as me.) There are no racial minorities and no queer representation either.
This franchise, especially the books, fail at even the most basic representation of minorities.
I LOVE Tolkien. Let me say that. Love the Hobbit and LotR. This franchise is my classic example of liking something that is problematic. I love it. And of course I love it. Middle Earth is the foundation for all of modern high fantasy.***
And I think that’s important. Middle Earth is the template upon which we as a culture have built the entire modern high fantasy genre. It is the aesthetic and tone that we feel are genuine to these kinds of stories. And given how white, straight, male, and manly the whole thing is, is there any wonder WHY we see the kinds of issues in fantasy that we see with representation?
We often hear from the fanbrats that having black people, or female leaders, or queer people in fantasy is “inaccurate.” That somehow these people can not exist in these stories, set in a European-ish fantasy background.
When fanboys say that strong female characters, queer characters, and racial minorities are “inaccurate” to fantasy, they are not invoking HISTORICAL European accuracy. Because, of course, REAL European history DOES have women, LGBTQ+ folk, and a plethora of non-white people in it, but lacks, oh, MAGIC AND DRAGONS. So Historical accuracy is not on the table.
What they MEAN is that the inclusion of minorities of any kind feels inaccurate to the GENRE, because the GENRE is built on lotr and the Hobbit, and they are utterly devoid of minorities. Thus the failings of one author laid the bricks for the failings of much of a genre.
Understanding the failings of Tolkien’s world and no excusing them, but contextualizing them, allows us to understand a much wider genre of writing.
It is my hope that the Hobbit movies will continue to add in women, and hell, some non-white people, and maybe help to change the face of the high fantasy genre in the minds of the fans.
***[Edit: It should be noted, that Tolkien is really only the foundation for WESTERN high fantasy. Obviously many other cultures draw their fantasy from other roots. The Journey West from China is a good example.]
this is so fucking stupid. no racial minorities? what the fuck i don’t know if i should laugh or be angry at this entire thing. is it satire?
just dont even argue about it dude. her blog is called fandomsandfeminism its like two of the most annoying fucking things about this website.
not that i have anything against feminism but jesus fucking social justice bloggers never cease to find some shit to complain about.
Hi. So, I’m not really complaining so much as I’m writing a critique and commenting on lasting genre influence of one of the most well known pieces of fiction in our culture. I run a feminism and popular media blog. That’s kind of par for the course.
If you disagree with any of my commentary, I’m always open to a discussion about it. I certainly don’t hold the final authority on this type of literary criticism.
Who reblogs something just to complain about it? OH right, someone who feels uncomfortable and feels the need to defend themselves or their culture.
PS I agree wholheartedly with the original post, OP. Thanks for bringing it up. You might be happy to know Peter Jackson invented a female elf character named Tauriel to be the head guard at Mirkwood with Legolas for the second movie. There’s also a possibility of Thorin’s sister, Dis, being in the other movies.
I thought it was an interesting post. I thought she (?) expressed her points clearly, backed up her thought process and was just doing what her blog is about. It’s not complaining or ranting its expressing an idea (if you’d bother to read it carefully and at face value before jumping down her throat). Which she is free to do.
Drawing dwarves
So drawing a company of dwarves may not be quite as easy as I originally assumed but the picture is coming along nicely and I’m pleased with what I have so far. Hopefully before long ill be posting.
“He told me i was doing a photo shoot of him and to send some pictures to his mother back home, and he wanted to be in his uniform and me looking nice in a dress. And then when i set the timer and ran over to stand beside him, he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.”
Film Noir photoshoot, photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair, 2007.
Diane Lane, Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Dame Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet, Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Connelly, Aaron Eckhart, Eduard Norton, Robert DeNiro, Julianne Moore, Jennifer Hudson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, Adam Beach, Amy Adams, Derek Luke, Kirsten Dunst, Robert Downey.
sabellart
