Dagger in hand

A man of prodigious fortune, coming to add his opinion to some light discussion that was going on casually at his table, began precisely thus: "It can only be a liar or an ignoramus who will say otherwise than," and so on. Pursue that philosophical point, dagger in hand.

--Michel de Montaigne, Of the art of discussion.



Stab back: cmnewman99-at-yahoo.com


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Thursday, December 12, 2002
 
Diane, while not buying into the crudely offensive "might as well have given the Orcs a sense of rhythm" notion that Tolkien is racist (this in a story where the primary villain is Saruman the WHITE), says she still felt excluded from the party. But Diane, what do you mean you're four inches too short? We're talking about a world where half the heroes are hobbits, for cryin' out loud! And notice that only the Lorien elves are blonde, not the ones in Rivendell. What about the main man, raven-haired Viggo and his fetching unwashed Hessian locks? Didn't do anything for ya? (You'd be the first female I've heard say that...) Oh well, to each his gustibus. If it ain't your cup o' tea, it ain't. But I don't understand why someone would feel unable to enjoy a story like this just because none of the characters look like them. Nobody in Crouching Tiger looked like me, and I totally loved it. (I, on the other hand, despite all my ties to Italy, would have a real hard time living in a de Sica movie. Too much yelling and hand waving and I really can't think straight.) You're right that there is a racialist aspect to Tolkien's world, but individual character and choice are still what count.




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