“It’s all wrong. By rights, we shouldn’t even be here, but we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. Sometimes you didn’t want to know the end because, how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But, in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And, when the sun shines, it’ll shine out the clearer. Those are the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But, I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something.”
“What are we holding on to, Sam?”
“That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”
The Lord of the Rings trilogy has been in the news lately, thanks largely to J.D. Vance and the left’s accusations that it’s a racist story and written for white supremacists. If you didn’t know that’s what they’re saying, here’s a link to sum it up:
Well, I’ve been a huge fan for 25 years, and my husband has loved it for even longer. We watched the entire trilogy over the past week and finished it last night after not having seen any of the films in over a decade. I cried many times at the parallels between the story and what is happening right now around the world. It all hits me so much harder now than it ever did before, even though the first film was released right after 9/11. We are living a dystopian modern version of LOTR right now.
After the movie ended last night, my husband and I talked about the different characters in the film and how they fit different people we’re seeing now. I don’t think that any one person necessarily fits any one character, but there are some obvious parallels. Saruman could be Soros or Gates, while Grima Wormtongue could be Anthony Fauci or any other Deep State lackey. Sauron, I think, is the person at the top who is running this entire operation, someone we’ve never seen with our eyes but we know they’re there. It could be one of the top families of the world, but it’s more likely Satan.
Trump is the closest thing we have to Aragorn right now, a man who left his old life behind to become what he was born to be, the leader for our time. Gandalf is the main God/Jesus/Archangel figure (and there could be others who play that role, like Aragorn or Frodo). Nayib Bukele and J.D. Vance are both something like a Legolas, young and energetic and going full blast on the enemy. We could go on and on.
But it’s the hobbits who represent us, I think, if we choose to be like them, and I find that the most inspiring of all. I want to be a Samwise in this fight and never give up on what I love in this world, even if I feel like a nobody and like nothing is ever going to get better. And that is why the left hates this story so much, because it is a reminder to treasure our tradition and history and greatness, and not to give it up to the enemy out of weakness and fear. Theoden King told us to stand up for our country and people, even at the end of the world, riding out to face death in the eye, and that’s what the hobbits did, too, even though they were small and seemingly insignificant. And in the end, even kings bowed down to them out of gratitude.
(When Trump “lost” the election in November 2020, I watched Theoden’s speech at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields again and again. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/7lwJOxN_gXc)
So, if you are feeling like all is lost, that life is hopeless, watch the trilogy or read the books, especially if you have never seen or read LOTR. I suspect that when Q says we are watching a movie that LOTR plays into this as well. Never has a story so perfectly portrayed the battle of darkness and light and the triumph of good over pure evil and corruption. Even when we are hanging at the edge of the abyss by a thread, the Light always wins.
I like your character parallels with the current political scene. Our world has no shortage of orcs. I sometimes think about who the ents might be…the Amish perhaps? How about the ghost warriors? I’d sure love to be able bring to back all the soldiers who died in the wars of the 20th century….
Anyway, my husband and I are major longtime LOTR fans. I’ve listened to the trilogy on audiobook twice on recent years and we’ve watched the movies multiple times. My son is also a huge fan and has now introduced his girlfriend to the films. She loved them — one of the ways we know she’s a keeper.
Happy to meet a fellow LOTR frog fren, and another lady at that.
I wondered about the ghost warriors, too. That's one of my favorite parts of the third movie, but I'm not sure who they'd be. I like the idea of the ghosts of WWI and WWII coming to avenge their deaths to the military industrial complex.
The ents, too. When I originally got into the story many years ago, I thought maybe they were the Americans in both WWI and WWII, not getting involved until the sinking of the Lusitania and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I think now, in today's world, they symbolize the people who are still apathetic about all this and have chosen not to pick a side, even as the world crumbles around them. There are still so many out there like this.
First, Sam’s speech to Frodo:
“It’s all wrong. By rights, we shouldn’t even be here, but we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. Sometimes you didn’t want to know the end because, how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But, in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And, when the sun shines, it’ll shine out the clearer. Those are the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But, I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something.”
“What are we holding on to, Sam?”
“That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”
The Lord of the Rings trilogy has been in the news lately, thanks largely to J.D. Vance and the left’s accusations that it’s a racist story and written for white supremacists. If you didn’t know that’s what they’re saying, here’s a link to sum it up:
https://nypost.com/2024/07/19/us-news/rachel-maddow-claims-lord-of-the-rings-is-a-favorite-cosmos-of-the-far-right/
Well, I’ve been a huge fan for 25 years, and my husband has loved it for even longer. We watched the entire trilogy over the past week and finished it last night after not having seen any of the films in over a decade. I cried many times at the parallels between the story and what is happening right now around the world. It all hits me so much harder now than it ever did before, even though the first film was released right after 9/11. We are living a dystopian modern version of LOTR right now.
After the movie ended last night, my husband and I talked about the different characters in the film and how they fit different people we’re seeing now. I don’t think that any one person necessarily fits any one character, but there are some obvious parallels. Saruman could be Soros or Gates, while Grima Wormtongue could be Anthony Fauci or any other Deep State lackey. Sauron, I think, is the person at the top who is running this entire operation, someone we’ve never seen with our eyes but we know they’re there. It could be one of the top families of the world, but it’s more likely Satan.
Trump is the closest thing we have to Aragorn right now, a man who left his old life behind to become what he was born to be, the leader for our time. Gandalf is the main God/Jesus/Archangel figure (and there could be others who play that role, like Aragorn or Frodo). Nayib Bukele and J.D. Vance are both something like a Legolas, young and energetic and going full blast on the enemy. We could go on and on.
But it’s the hobbits who represent us, I think, if we choose to be like them, and I find that the most inspiring of all. I want to be a Samwise in this fight and never give up on what I love in this world, even if I feel like a nobody and like nothing is ever going to get better. And that is why the left hates this story so much, because it is a reminder to treasure our tradition and history and greatness, and not to give it up to the enemy out of weakness and fear. Theoden King told us to stand up for our country and people, even at the end of the world, riding out to face death in the eye, and that’s what the hobbits did, too, even though they were small and seemingly insignificant. And in the end, even kings bowed down to them out of gratitude.
(When Trump “lost” the election in November 2020, I watched Theoden’s speech at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields again and again. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/7lwJOxN_gXc)
So, if you are feeling like all is lost, that life is hopeless, watch the trilogy or read the books, especially if you have never seen or read LOTR. I suspect that when Q says we are watching a movie that LOTR plays into this as well. Never has a story so perfectly portrayed the battle of darkness and light and the triumph of good over pure evil and corruption. Even when we are hanging at the edge of the abyss by a thread, the Light always wins.
I like your character parallels with the current political scene. Our world has no shortage of orcs. I sometimes think about who the ents might be…the Amish perhaps? How about the ghost warriors? I’d sure love to be able bring to back all the soldiers who died in the wars of the 20th century….
Anyway, my husband and I are major longtime LOTR fans. I’ve listened to the trilogy on audiobook twice on recent years and we’ve watched the movies multiple times. My son is also a huge fan and has now introduced his girlfriend to the films. She loved them — one of the ways we know she’s a keeper.
Happy to meet a fellow LOTR frog fren, and another lady at that.
I wondered about the ghost warriors, too. That's one of my favorite parts of the third movie, but I'm not sure who they'd be. I like the idea of the ghosts of WWI and WWII coming to avenge their deaths to the military industrial complex.
The ents, too. When I originally got into the story many years ago, I thought maybe they were the Americans in both WWI and WWII, not getting involved until the sinking of the Lusitania and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I think now, in today's world, they symbolize the people who are still apathetic about all this and have chosen not to pick a side, even as the world crumbles around them. There are still so many out there like this.
Yes! The ents could be the fence sitters who don’t want to pick a side until something pushes them off the fence.