Over the years, Miyazaki’s political stance about America’s involvement in global conflicts as well as the country’s contribution towards the globalisation of American culture has been unwavering. “Anti-jeans, Anti-bourbon, Anti-burgers, Anti-fried chicken, Anti-cola, Anti-American coffee, Anti-New York, Anti-West Coast,” Miyazaki once said while describing his beliefs.
According to excerpts from multiple interviews, Miyazaki’s dislike for all things American also extends to the realm of cinema.
“Americans shoot things and they blow up and the like, so as you’d expect, they make movies like that,” Miyazaki stated. “If someone is the enemy, it’s okay to kill endless numbers of them. Lord of the Rings is like that. If it’s the enemy, there’s killing without separation between civilians and soldiers. That falls within collateral damage.”
Miyazaki compared the visual politics of large-scale Hollywood productions such as the Lord of the Rings to the country’s international policies. Attacking America’s actions in Afghanistan, Miyazaki claimed that such projects are a dangerous addition to public discourse because they diminish the value of human life by weaponising the audience through cinematic violence.
Seems relevant that the forces of Mordor/Isengard are invading armies, making every Uruk present at the battles of Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith a combatant or combat support. I think there's room for critique of the battles at the black gates and especially the fall of Isengard, since then we're expected to believe that literally every Uruk in these major industrial centers is a warrior and there is no such thing as civil society among them.
Ultimately, Tolkien was vehemently opposed to war after his experiences, and his depictions of the "dark forces" is a critique of warmongering and militarism that is made with Prussians in mind more than POC. (Insert "Mordor is an army with a state" joke here) I'd even go as far as to say his evil army is like the myth of the dragon, composed of pieces taken from conquerors throughout history. Why do their descriptions call to mind Mongol armies? Because that's the single most impactful invading army in history. Why are they portrayed as industrial and gleefully destructive of nature? That's in his living memory. He created a black and white faerie story to tell his kids, to exercise his linguistic passion, and to escape from reality. He wanted to demonstrate what he considered the finest qualities of humanity, perseverance in the face of adversity, sacrifice for a noble aim, and the superiority of the peaceful life over a warlike one. Did he have weapons grade British and Catholic brainworms that make their way into the story? Absolutely. But mindless slaughter is anathema to the spirit of his works.
That's what makes it a fantasy - we're asked to suspend our disbelief to imagine a war that matters against a defined, unquestionably evil foe. Yet even then, he still came to the narrative conclusion that war is hell and ruins the people who fight it. Problem comes when we believe reality is or should be like the faerie stories. George writes a bleak story of realpolitik then puts supernatural elements in, creating a different thing altogether. The problem is less that Tolkien's story is ethically unsophisticated, but more that people rip the images and elements from it without understanding that it's not the be all end all.
I think I agree with you, and to make a left turn into a hot take, I think that's maybe what I disliked the most about the LotR movies. People laud their faithfulness but I really felt there was something they missed about the books, morphing them into big epic plot, action, and effects-driven adventure stories where the characters are stitched together with a few quips and heartfelt exchanges.
Yeah. Tolkien's stories do have battles between armies but it's like a few pages total out of the whole LOTR. When adapting to film they really inflated the presence of the violent action.
exterminationist rhetoric correctly identified in the text
:puzzled: