Elon Musk and the Trump Administration Really Don’t Get Tolkien

By JRR Tolkien D Lord of the Rings The novels—and their associated “legendarium” of characters, histories, myths, maps, and constructed languages—have served as the foundation of so-called “nerd culture” since their publication in the mid-1950s.

With clean features, and (more-or-less) clean lines between Good and Evil, Tolkien’s fictional Middle-earth—a vast and geographically diverse region of elves, dwarves, wizards, dragons, orcs, and halflings—could be roughly called archetypes. It is a modern myth that can be adapted to any time, place or scene. Well, almost none.

Recently, the US Department of Homeland Security has taken on “shire-posting”. That is: using quotes and images from Tolkien’s book (and director Peter Jackson’s blockbuster movie adaptation) as part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s recruitment efforts. a memePosted on Wednesday X, Mary quotes the character (played by Dominic Monaghan in the film) warning her friend, “Not a Shire, Pippin”—a reference to the evil wizard Sauron’s forces taking over the green homeland of the peaceful hobbits, and his designs to bring the whole of Middle-earth.

Such mythic myopia seems to be widespread of late. Elon Musk went to X this week to defend Britain’s right-wing figure and anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson, invoking Tolkien’s story: “The Hobbit.” Musk wax“They were able to live their lives in peace and quiet, but only because they were protected by the stern men of Gondor.”

Gondor, for anyone too busy in high school to delve into the history of Middle-earth’s making, was a kingdom of brave warriors also known as “men”. It’s probably worth mentioning, by the way Lords of the Rings As it unfolds, the throne of Gondor is missing, and the kingdom itself has fallen into disrepair under the shoddy care of a bunch of lazy, corrupt stewards. The so-called “hard men” of Gondor have become cowards and quislings. In fact, it’s generally accepted that Tolkien’s hobbits survive (and thrive) because of their humility and noble-minded qualities. Not because they had tough guy fighters to run the defense. Many of Musk’s replies pointed out that his post promoted a completely misreading of the novel.

Throughout Trump’s second term, various government agencies have drawn from a well of pop culture references— pokemon from hello– in a transparent attempt to appear related, or “based”. (“Based” is an honorific usually given to anyone who is blatantly sexist, racist, or otherwise “un-wook” by the right.) But D Lord of the Rings The posts scan particularly vile—or just plain stupid—because they’re Tolkien’s work, and seem so antithetical to the worldview it expresses.

I’m not too familiar with Tolkien’s extended appendices and all the heavy tomes of non-canon Middle-earth arcana, but as an avid reader of Tolkien as a boy (for which there was a psychedelic poster Lord of Rings books on his bedroom wall), I don’t recall any scenes of Frodo, Samwise, Gandalf, Galadriel and others driving around in an unmarked van, wearing face gaiters, brawling with immigrants in a car wash and breaking down the doors of a housing complex on a late-night raid. If anything, scenes like this draw a more direct comparison to the final chapter of “The Scouring of the Shire.” The Lord of the Ringswhich sees the hobbits return home from their epic adventure to find their sleepy province harassed by ruffians and two-bit rent-a-cops, all in the thrill of a decadent wizard.