Since I started my series on propaganda, I have been thinking about branching out into movies. Movies, after all, are the most popular vector of propaganda in modern times- even the Nazis knew how to take advantage of it. And here in North America we have the liberal Hollywood machine to churn out all the collectivist crap that one might need.

This instance, however, did not originate with Hollywood. It was popular far before that. I’m talking about the Lord of the Rings series (LOTR), recently re-immortalized by Peter Jackson’s stunning and widely acclaimed movie trilogy. It is now one of the most cherished set of movies in the world. These tremendously acclaimed books and movies therefore make a particularly good propaganda subject.

Now, the popularity of the books is partly due to Tolkien’s mastery of language- both English, and the constructed languages that were his life’s passion. The movies themselves are popular because of Jackson’s stunning cinematography and special effects. People like mindless action and having their emotional heartstrings pulled. The goal is for the unthinking, non-judgmental emotions to carry the propaganda forward and give it full effect. This is well accomplished in the LOTR movies.

Unlike openly individualist children’s works like the Harry Potter series or even openly anti-theistic works as His Dark Materials, LOTR does not propagate healthy values. It is a strongly religiously-oriented story. Tolkien’s intentions to write LOTR as a religious and authoritarian story is not in doubt, as his main inspirations were his Catholic faith and the Bible. In a letter to a Jesuit Father (Robert Murray), he said that LOTR was “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work, unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.”

He was good friends with C.S. Lewis (for a while anyway), who used the same propaganda techniques rather more blatantly, as anyone who’s seen The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe can testify. Compared to that, LOTR’s ruined lands and snarling orcs are a paragon of subtlety.

Perhaps the most obvious propaganda theme is the glorification of war. That war finds itself in Tolkien’s work is not surprising, as WW1 was a formative experience for him. This is expressed in LOTR as a pretty simplistic, run-of-the-mill “good vs evil” narrative. The “heroes” are pretty boys, noble stewards of nature and backwards civilization, humble and gracious in their strengths. The “villains” are ugly, snarling enemies of nature, arrogant and uncouth products of the evils of technology.

This is your standard polarized collectivist belief, which is ingrained in our culture. It serves two functions: to reinforce the belief in oneself as “the good guys”, and to demonize “the enemy” into morally ugly creatures, not quite human (as is manifest in well-known WW2 propaganda). It presents a cartoon version of morality which is easily manipulated to serve ruling class interests. There is the “good guys”, that’s us, and the “bad guys”, who are whoever we decide. Black and white, ugly and pretty, degraded and noble.

LOTR also takes a strong anti-isolationist stance. Gandalf’s main efforts seem to be dedicated to involving as many people as possible in sacrificing themselves. As Steven LaTulippe writes in his article “Lord of the Rings: Movie Magic, but Philosophical Poison”:

The psyche of our elites is essentially one endless loop of Lord of the Rings, with themselves starring as Gandalf (the wise one who must convince everyone else of the need for the Crusade). Their worldview, which in the American context I believe arose from the righteous fanaticism of New England Puritanism, focuses on a continuing series of Saurons. Southerners, Spaniards, Serbians, Muslims, etc., have each, in turn, served as the evil straw man against which the elites can release the grapes of wrath and swing their terrible swift sword.