November 3, 2022

Episode 4

Rings of Power Season 1 Discussion, Part 1

View on Zencastr

Hosts & Guests

Alicia

Alicia

(she/they) A queer Tolkien scholar and Zelda nerd interested in adaptation, audience reception, and biography.

Grace

Grace

(she/her) An acquirer of books, a queer-rights activist, serves as as the Subscriptions Steward of the Mythopoeic Society, and is a Professional Nerd (okay, technically it’s an unpaid internship).

Leah

Leah

(she/her) Just another weird Tolkien geek living in the Grey Havens (also known as Seattle WA) with two rabbits and far too few books.

Tim

Tim

(he/him) An experienced podcaster, Online Events Steward for the Mythopoeic Society, all-around nerd, and firmly believes that if more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

Resources

Books

Tom Shippey, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century.

Tom Shippey, “Orcs, Wraiths, Wights: Tolkien’s Images of Evil.” J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth. Ed. George Clark, Daniel Timmons.

Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle-earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Ed. Humphrey Carpenter.

Articles

Erica Chito Childs, “Looking behind the Stereotypes of the ‘Angry Black Woman’: An Exploration of Black Women’s Responses to Interracial Relationships.” Gender & Society.

René D. Flores, “‘A Little More Ghetto, a Little Less Cultured’: Are There Racial Stereotypes about Interracial Daters in the United States?” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity.

 

Websites

Black Workers Really Do Need to Be Twice as Good

Our Obsession With Black Excellence Is Harming Black People

Respectability Politics: How a Flawed Conversation Sabotages Black Lives

Women in Refigerators

About This Episode

Leah, Grace, and Alicia are joined by Tim to discuss the Tolkien event of the year – the first season of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’. We start by giving each of our wide-ranging reviews of the series, then get into the divisive fan response and resulting challenges with talking about the series in public spaces. And we analyze how the series depicts race, gender, disability, and their intersection, as well as representations of ‘the other’. This episode is ‘part 1’ of our discussion – stay tuned for part 2!

Related Episodes