JD Vance and LOTR
-
FFS:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/07/19/lord-of-the-rings-jd-vance-00169372
When Donald Trump selected JD Vance as his running mate, he elevated the first millennial who will appear on a presidential ticket. That makes Vance the first politician who came of age during the Iraq War and the Great Recession, an internet native whose political rise coincided with the development of a new group of conservatives that would become the New Right.
But perhaps Vance’s most millennial trait is just how geeky he is about Lord of the Rings. The trilogy of novels has been a longstanding nerd favorite for decades, but it became the center of culture during Vance’s high school years thanks to Peter Jackson’s movies.
Vance himself has pointed to Tolkien’s high fantasy epics as a window into understanding his worldview. In an archived episode of the defunct “Grounded” podcast from 2021 that no longer shows up in podcast feeds, Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, who sat next to Vance in Trump’s friends and family box at the convention Tuesday evening, asked Vance to name his favorite author.
“I would have to say Tolkien,” Vance said. “I’m a big Lord of the Rings guy, and I think, not realizing it at the time, but a lot of my conservative worldview was influenced by Tolkien growing up.” He added of Tolkien’s colleague: “Big fan of C.S. Lewis — really sort of like that era of English writers. I think they were really interesting. They were grappling, in part because of World War II, with just very big problems.”
In the books, the future of civilization rests on the search and eventual destruction of The One Ring. While Frodo and Gollum jostle over the singular ring, true fans know there are a total of 20 rings of power. Vance is apparently among those ranks, as the venture capital firm he founded in 2019 is named Narya, named after one of those other rings that Gandalf wears. Vance’s mentor Peter Thiel similarly named his company Palantir after the crystal ball used by Saruman in Lord of the Rings, and Vance has invested in the defense startup Anduril, named after Aragorn’s sword.
-
I know a bunch of people who are seriously into LOTR and to describe them as alt-right wouldn’t be strictly accurate. A couple of them are alt-something, admittedly or possibly just alt.
I was only joking
-
I have spent many a happy hour drunkenly assigning LOTR characters to people in the so-called real world, and I think such an exercise might be quite entertaining for both the RNC and DNC conventions.
For example, Joe Biden is clearly pre-woken Theoden-king. Skipping over the obvious for Trump (making Mordor great again), I'm pretty sure that Vivek is Wormtongue.
I was only joking
-
I have spent many a happy hour drunkenly assigning LOTR characters to people in the so-called real world, and I think such an exercise might be quite entertaining for both the RNC and DNC conventions.
For example, Joe Biden is clearly pre-woken Theoden-king. Skipping over the obvious for Trump (making Mordor great again), I'm pretty sure that Vivek is Wormtongue.
@Doctor-Phibes said in JD Vance and LOTR:
For example, Joe Biden is clearly pre-woken Theoden-king.
You've been smoking too much of Old Toby. Biden's an empty shell of a head of state, plagued by mindrot and an unhealthy fixation on his son. He's so obviously Denethor.
-
I know a bunch of people who are seriously into LOTR and to describe them as alt-right wouldn’t be strictly accurate. A couple of them are alt-something, admittedly or possibly just alt.
@Doctor-Phibes said in JD Vance and LOTR:
I know a bunch of people who are seriously into LOTR and to describe them as alt-right wouldn’t be strictly accurate.
In the course of my seasonal job, I've met scads of people who can recite for you any part of Tom Bombadil's songs you'd like. These people are:
• D&D fanatics
• Burned out English teachers who think America was lost the day Andy Griffith was taken off the air
• MFA students who, you can be sure, have their chosen pronouns on their licenseTheir only commonality is that none of them watch football.
