It seems to me that the classic villains in fantasy and science fiction are somewhat superficial. Like, what are their goals besides being evil?
Let's take The Lord of The Rings, a story most people here are probably familiar with. Sauron wants the ring in order to "enslave the world" and bring a "shadow" over the entire world. And then what? The orcs seem to have no desire beyond aiding Sauron in his goal, and are portrayed as cruel and always miserable. What are the orcs actually planning to do when Sauron rules the world? What fate has Sauron in mind for them, eventually?
The Easterlings and the Haradrim seem to be a partial exception to this, as from what I understand their enemy is mainly Gondor, and they allied themselves with Sauron because he promised them the land of Gondor in return. Unfortunately Tolkien didn't elaborate much on their culture (didn't even give them a language), but from what I understand from other sources it seems they were quite wealthy and had sophisticated weapons and armor. Their Oriental style in the movie is quite cool.
By contrast, all the good peoples in the LoTR universe seem to have actual cultures beyond hating the evil peoples. The dwarves are miners who like gold and don't really care all that much about other peoples. The elves are wise, immortal and strictly monogamous. The humans (excluding the Haradrim and the Easterlings here) are pretty much like medieval western Europeans. The hobbits like a simple, rural life with feasts and food (if I lived in the LoTR universe, I'd like to be a hobbit). These peoples have actual cultures not centered on merely opposing the evil peoples. In that way they feel more thought-out and genuine than say the orcs.
Or am I thinking about this the wrong way?
Let's take The Lord of The Rings, a story most people here are probably familiar with. Sauron wants the ring in order to "enslave the world" and bring a "shadow" over the entire world. And then what? The orcs seem to have no desire beyond aiding Sauron in his goal, and are portrayed as cruel and always miserable. What are the orcs actually planning to do when Sauron rules the world? What fate has Sauron in mind for them, eventually?
The Easterlings and the Haradrim seem to be a partial exception to this, as from what I understand their enemy is mainly Gondor, and they allied themselves with Sauron because he promised them the land of Gondor in return. Unfortunately Tolkien didn't elaborate much on their culture (didn't even give them a language), but from what I understand from other sources it seems they were quite wealthy and had sophisticated weapons and armor. Their Oriental style in the movie is quite cool.
By contrast, all the good peoples in the LoTR universe seem to have actual cultures beyond hating the evil peoples. The dwarves are miners who like gold and don't really care all that much about other peoples. The elves are wise, immortal and strictly monogamous. The humans (excluding the Haradrim and the Easterlings here) are pretty much like medieval western Europeans. The hobbits like a simple, rural life with feasts and food (if I lived in the LoTR universe, I'd like to be a hobbit). These peoples have actual cultures not centered on merely opposing the evil peoples. In that way they feel more thought-out and genuine than say the orcs.
Or am I thinking about this the wrong way?
via JREF Forum http://ift.tt/1cCwWBC
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire