> one thing not mentioned in this discussion of THE LORD OF THE RINGS is that
> the bad guys in Tolkien all seem to be dark or "swarthy," while the good guys
> are light or "fair."
Tolkien's trilogy is full of the most obnoxious sexism, racism, toxic neonationalism and class snobbery, sure. But the trilogy is unwittingly radicalized by its geopolitical moment. By mapping out the seismic clash of WW II in allegorical terms, Tolkien redeems himself -- he taps into the post-WW II wave of democratization and labor militance, before it was crushed by the Cold War. (Not that he ever realized or could know this, of course).
Frodo/Samwise/Gollum (they're three aspects of a single subjectivity) remains one of the transcendental depictions of Adorno's critical intellectual, who must resist the bane of the total system.
-- DRR