On Queering Middle-earth: Response to The Digital Fix's Essay

I'm feeling inspired to do a bit of a response to James Reynolds's interesting article on the potential queering of Middle-earth in Amazon's Rings of Power series. In a nutshell, he sees a number of ways in which Tolkien's work can be read as queer coded and, thus, a lot of potential for overt queerness that feels in reasonably keeping with the source material. I agree with some parts of his case and not others. Overall, I think Reynolds's reflections speak to a broader issue many of us are considering today: how to best adapt classic works. Thought I'd weigh in.

Disclaimer: I'm writing this as an informal spew from memory, so I got no citations, and please let me know if I'm misremembering text. I've tried to get the diacritical marks right on names, but I have not bothered to check them. Apologies if they're off.

To begin with, how to adapt a text isn't an easy question. It brings up several potentially conflicting interests:

* The original author's intent/values.
* What the original text depicts/how to read the original text (a literary critical question).
* What long-time fans value about the text.
* What changes need to be made if changing media (film has different needs than books).
* What changes might draw in new fans, speak to current issues and sensibilities.
* What responsibilities the adaptation has to address social justice issues the original may not.( Read more... )