I think it's time for a LOTR rant. Let's face it, I love to rant, and I saw something online the other day that really bothered me, and has been nagging at me for some time.
Ok, can you explain something to me, fellow LOTR fans? Because there is an unfortunate part of our beloved fandom that has always cast a shadow upon our passion for this beloved world. This is, if I can choke it out...the slash fictions.
Ugh.
Let's see if I can get through this rant without barfing.
Ok, I am as about obsessed and passionate about LOTR as much as anyone, and have been involved in the various aspects of this fandom for many years, and I still don't understand the appeal in ANY sort of slasher fiction or illustration. Some of you may be wondering what slash fiction is. I hate to be the one to educate you on this, but here it is. The basic principles of slash fiction (at least as far as I have come to know it) is different illustrations and fanfictions that place various characters in a storyline who would not normally be together, together in a romantic (and usually a grotesque) fashion. I have not immersed myself too much in this area of fandom for obvious reasons, but examples of this that I have seen are Frodo/Sam, Aragorn/Legolas, Boromir/Arwen, Frodo/Aragorn...need I go on?
And thus the rant begins.
Why do we do this, my fellow Ringers? Why do we tolerate this happening? Why is it ok that fellow fans not only give us a bad name by such behavior but also trash the names and personalities of characters we hold so near and dear to our hearts?
Let me state a probably already obvious ideal of mine: homosexuality is not ok. I will NOT condemn those who fall into the temptation of homosexuality, but I will not condone their behaviors as alright or natural in any sense of the term. By the teaching of the Catholic Church, the feelings of same-sex attraction are not in and of themselves an evil; feelings are not inherently evil. They are just emotions, and they are gifts from God. What we do with them is the key to whether it causes us to sin or not. Anger for example is not an evil; it often helps us sort through the various elements of an event, and helps remind us we are human. But if we go out and murder someone in rage, that is a sin. Homosexuality is along the same lines. Being tempted to commit acts with a member of the same sex is not a sin; that is just a temptation. But actually indulging in those acts is sinful. It is no different than if I was tempted to sleep with my boyfriend; it would be a sin if I gave in to the sexual temptations I felt, even I felt it was good and would make me "happy".
But even if homosexuality was ok, and there wasn't an issue there, why would we so greatly alter the original storyline of such an amazing plotline? Why would that be ok, to rip apart Tolkien in that way? Such actions between any of those people would be COMPLETELY uncharacteristic for them. Tolkien was all about making this world realistic, within the confines of who these characters really were in the world they lived in. Yeah, I am all for imagination, and trying different circumstances that give different aspects to the story, but there are limits to what I consider plausible or honorable in the LOTR world.
Some of you may be thinking, "You are taking this WAY too seriously. It's just a story!"
Well, no, it's not. LOTR is so much more than a story, and if someone says that, they probably don't see or understand what the huge deal is in LOTR.
Ultimately, what I want to say is this: God gave us an amazing gift in LOTR that gives us a way to pursue and discover and ponder over truth in a safe world, surrounded by wholesome, real, and amazing characters who perhaps help us see a bit of ourselves in that world, and give us hope for a better future in our own.
Yeah, I take this really seriously because it saved my life when all I thought about was suicide and wanted nothing more than peace from all the pain and utter despair I had around me. Then God showed me LOTR, and started me on an incredible journey that led me here. He saved me from suicide, self-injury/destruction, and from succumbing to despair through LOTR. So...don't mess with it.
