Tag: The Bitchuation Room (with Francesca Fiorentini)

Every fantasy franchise has an insufferable part of its fan base. But this one takes the cake. Powerful conservatives are obsessed with The Lord of The Rings. We know this because they name their military tech companies, surveillance companies and venture capital firms after objects in Middle Earth. Billionaire Peter Thiel has named 10 of his companies after things in Lord of The Ring, including Palantir, the Trump’s regime’s authoritarian surveillance company of choice. JD Vance has called himself a “Lord of the Rings guy,” Elon Musk has hot anti-woke takes on The Rings of Power, and Jeff Bezos helped make that series by buying the rights to the franchise via Amazon. Even the far right even in Spain and Italy identify with the Lord of The Rings.

They believe they’re in a fight against dark forces, and that they’re heroic men of Gondor, or Elves of Rivendell. Yeah that’s right: the people helping ICE disappear mothers and fathers think they’re the good guys. What’s worse is that they believe that Tolkien’s Catholicism means he would agree with their world view that immigrants, feminists and global cooperation are the enemy.

Francesca digs deep into “The Nerd Reich’s” misreading of Lord of the Rings and how they took all the wrong lessons from the story. She looks at how their behavior and beliefs are more the stuff of Saruman than saviors. But they’re even more like another creature in the bogs of Mordor…

Every fantasy franchise has an unbearable portion of its fanbase. But this one takes the cake. Powerful conservatives are obsessed with “The Lord of the Rings.” We know this because they name their military technology companies, surveillance firms, and venture capital firms after Middle-earth objects. Billionaire Peter Thiel has named ten of his companies after “The Lord of the Rings” objects, including Palantir, the authoritarian surveillance company of choice for the Trump regime. J.D. Vance calls himself a “Lord of the Rings guy,” Elon Musk has sharp, anti-woke views on “The Rings of Power,” and Jeff Bezos helped create this series by buying the rights to the franchise through Amazon. Even the far right in Spain and Italy identifies with “The Lord of the Rings.”

They believe they are fighting dark forces and consider themselves the heroic men of Gondor or the elves of Rivendell. Yes, that’s right: The people who help ICE disappear mothers and fathers think they’re the good guys. Worse still, they believe Tolkien’s Catholicism shares their worldview that immigrants, feminists, and global cooperation are the enemy.

Francesca investigates “The Nerd Reich’s” misinterpretation of “The Lord of the Rings” and how they’ve learned the wrong lessons from history. She examines how their behavior and beliefs are more reminiscent of Saruman than saviors. But even more, they resemble just another creature in the swamps of Mordor…