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Originally Posted by Encaitare
the idea of ethos, trying to gain credibility by citing sources of the fine reputation of the writer/company/whoever. Any group which quotes Tolkien, such as that pro gun site, is trying to back up its point by providing the words of the prestigious author, which seem to correspond to the idea presented later.
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But have they chosen to quote Tolkien simply because he is a (currently) famous author, or are they attempting to latch on to the popularity of the movies (prob. not as that line isn't in the movies)
or are they trying to associate themselves with (what they percievce to be) the ethos of Tolkien's work? Is the message 'This is what the heroes of LotR would drive' or 'if Aragorn was king he'd be pro gun'.?
In other words, & maybe we're back to the Canonicity question here, are these examples
uses or
misuses? Why do so many disparate groups & individuals want to associate themselves with Middle earth - simply because the movies are popular at the moment? It seems Middle earth has entered the public consciousness to such a degree that people want their product/philosophy to be linked with it in the public consciousness. Are they sincere, believing that they are offering us some part of Middle earth which we can take into our lives, make our own - whether that be a car, a gun or an action figure (or a burger or Christianity for that matter)?
Is there a desire for Middle earth to in some way be brought into our lives, but without actually changing our lifestyle - we can still have the cars, toys, guns but at the same time live
in some way in Middle earth - after all, as the ads tell us, there
were SUV's in the Shire....