Good, Evil and You:
Lord of the Rings is a Revolutionary Trilogy
By Troy Curtis

I recently watched the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in less than twenty-four hours. My friend Patricia and I braved a cold and wet winter night to joined the excited crowds waiting to see the last and latest movie, "Return of the King." It happened that the next evening the first two movies were on cable. This accidental movie marathon of J R.R. Tolkien's (the author) fantasy world stirred up ideas and questions about what we could do to change the negativity in our world. Sitting in a dinner and talking over coffee Patricia and I wondered if there was a greater reason for why people like these movies beyond their special effects and fight scenes. We started looking at how the LOTR movies differ from other epic trilogies like Star Wars and the Matrix.

Despite there popularity, the three trilogies contain a lot of differences. The main difference is in how they try to change their worlds. The messages of empowering people that exist in the movie adaptations of LOTR are sparsely present in the other pop culture epics. In Star Wars, as well as the Matrix trilogy, the struggle for good over evil is simply represented by power. To defeat the evil power you must become more powerful. In the Matrix, Neo has to abandon his initial modest exterior as a computer programmer to eventually become omnipotent. In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker is a farm boy who must become a Jedi Knight before defeating the evil empire.

The struggle is different in LOTR. There is no singular hero, every character gives what he or she has and even common people play an important role in destroying the evil in their world. I think the reason why these movies are popular is because in their stories, you don't have to be a superhero to change things. The main character, Frodo, is a midget like creature called a Hobbit. Frodo, unlike Neo or Skywalker has no superpowers, no ability to fly or move things with his mind. Frodo must save his world with his mental and emotional strength. The idea that everyone can play a part in changing his or her world is something that Patricia and I connected with. Last year, we were both City Year volunteers. City Year is a program for 17 to 24-year-olds to participate full time at community service programs.

Patricia has lived in San Jose all her life and I moved here a year and a half ago. We met last year while at our community organizations. We helped to create homework programs after school, taught people computer skills and ran ESL classes. My friend and I both saw our community strengthen as more people participated in its well being. Unfortunately, we also learned helping others is not highly supported in this country.

As a young American seeking higher education without any money, I know I can get a free ride if I let the government train me to be a killer by joining the military. However if you serve as a teacher like my friend and I did you'll only get a little money for school. Our military tries to change the world by using its power against other power -- just like the characters in Star Wars and The Matrix. Where is the emphasis on the power of common people involved in non-violent change, like in LOTR?

This last year I watched my nephew Ian graduate from high school and then join the Army. The Army told him if he joined now he would be given a desk job in military intelligence. Fearing that there might be a draft and that Ian would be simply another solider in Iraq my sister urged him to take the offer. She also felt that money from the government was the only way Ian could afford college. To teach or to kill, create or destroy, this generation has to choose how they want to effect their future. After looking at these movies different messages, we began to wonder what was going on in the worlds of the authors and what inspired them.

Tolkien's experience and inspiration don't seem too different from those of some young people today. Tolkien was a British lieutenant who saw his friends die in the gruesome battlefields of WWI. A war that introduced tanks, machine-guns and nerves gas as the weapons of mass destruction of his day. Tolkien, who became a teacher, thought his country was going in the wrong direction and needed guidance from its people.

George Lucas created Star Wars. In 1960's America, Lucas was surrounded by revolutions that fought for free speech and protested to end the Vietnam War. There are comparisons between villains like Darth Vader and his war on the galaxy and President Nixon and the war in Vietnam. Members of Lucas' generation fought for the right to have a disenting opinon. America is now a more tolerant country thanks to that generation, but we can no longer simply follow their method of tearing down the unjust parts of our country. This generation has the responsibility of building justice. It is easier to join a march than start an after school program. Volunteering, giving all of yourself to help others is the revolutoniary message in the LOTR. This message is greatly needed in this time of war and injustice.

It was well past midnight when my friend and I decided to call it a night, but the comparisons we had made of fantasy to reality continued to make us think. Our conclusion, as we left the dinner and got lost in the chill of the wet night, was that our generation can not just point out the bad things and expect them to change. This is the hardest, most essential mission and perhaps the most imaginative goal: to build a view to a peaceful world that is not visible despite living in a world of evils that is.