Thanks for posting this, that second part is basically the plot to warcraft isn't it? Orcs were perceived as being evil because of the demon blood, or weird space aliens or something. That it isn't that they are evil in and of themselves. In my minds eye, I never saw a direct corollary between orcs and a particular race.
However we exist in this reality with all of it's history and the "they're all bad, savages if not for us saving them from themselves can't be denied. Like I said earlier the line of thinking has been used in the past to do horrible things.
To be clear i am able to separate a game from reality and enjoy a game who's themes I don't agree with but I just think it's worth noticing and thinking about. But some of the things celebrimbor (who's clearly an ass and could be classified as an elf supremacist) says definitely make my antennae go up
Here's Austin Walker article on it
https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...n-beings-shadow-of-mordor-watch-dogs-and.html
Yeah, the Orcs in Warcraft are space aliens that made were tricked into making a deal with demons to escape their dying homeworld and were then used to invade Azeroth, where everyone else lives. Turns out they actually aren't that bad when not being used as footsoldiers, though they are certainly can be warlike and aggressive by nature.
And I guess he's not wrong. Talion and Celebrimbor literally are enslaving Orcs to their will, that's the whole point of the ring of domination. I suppose it's not really shown to be a bad thing because, frankly, working for you isn't any different than working for Sauron. And they aren't really doing it for personal gain (theoretically, anyway) it's to destroy the root cause of the oppression in the first place. Celebrimbor being racist against Orcs is a given, he's an elf and a very old elf at that. Their memories run deep and the Elves and Orcs have been at each other's throats since almost literally the beginning of time. The Orcs were made to be anathema to them, a twisted insult to them and their creator. I know this might come off as "magic fantasy nonsense" but Middle-Earth is founded on a cosmology that is made of "magic fantasy nonsense". This is a universe where God sang creation into being, stars can be formed into crystals, flame can take shape, angels walk the earth and cast magic, etc. Some of LOTR is obviously social commentary, but some of it is also the way it is because Tolkien was trying to create mythology, not history, and has to be read from that point of view.
Nobody is really trying to save the Orcs from themselves; the Orcs are what they are in the same way that all aggressive, war-like societies have been throughout history. They are the Vikings, The Goths, the Mongols, every "barbaric" society that stood on the edges of other civilizations and tore at them for their own gain. That doesn't make them savage, really, they all had their own cultures and histories. But to the people being attacked it certainly doesn't soften them. Celebrimbor thinks them savages because to him all Orcs do is kill and destroy, but that's exactly what you need them for and really, it's all Celebrimbor himself ever does as well. He fancies himself a craftsman but all he ever made were weapons, just like the Orcs. They just look prettier.
I'm not exactly sure what Austin Walker thinks can be done about the depiction of Orcs in LOTR; they are slaves because enslavement is the style of the Enemy and the Orcs are his servants. They are barbaric and cruel because the heroes of the story are not. Were we supposed to be told "Oh, the Orcs actually have a wonderful, flourishing culture of arts and philosophy" before we kill them all? Because, I mean, they do. They have social heirarchy and philosophy, it just lacks nuance because, well, Orcs live in a society that has little time for these things. If Orcs resemble unflattering depictions of humans its because that WAS THE ENTIRE POINT. Orcs ARE unflattering depictions of humans and elves, in canon. Every race, every culture, every person is capable of violence and cruelty. Tolkien wrote LOTR after his experience in WW1, and the Orcs were based on the evils he saw there. The mockery that war makes of humankind, reducing them to their ugly base nature. These are stereotypes that have been used to demean people of all races and creeds throughout history BY all races and creeds. Just because a white guy put them on paper doesn't make them somehow more or less uncomfortable.
The biggest problem here is that LOTR was never written to eventually be turned into an action game. Enslavement of the Orcs was always portrayed as a negative thing; the tool of evil. And the Orcs would be pitiable if they weren't such a real threat. Violence wasn't the real answer and destroying the weapons of the enemy, not turning them against him, was how the war was won. But that doesn't make for good video games or facilitate the power fantasy of leading your own Orc army. I wonder if Austin Walker thinks playing as an Orc would somehow make the depiction better?
