Do me a favor everyone: mail this to everyone on your e-mail list with the subject:
"What you are doing"
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...is at best, misguided. I believe it is actually a very bad idea that will do great harm, and little if any good. Please skip the note to my friends below, and read why.
(To my friends who have recieved this e-mail:
Please go to this website
http://www.twotowersprotest.org/index.html, and read of the horror being undertaken by this organization. Then read my reply, and if you agree, forward it to everyone you know, and also back to the protesters, reachable at
twotowersprotest@twotowersprotest.org . I want them to realize the errors of their way, but I am certain that one voice will not be enough to call them back to reason. Please help me help them see the light.
Also, please visit
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?lotr2 and support the original name by signing the petition against changing the title.
Nate)
To twotowersprotest:
I understand that you feel that some will have painful associations with the name of this 50+ year old classic of modern literature, due to the terrorist activities of September 11th, 2001. Your concern for these people is commendable, but I do not feel that you are acting properly, and I am hoping that you will at least take the time to hear why.
The first reason I think this is wrong is because it smacks of the worst form of political correctness. I truly believe that the person who thought this up is probably one of those people that thinks ''[Insert Ethnicity Here]-American' is an appropriate form of address for a group of people, instead of just calling them Americans. By adding the extra label, you are merely pointing out a meaningless difference, the national origin of their ancestors, and perpetuating racial hatreds and tensions. This is yet another form of that political correctness, in this case, YOU are dredging up emotions that others are trying to get past, by associating a classic piece of literature with a terrorist action, when the two have nothing, absolutely nothing, in common. The structures destroyed in the WTC attack were the WTC TWIN Towers, NOT 'The Two Towers'. There were seven towers all total in the WTC. Yes, the most noticeable were the two largest, but they were side by side, not separated by three kingdoms, two forests, a mountain range, and two rivers, like Orthanc and Barad-Dur were.
The second reason I think this is wrong is because, quite frankly, The Two Towers was written nearly 60 years previous to the tragic events of 9-11-01. No one 'chose' to name the movie 'after' the event, that was its title 60 years ago, and it remains its title today. Would you re-name the recent made-for-TV movie 'The Flood', starring Jon Voight, about the Biblical Flood to something else in deference to victims of a flood on the Mississippi? I would hope not. It would be oversensitive to the point of being silly, wouldn't it?
The third reason I think this is a terrible idea, is because by doing this, you are basically handing Osama bin Laden a can of spray paint and turning him loose in the Louvre, to spit on Western art. This is yet another self-victimizing reaction to his assault, collateral damage that we are causing to ourselves in our haste to soften his blow. His intent was to change our hated way of life, where ideas, including stories, are freely spoken, without censorship. Weakening ourselves, even in so small a way as this, gives him hope that he will one day succeed. Do you really want to give something as powerful as hope to a man like Osama?
The fourth reason I feel that this is a bad idea, is because by making all this fuss, YOU are forcing people to associate the book with the terrorist event, and vice-versa. If you manage to establish this connection, you may well destroy the legacy of JRR Tolkien by forever associating it with the repugnant name of Osama bin Laden, and if you do so, you will have joined his ranks as an ardent supporter. Your petition is a direct service to Osama, and greatly helps his cause, by defacing the pillars of western civilization. You may as well paint 'Death to America' on the Statue of Liberty if you proceed with this, because that is what it boils down to, another gob of mud slung at the West, inspired and whole-heartedly approved by Osama bin Laden. He thanks you for your support.
The fifth reason is closely related to the fourth, and admittedly of somewhat dubious strength, as I doubt it applies to all of the victim's families equally. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is an escapist fantasy, where many go to elude the toils and tribulations of modern life, to immerse themselves in a simpler time, with simpler worries and cares, a place where evil and good have capital letters, and the bad guys are discernible from the good guys. If you take this away from those among the family and friends of the victims who went there to ease their pain, by successfully associating the two unrelated things, then you have taken that place of peace from them, and dimmed their world even further. Nearly 3,000 died, and their lives must have touched 30,000 or more directly. Of those, who can say how many like losing themselves in a good book, and of those, how many in Tolkien's? Your actions threaten to take that away from them.
You hope to gain very little from your actions: 'gaining increased sensitivity for the victims' is the only one you saw fit to list on your website. Believe me when I tell you that your success will greatly diminish sensitivity for the victims, AND create animosity and contempt for the forces of political correctness everywhere, AND for the victims. There is a growing movement in today's society that would love to see the end of PC, and this may well be the wooden stake to drive in its heart. I would love to see that happen, but not at this price. I do not want the memory of the victims tainted by this seriously misguided movement, and I do not want Tokien's legacy tarnished by it either. If you must be the death of PC, find another way. You will hurt them unneccessarily, and damage a great work of literature in the process. The price is too high. You are hurting those you claim to want to spare from pain, and doing it by ruining something that is truly beautiful, and that should be held far above the worldly concerns of men. In all of this, only one man wins.
Osama. bin. Laden.
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EDIT: Added anti-change petition link and request.
