KOOTOOLE

FRODO:I wish the ring had never come to me ... I wish that none of this had happened.
GANDALF: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

As part of the push to get people off the streets and not protesting the corrupt and tyrannical government, Iranian television has been showing movies more often than normal. Recently, they ran a Lord of the Rings marathon, showing all three movies back to back. Time Magazine's anonymous reporter in Iran reported on the reactions he saw to the films:

On the screen, Gandalf the Grey returns to the Fellowship as Gandalf the White. He casts a blinding white light, his face hidden behind a halo. Someone blurts out, "Imam zaman e?!" (Is it the Imam?!) It is a reference, of course, to the white-bearded Ayatullah Khomeini, who is respectfully called Imam Khomeini. But "Imam" is at the same time a title of the Mahdi, a messianic figure that Muslims believe will come to save true believers from powerful evildoers at the time of the apocalypse.
...
In the eye of the beholder in Tehran, the movie is transformed into an Iranian epic. When Gandalf's white steed strides into the frame, local viewers see Rakhsh, the mythical horse of the Rostam, the great champion of the Shahnameh, the thousand-year-old national epic. "Bah, bah ... Rakhsh! Rakhsham amad!" someone says in awe.

The writer tries to find some sense of rebellion and parallels to the predicament the Iranian people find themselves in with the movie and its viewers, but he is only with one family and the hope does not equal the reality of crushing oppression.

What fascinated me was the way the Persian family reacts to the movie. Lacking western tropes and faerie tale imagery, they see the images and scenes in the movie through their own background and stories. Gandalf the White becomes the Imam, or even the Mahdi. Shadowfax becomes Rakhsh. The tale is of a far off, fantastic land yet it resonates with all peoples in all places.

This is the power of the myth and of the faerie tale. J.R.R. Tolkien set out to write the definitive English epic, something to equal Beowulf or the Iliad and the Odyssey, and what he wrote was far greater. It wasn't merely English (though the humble, homely hobbits are obviously meant to be the average Brit), it transcended national boundaries and erupts in the imagination of all who read and see the films. The images and concepts are so big and so readily accessible to all people that the Lord of the Rings becomes an epic for all peoples in all times.

There's a reason for that.

Tolkien was a master of literature and mythology, much like his close friend C.S. Lewis. He studied and pulled apart the old stories and legends, learning what made them legendary, what repeated themes and concepts were found in all of them and why. He studied why Odin gave up his eye for wisdom and what it meant, why Zeus and Thor both wielded lightning, why so many heroes died rather than living happily ever after, and what made dragons the enemy. Through these studies, he had the basic building blocks of legend and myth, he understood the why behind each of the stories that engage us so well and are so fascinating even after thousands of years.

Tolkien borrowed liberally and shamelessly from sources all around the world and stories of the past. He took what he loved and adapted, inserted, and gave homage to each of these bits. Names like orc came from old stories, and creatures like trolls from myths of the past. Giants and wizards walked the earth in his books because they strode through the legends of other nations. And the result reaches across all boundaries and sings in the hearts of viewers regardless of their culture.

When combined with Peter Jackson and Weta studio's stunning visuals, the movies are just as good at reaching out. So when Iranian children watch the Lord of the Rings, they are just as captivated and enjoy it every bit as much as those from Japan, England, and South Africa. The legends reach across all boundaries and cultures and resonate with everyone.

There is one amusing little bit from the story I wanted to end with though:

Iranian films are dubbed very expertly. So listen to the Farsi word they use for hobbit and dwarf: kootoole, little person. Kootoole, of course, was and is the term used in many of the chants out on the street against the diminutive President.

The hobbits and dwarves of LOTR are good guys, but the name is meant as an insult. I just thought that was interesting. Just imagine if Jackson had kept the best part of the books - the scourging of the Shire - in the movies instead of a 30 minute sequence of goodbyes.