| |
| author |
Dillon McCarthy
| | title |
Orxploitation: Racism in Fantasy Fandom as a Battleground in the "Culture War"
| | abstract |
Fantasy has always had an uncomfortable relationship with race. J.R.R. Tolkien's
inclusion of stereotypes, racial coding, and occasional explicit bigotry in his highly influential
work has led to today's often controversial fantasy genre. Two such controversies regarding race
and fantasy occurred in 2022: one came in the form of racist backlash to the reveal of Black
actors playing elf, dwarf, and harfoot roles in Amazon Prime Video's new Tolkien-based
television show The Rings of Power, and the other occurred when fans rallied against the
inclusion of racist descriptor text in the "hadozee" character option released as part of the
Dungeons & Dragons "Spelljammer" expansion. In this thesis, I examine these two controversies
from an ideological perspective for the purpose of contextualizing the various fan cultures
involved within the broader framework of an ideological culture war. First, I define Tolkien fans
as reactionary fandom and Dungeons & Dragons fans as activist fandom. From there, I present a
method through which both The Rings of Power and the Spelljammer expansion can be viewed
as fan works in their own right. Then, I establish stakes by examining the problematic history of
race in fantasy which has set a racist status quo. Following that, I analyze fandom activity
surrounding the two controversies, including both the texts themselves and fan reactions to them.
I conclude that the fans involved use fandom as a means by which they can express deeper held
beliefs. Ultimately, the goal of this thesis is to investigate that relationship between fandom
activity and ideology through the lens of racial controversy in the fantasy genre.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2023)
|
| advisor |
Dr. Evan Johnson
|
| full text | DMcCarthy.pdf |
| |
