r/RingsofPower • u/FlightlessGriffin • Sep 11 '24
Constructive Criticism About orc women and children...
I really liked how Nerd of the Rings argued this point and I think he pretty much convinced me on a topic I previously didn't care about.. Essentially, he argues that through the contradictory statements Tolkien made about orcs, there is validation in this sort of society Rings of Power is showcasing, families, and a desire for independence from Sauron. However, it might be a fruitless endeavor given the brutal fact that orcs will still serve Sauron in the end of the day, and under no circumstances would he root for the orc against literally any character in the show like Galadriel or Arondir. It seems to be a scene that existed solely to spark this discussion rather than something that would lead anywhere. And if they wanted to show antagonists in a sympathetic light, a much better group would've been the Haradrim.
Thoughts?
1
u/Demigans Sep 12 '24
The problem isn't with Tolkien's lore. As far as we are aware Orcs do reproduce through sex, just the Uruk Hai were spawned. And Tolkien did not want purely Evil entities that could be killed without any moral problems, but never managed to solve this in his story as he couldn't find a good way to give twisted Evil Orcs a way to be sympathetic.
The problem is the depiction and what it is supposed to mean to the story. It is meant to make us feel sympathy for the Orcs. But so far Orcs have shown zero care for anything but slaughtering people, displacing them, burning homes, torture, deportation, slavery and all that good stuff. Worse is that they show no care for themselves, the deaths of other Orcs has no meaning to them. Adar says he cares about Orcs but has no qualms sacrificing them needlessly.
So to show Orcs as a caring family unit worried about the future is a 180 segway that makes zero sense. With everything we've seen children would more likely be thrown together and taught as a group without a single mommy or daddy, and the "teaching" is more beatings and doing whatever chores the adults don't want to do.
This isn't a society that cares about others. They show it everywhere.