* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Rachael Leigh Cook and Brandon Routh ‘Happy to Have Found Each Other’ Following Respective Divorces – yahoo.com

    Rachael Leigh Cook and Brandon Routh ‘Happy to Have Found Each Other’ Following Respective Divorces – yahoo.com

    ‘Billie Jean’ – Hyde Park Herald

    The Enduring Magic Behind ‘Billie Jean’ Revealed

    Hank Hill returns to a changed world in new ‘King of the Hill’ episodes – New Haven Register

    Hank Hill Navigates a Bold New World in Thrilling New ‘King of the Hill’ Episodes

    Exclusive | Fox Takes Stake in IndyCar Owner Penske Entertainment – The Wall Street Journal

    Exclusive | Fox Takes Stake in IndyCar Owner Penske Entertainment – The Wall Street Journal

    Go-to entertainment: why gaming was made for the toilet – The Guardian

    Why Gaming Is the Ultimate Way to Pass Time in the Bathroom

    Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra takes the Lollapalooza stage – Yahoo Home

    Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra takes the Lollapalooza stage – Yahoo Home

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Future Trends In HR Technology – Dataconomy

    Future Trends In HR Technology – Dataconomy

    Nasdaq-listed Verb Technology to build $558 million TON treasury, rebrand as TON Strategy Co. – The Block

    Nasdaq-Listed Verb Technology to Build $558 Million TON Treasury and Rebrand as TON Strategy Co

    How Tech Firms Like Google and Meta Are Embracing the Military – The New York Times

    How Tech Firms Like Google and Meta Are Embracing the Military – The New York Times

    Credo Technology: Wiring The AI Revolution (NASDAQ:CRDO) – Seeking Alpha

    Credo Technology: Driving the Next Wave of AI Innovation

    Microsoft Seeks to Extend Access to OpenAI Technology – PYMNTS.com

    Microsoft Aims to Broaden Access to OpenAI Technology

    Livonia police use grappler technology to stop drunk driver – ClickOnDetroit | WDIV Local 4

    Livonia Police Deploy Grappler Technology to Safely Stop Drunk Driver

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Rachael Leigh Cook and Brandon Routh ‘Happy to Have Found Each Other’ Following Respective Divorces – yahoo.com

    Rachael Leigh Cook and Brandon Routh ‘Happy to Have Found Each Other’ Following Respective Divorces – yahoo.com

    ‘Billie Jean’ – Hyde Park Herald

    The Enduring Magic Behind ‘Billie Jean’ Revealed

    Hank Hill returns to a changed world in new ‘King of the Hill’ episodes – New Haven Register

    Hank Hill Navigates a Bold New World in Thrilling New ‘King of the Hill’ Episodes

    Exclusive | Fox Takes Stake in IndyCar Owner Penske Entertainment – The Wall Street Journal

    Exclusive | Fox Takes Stake in IndyCar Owner Penske Entertainment – The Wall Street Journal

    Go-to entertainment: why gaming was made for the toilet – The Guardian

    Why Gaming Is the Ultimate Way to Pass Time in the Bathroom

    Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra takes the Lollapalooza stage – Yahoo Home

    Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra takes the Lollapalooza stage – Yahoo Home

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Future Trends In HR Technology – Dataconomy

    Future Trends In HR Technology – Dataconomy

    Nasdaq-listed Verb Technology to build $558 million TON treasury, rebrand as TON Strategy Co. – The Block

    Nasdaq-Listed Verb Technology to Build $558 Million TON Treasury and Rebrand as TON Strategy Co

    How Tech Firms Like Google and Meta Are Embracing the Military – The New York Times

    How Tech Firms Like Google and Meta Are Embracing the Military – The New York Times

    Credo Technology: Wiring The AI Revolution (NASDAQ:CRDO) – Seeking Alpha

    Credo Technology: Driving the Next Wave of AI Innovation

    Microsoft Seeks to Extend Access to OpenAI Technology – PYMNTS.com

    Microsoft Aims to Broaden Access to OpenAI Technology

    Livonia police use grappler technology to stop drunk driver – ClickOnDetroit | WDIV Local 4

    Livonia Police Deploy Grappler Technology to Safely Stop Drunk Driver

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home News

JD Vance’s ascent marks the rise of the Fantasy Generation

July 25, 2024
in News
JD Vance’s ascent marks the rise of the Fantasy Generation
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

(RNS) — The ethos of every modern generation might be defined by its literary movements. The Scriblerus Club of early 18th-century Britain was characterized by wit and satirical bite. The Romantics of the next century embraced free love and radicalism. The Modernists were distant and erudite. The Beat Generation was nothing if not roving, free-spirited and hedonistic.

Now we are seeing the rise of the Fantasy Generation. This is the generation that came of age in the early 2000s amid the “Lord of the Rings” film franchise based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. As a result of the fan culture made possible by the parallel rise of the internet, Tolkien’s epic story in all its forms and deliveries — print, e-book, audio book, cable, streaming and endless memes — is omnipresent. Tolkien is now considered the “father of fantasy,” and his imitators — good, poor and in between — are infinite.

The official ascent of the Fantasy Generation may well be marked by the nomination of JD Vance for vice president of the United States.

Vance, as recently reported by Politico, has been deeply influenced personally and politically by “The Lord of the Rings,” as have, seemingly, many young conservative men. (Although, to be sure, it’s not just men: One young trad wife who announced on X that she calls her husband “sir” notes in her profile that she is “made for the shire.”) The fantasy genre, after all, deals in big sweeping themes such as good versus evil, the hero’s journey and epic adventures.

These are good and important ideas, of course, ones found in the tradition of great books across time. But such themes seem to hold a particular appeal for younger generations who’ve grown up in the hinter years of what philosopher Charles Taylor describes as an age of disenchantment, which is one of the main features of what Taylor calls a secular age.

The older, presecular age was one in which the modern distinctions between natural and supernatural didn’t exist the way we define them. Spirits, angels and demons were recognized as being in and part of our world. Everything from the cosmos to a lucky outcome in a card game was imbued with meaning. So was each person. Yet, paradoxically, ordinary individuals didn’t feel the weight of some great need to “change the world” or “do big things for God”—likely because God and his world were big enough already, and those in the presecular world saw themselves as part of a larger, sacred tapestry of life and meaning. But today, even believers can absorb the sense of disenchantment in the ordinary world and, missing the sacred, seek affirmation for it wherever it might be found.

“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien. (Courtesy image)

Enter fantasy.

Fantasy is a reminder that the spiritual realm is real and present.

Precisely because it fills such a great hunger in our current day, fantasy seems particularly vulnerable — perhaps by no fault of its own — to misreading, bad reading and manipulative readings. (So, too, is the Bible, not coincidentally.)

“The Lord of the Rings” is often read by either side of the political aisle as advancing that side’s own view. For if the world is a black and white battle between good and evil, then surely one’s own side is good and the other evil.

Politico, linking Vance to others within Tolkien fandom with “rightward nationalism,” quotes Vance as saying, “A lot of my conservative worldview was influenced by Tolkien.” While there is some element of Tolkien’s Catholic faith that might justly be called conservative, there is little, traditionally, in it that would find expression in a movement encapsulated in the phrase “Make America Great Again.” Hobbits, after all, are the antithesis of “greatness” in Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

Thus, some on social media expressed surprise at Vance’s appropriation of the fantasy series for the GOP agenda. One pointed out that Tolkien’s entire vision centers on “sending small, helpless creatures to defeat overwhelming power by giving power up.” Another noted that the series’ theme directly contradicts the politics of the ends justifying the means: “Samwise Gamgee is wise enough to realize that one small garden of a free gardener is all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm.”

Tolkien’s good friend C.S. Lewis famously cautioned against manipulative readings like those used to advance partisan politics. In “An Experiment in Criticism,” Lewis says that “unliterary” approaches to reading tend toward “using” rather than “receiving” literary texts. To use literature rather than receive it is to read it badly.

“Make America Great Again” tells a story that is rooted in an idealized version — a bad fantasy — of good versus evil. Good and evil certainly exist. Spiritual realities — both within and around us — play a part in these battles, to be sure. Yet, most of our everyday battles in ordinary life — including national elections and politics — consist not of Sauron versus Frodo, but rather of complicated people, situations and issues that are mixtures of good and bad. Complex people and their stories require the nuance of an expansive language to understand and tell. Indeed, Tolkien himself argued that “Fantasy is a thing best left to words, to true literature.”

“Fantastic forms are not to be counterfeited,” Tolkien cautioned. “Men dressed up as talking animals may achieve buffoonery or mimicry, but they do not achieve Fantasy.”

The line between buffoonery (or mere cosplay) and true myth can be fine.

Loving a story and loving a story well — by reading it well and receiving it faithfully — are not the same thing. This is true of the stories about Middle-earth and the heavens and the earth. Loving well — like wisdom itself — comes with the knowledge that only time and experience can bring. “Frodo,” after all, comes from an Old English word meaning “wisdom by experience.”

Tolkien defined Fantasy as “the making or glimpsing of other worlds.” The power in making or glimpsing worlds outside our own is twofold: one, so we can better see and set our own world aright, and two, so that we can better imagine the world to come. And that world — that kingdom — is already at hand. It is enchanting because of its real presence.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : ReligionNews – https://religionnews.com/2024/07/25/jd-vances-ascent-marks-the-rise-of-the-fantasy-generation/

Tags: AscentnewsVance’s
Previous Post

Deadpool & Wolverine Director Shawn Levy Says It’s Not Part of Any MCU Phase, Kevin Feige Responds

Next Post

President Biden and the Jewish mystical message

Edward McNabb, pioneer of conservation bioacoustics and nocturnal ecology, died on May 7th, aged 81 – Butler Nature

Remembering Edward McNabb: Trailblazer in Conservation Bioacoustics and Nocturnal Ecology Passes Away at 81

August 5, 2025
Insider’s View: Europe can be a leader in AI for science – Science|Business

Insider’s View: Europe can be a leader in AI for science – Science|Business

August 5, 2025
The FDA is targeting orange juice. Here’s why, and what the science says. – The Boston Globe

Why the FDA Is Targeting Orange Juice-and What the Science Actually Reveals

August 5, 2025
Beyond Nutritional Deficiencies: Managing GLP-1 Side Effects With Lifestyle Interventions – Patient Care Online

Beyond Nutritional Deficiencies: Managing GLP-1 Side Effects With Lifestyle Interventions – Patient Care Online

August 5, 2025
Shaw Travels To China For World Games With U.S. Men’s National Team – hailstate.com

Shaw Joins U.S. Men’s National Team for Thrilling World Games Showdown in China

August 5, 2025

A Turbulent Week Rocks the American Economy

August 5, 2025
Rachael Leigh Cook and Brandon Routh ‘Happy to Have Found Each Other’ Following Respective Divorces – yahoo.com

Rachael Leigh Cook and Brandon Routh ‘Happy to Have Found Each Other’ Following Respective Divorces – yahoo.com

August 5, 2025
Chatbots Can Trigger a Mental Health Crisis. What to Know About ‘AI Psychosis’ – Time Magazine

When Chatbots Spark a Mental Health Crisis: Unraveling the Enigma of ‘AI Psychosis

August 5, 2025

Why Young Adults Are Checking Out of Politics and Choosing Not to Vote

August 5, 2025
Future Trends In HR Technology – Dataconomy

Future Trends In HR Technology – Dataconomy

August 5, 2025

Categories

Archives

August 2025
MTWTFSS
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Jul    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (756)
  • Economy (781)
  • Entertainment (21,658)
  • General (16,306)
  • Health (9,818)
  • Lifestyle (789)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (780)
  • Politics (790)
  • Science (15,994)
  • Sports (21,276)
  • Technology (15,758)
  • World (762)

Recent News

Edward McNabb, pioneer of conservation bioacoustics and nocturnal ecology, died on May 7th, aged 81 – Butler Nature

Remembering Edward McNabb: Trailblazer in Conservation Bioacoustics and Nocturnal Ecology Passes Away at 81

August 5, 2025
Insider’s View: Europe can be a leader in AI for science – Science|Business

Insider’s View: Europe can be a leader in AI for science – Science|Business

August 5, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version