An Apology to Orcs

[browngirl]

I feel kind of guilty towards orcs sometimes.

From a narrative perspective, whether reading or writing, it can be useful to have characters whose evilitude is pre-established. When reading or watching LOTR or The Hobbit, anytime orcs show up one knows they’re going to be bad news. In “Undaunted” I didn’t need to explain how or why Ori ended up in such a horrible situation, I just had to throw orcs at him.

And yet.

My conception of sentience (and orcs are obviously sentient) rebels against the notion of classifying any group as Always Chaotic Evil (as TV Tropes would put it), not least because in the society where I live I belong to a couple of groups that many people consider to be Always Chaotic Evil. And, because fiction is inextricably entangled with ‘Real’ life, I know that one common idea about Middle-Earth is that the orcs, along with the Southrons and Easterlings, are meant to be the People of Color there. But even without that sociopolitical reason, I would still be philosophically opposed to assuming that any group or lineage is automatically all bad, any more than they could be assumed to be all good. I feel like I should depict an orc or group who aren't bad guys.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this thought yet, since I don’t have any accompanying story ideas. I think I’m going to get a copy of Mary Gentle’s Grunts and see what comes to mind after I read that.

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[rubynye.livejournal.com]

Belatedly but no less heartfeltly: THANK YOU.