Eminent Tolkien expert Stephen Colbert during his monologue on Monday was a bit spooked by the news that Italy’s new neo-fascist prime minister is really, really in the “Lord of the Rings”.
And in explaining why there’s no point for extreme right-wingers to love Tolkien’s mythology, he’s fooled enough to even turn off his own camera.
Colbert explained the situation, saying, “The part that hurts the most to me personally is that of Meloni, who leads a party that is often described as neo-fascist. claims to be a huge Tolkien fan, who dressed up as a hobbit.”
“No! No! Or, as they say in Italian, no. Don’t you ruin ‘Lord of the Rings.’ No self-respecting adult costume like The Hobbit. Unless you’re on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.” , at this point the cover of EW that Colbert had done appeared onscreen.
“Now I know why an Italian politician might like tokens. The trilogy is full of Italian characters,” Colbert said, at which point edited footage of Ian McKellen in the “you won’t pass up” scene, but an exaggerated one. Popped up onscreen, with dialogue in Italian accents.
“You love the soundtrack by Howard Shore,” Colbert continued singing, ‘when you see a big eye burning in the sky, it’s a Sauron.
“But, Meloni takes her fantasy to an extreme, saying ‘I don’t consider Lord of the Rings to be fiction,’ adding that it is ‘a sacred text.’ I never said these words to anyone ,” Colbert said in a serious tone. “But I think you are taking Lord of the Rings too seriously.”
“Worse, it’s not just limited to Meloni. In Italy, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ has been a central pillar of hard-right identity,” Colbert quoted a New York Times article as saying.
“No. No, fascists. ‘Lord of the Rings’ is not a sacred text for the Far Right. It is completely misunderstanding the words of Ulmo, Lord of the Waters, who founded the great kingdom of Gondolan, the Elven Having chosen the tur as his instrument to tell King Turgan, ‘Do not love the work of your hands and the instruments of your heart,’ Colbert went on as the camera began to turn to the left of his lecture.
“Hey! Hey! Come back here,” Colbert ordered the camera. “I work hard, I’m allowed to have hobbies.”
Watch clip above.