John has a great essay on the hidden messages in The Hobbit.
(Of course, in the latest New Zealand printings of the tale, the dwarves and elves and hobbits will all dine on muesli and bottled water rather than wine and roast mutton, and the tavern where they meet Bard the Bowman will only serve non-alcoholic lite beer, according to an alert provided by Hazel Stone.)
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Have you ever read the McSweeney's faux Howard Zinn and 'Gnome' Chomsky commentaries on Lord of the Rings? Funny stuff. Sickeningly funny. Round 'em up and flay 'em alive funny.
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2003/04/22fellowship.html
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/ringcommentary/part1.html
They'll have to go through and change all the parts where they are smoking "pipeweed", also.
There are some things he looked over in his analysis of Tolkiens writings..
"Content" in this case, means peasants should be happy with their lot in life, under their betters thumb.
Tolkien had a huge disdain for Technology(witness the mines and iron smelting of the Orcs in Fellowship of the Ring).
"Greed" goes back to contentment. One should not wish for things like an education, a better life for your children, etc.
"Polite" meaning "Show respect for your betters".
Tolkien grew up in the upperclasses of Victorian society. His family lived in Africa for awhile in a house full of servants. When the family relocated to England, the shift was to "Genteel Poverty" as he put it. All of his books reek of the Victorian class system.
as bobg said. Those scenes where Bilbo and Gandalf are blowing smoke rings at each other will be deleted.
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