Conan, The Barbarian (1982)

"What is best in life?" -Mongol General
"Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of their women." -Conan

So I broke my general standard operating procedure and read some reviews by other critics given that I pretty much know my position on Conan; it's awesome. And in doing so, attempted to gain some new perspective on Conan, The Barbarian.

To be simple, I love Conan because: A it is super epic, B its script is just simple -Never has a a main character said less, C Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), D Mako (The Wizard and the voice of Uncle Iroh), and E the score by Basil Poledouris.  oh and its true and ridiculous 80s-ness.

However, I wanted to see what Roger Ebert thought in 1982 and was stunned that he like me enjoyed the movie for all the above reasons, but he added that he was strangely taken aback by the racial implications of James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom. He found it strange that classically trained Broadway great James Earl Jones would stoop to be a villain with an animal fetish in a rather over the top white man Teutonic myth.

 I understood the movie to be an adaptation of the books. (I've never read them.) So, I did a little research and thinking about how structural racism and nationalism played into the construction of the books/comics. Robert E. Howard wrote the original books and manuscripts between 1932 and 1936 and his works were not published or acclaimed until the late 1940s. I don't think it would be out of the realm of fantasy that a 26 year old writer would use stereotypes and tropes to sell his fantasy to young male readers for pennies.  The biggest strongest white man with a belief in one god, who heeds to no man's authority takes on all others (gods, polytheists, cults, warriors of other races, and more.) with his massive sword/penis. I agree with Mr. Ebert in that if Conan were written by a German of the same era, we would not look so kindly on it.

With that knowledge, I reexamined my thoughts on James Earl Jones's Thulsa Doom. It is clear that Conan and the technical wizardry of the film are supposed to outshine J. E. J. and maintain the structure established by the books. However, I think Thulsa Doom could have easily gone over the top and become Ming The Merciless from Flash Gordon; which not so coincidentally came out in the 18 months before Conan. J.E.J. gives us a character that is clearly educated. Thulsa Doom speaks in big words and thinks about meta-physics and the meaning of life. He takes the trope of megalomaniac thug and turns it around to make Thulsa Doom a despotic visionary. I, for one, am glad that James Earl Jones took the role and made it more than a stereotype.

On a scale of Thulsa Doom to Temple of Doom, I give Conan, The Barbarian 3.6 out of 5 stars.