Viggo Mortensen: “Vox’s political and media blunder”
The actor has attacked the far-right group for using his Aragorn character in a Twitter message aimed at winning over voters at the Spanish general election
You’d have to be pretty ignorant to think that using the character Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings film trilogy to promote the campaign of a xenophobic, far-right party like Vox would be a good idea. Not only is it absurd to link me, the actor who played the role for Peter Jackson, and a person interested in the rich variety of cultures and languages that exist in Spain and the world, to an ultra-nationalist and neo-fascist political party. It is even more ridiculous to use the character Aragorn, a multilingual statesman who advocates for the knowledge and inclusion of the different races, traditions and languages of Middle Earth, to legitimize an anti-immigration, anti-feminist and Islamophobic political party.
I would laugh at their ineptitude but Vox has entered Spain’s Congress with 24 seats; it’s no joke, and we will have to be alert and proactive, like Aragorn in the Tolkien saga.
“Let the battle begin!”
Controversial tweet
Viggo Mortensen's letter comes in response to a controversial tweet published by the far-right group Vox the day of the Spanish general election on Sunday, April 28. The post depicts the Lord of the Rings character Aragorn wielding a sword as he faces various symbols– including a pro-Catalan independence flag, the feminism symbol and the EL PAÍS masthead – and is accompanied by the message "let the battle begin."
The tweet also drew attention for its use of a rainbow ghost emoji to represent the LGBTQ community. This icon, later dubbed "Gaysper," went viral on social media, with users widely mocking the far-right party's attempt to demonize LGBTQ activism.
⚔🇪🇸 ¡Qué comience la batalla! #PorEspaña pic.twitter.com/TVgdcP1Kw5
— VOX 🇪🇸 (@vox_es) April 28, 2019
“Let the battle begin!”
