The men of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power hate elves for all the wrong reasons

polygon.com:

In the first episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the show presents a clash of culture between the men of the Southlands and the elves who watch over them. The conflict is one of different timescales: To the elves, the humans of this region only just stopped working for Morgoth. To the humans, that war is hundreds of years past.

It’s a fascinating contrast, one that speaks to the true alienness of daily human cohabitation with elves in a way that Tolkien never really shone a light on. But fast forward a couple episodes to the land of Númenor, and we’re watching a crowd get whipped into fury against elves for absolutely the most pedestrian reason.

[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode 4.]

Early in the “The Great Wave,” Rings of Power visits a bustling Númenórean square where a guild craftsman — one of the guys who got beat up in the previous episode — dabbles in the time-old tradition of inciting a crowd.

“Elf workers, taking your trades!” he prognosticates, based on the presence of one elf and one (already jailed) human ally. “Workers who don’t sleep, don’t tire, don’t age!” Galadriel and Halbrand’s presence on Númenor is apparently a slippery slope to a complete takeover of the Númenórean… economy? By… thousand-year-old low-wage workers?

His words whip up his audience into a derogatory chant of “Elf-lover!” against their own queen, until they are quieted by an equally brief speech for the opposite position and the sudden appearance of a round of drinks. So much for the people so righteous the gods gave them a whole blessed island.

It should go without saying that this is a terrible line of thinking. Racism should have no safe harbor in human