An Unexpected Controversy in Middle-earth:
Audience Encounters with the ‘Dark Side’
of Transnational Film Production
Critical transnationalism and the new era of globalised film production
Like many films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was a transnational undertaking, with
production involving personnel, resources, locations, narrative, and aesthetic elements from
various regions. However, The Hobbit was also a project where the nation-state and its borders
retained significance: New Zealand, the location for much of the film’s scenery, became the site
of commercial and legal manoeuvring designed to attract and retain a transnational project that
would utilise local production sites and workforces. As part of our ongoing research, we were
interested in finding out if differently-located audiences made sense of a controversial series of
events that occurred during early production in similar ways, potentially representing a global
(or supra-national) sentiment, or whether differently located audiences responded to these
events in nationally, culturally and politically distinctive ways.
Prefiguring The Hobbit: An unexpected controversy
Unhappy with their working conditions, in late October 2012 production employees working on
The Hobbit set undertook industrial action. Rather than negotiate with union representatives,
Jackson and Wingnut Films responded by turning to the media, and announced that The Hobbit
production might be forced to move overseas due to the New Zealand labour dispute. With fans
and other film workers alike enraged, and with protestors marching in support of Jackson, the
New Zealand Government agreed to provide NZ$34M in tax subsidies for Warner Bros, and also
made a controversial amendment to New Zealand employment law. In exchange, production
would continue in New Zealand and promotional material for New Zealand would feature on
The Hobbit DVDs. The Hobbit labour controversy and its aftermath attracted over 100 news
items within the international press. Our prefiguration research, conducted in late 2012, drew
on audience perceptions from 59 different countries which were shaped by this and other prerelease publicity, discussion and debate.
Prefigurative audience engagements: What difference does proximity make?
59.5% of our 1,000 respondents indicated that they had heard about The Hobbit employment
law change and tax subsidy. Geographical proximity clearly mattered, as 78.6% of New Zealand
residents were aware of the issue, compared with 52.1% of non-residents. Clear associations
were also evident between responses to The Hobbit labour relations/ government subsidy
issues and the general viewpoints outlined above, with anxious investors having the highest level
of awareness of the labour law/subsidy issue (91.4%), followed by Jackson critics (80%).
Tolkien aficionados had the lowest level of awareness (52%). Once again, proximity made a
distinct difference, as it was local Jackson critics who were the most concerned to hear about
Warner’s possible exploitation of workers on set.
However proximity is not merely geographical, but encompasses ‘closeness’ in terms of political,
economic, and other affiliations. Certain occupational groups approved more strongly of the
New Zealand Government’s actions than others: government officials (57.1% approved),
tradespersons or small business operators (53.8%), managers or executives (35.3%), and
creative artists or media producers (34.1%). Those most frequently making statements
disapproving of the Government’s actions were higher level professionals (21.1%), middle
professionals and public servants (18.4%), and creative artists or media producers (17.1%),
indicating polarisation amongst this special interest group. We found that nationality was
certainly an important factor in shaping audience responses to an issue that was to some extent
locally specific (but has global ramifications), but other sites of interest and affiliation were also
significant. We also found that responses expressing ambivalence or concern about the
perceived ‘dark sides’ of transnational film production were framed by a complex interplay
between prefigurative and political orientations, geographical proximity, and also access to
subordinated discourses.
The roles of politics, ‘common sense’, and cinematic desire in shaping responses
to The Hobbit labour controversy
Whether resident of New Zealand or elsewhere, most respondents who commented either
stated that the controversy had no impact on their feelings (175) or expressed approval of the
handling of the controversy (160). Of these ‘approvers’, 97 respondents believed the potential
economic benefits to New Zealand outweighed any negative impacts, 62 believed that The
Hobbit needed to be filmed in New Zealand to provide continuity with the earlier Lord of the
Rings trilogy, while 31 believed that the law changes were a sign of support for the local film
industry. Interestingly, over 300 respondents chose to prioritise their potential enjoyment of
the film over the politics of the controversy, thereby separating art from life; which we suggest
reflects the film’s status as a fetishized cultural object.
When politics and pleasure collide: Discursive contestation and The Hobbit
controversy
70 respondents were more ambivalent, 35 of whom were New Zealanders. This group found it
difficult to reconcile differences between the claimed benefits to New Zealand and the critiques
voiced by union representatives and other commentators. A further 81 participants expressed
clear disapproval of how the controversy was handled. New Zealanders made up 62.9% of this
group, most of whom were identified as Anxious Investors or Jackson Critics.
Our analysis thus reveals that there was a shared experience of globalisation and neoliberalism
amongst respondents, both from New Zealand and elsewhere, which enabled justification of the
actions of Jackson and the state in terms of the promised economic and cultural rewards that
would accrue from New Zealand hosting this transnational film production. However, the
expression of critical responses to the handling of the controversy also demonstrates that previewer engagements were not fully determined by marketing and publicity efforts, but also
drew from a wider sphere of public and private discussion, criticism and debate. Whilst explicit
critique was more often and more strongly expressed by New Zealanders, there was evidence of
its global resonance, both in the international news coverage and the responses of some
overseas participants. However, critical voices were clearly subordinate to the dominant
neoliberal discursive understanding that was more widely dispersed and accepted, both locally
and abroad. Furthermore, the majority of respondents appeared so enamoured by the prospect
of a pleasurable return to Middle-earth that commodity desire ultimately trumped any residual
concerns about the handling of this controversial labour issue.
For a fuller discussion of our findings on this topic, please see:
Michelle, C., Hardy, A., Davis, C.H., and Hight, C. (2014. An unexpected controversy in Middle-earth:
Audience encounters with the ‘dark side’ of transnational film production. Transnational Cinemas, DOI:
10.1080/20403526.2014.941185