Helm’s Deep, PPE, and the power of stories. Let’s talk about it.
#COVID related. Sort of. Make sure to play the GIFs(1/x)

Pro-Rohan propaganda would have you believe that every soldier on the front lines had adequate protection. THIS IS A LIE. Sure, the King had custom PPE. So did his buddy Gamling. But on the front lines? Dull swords & a shameful lack of child-sized PPE. (2/x)

PPE was not the difference in that fight. It was the fortuitous intervention of the elves, the magical man, and the horrific mindless tree-monsters. (3/x)

FURTHERMORE we have reliable accounts of a dwarf who volunteered for the front line & could only find comically oversized chainmail to augment his own armour THAT HE HAD TO BRING FROM HOME. Rohan couldn’t even provide a box for him to stand on so he could see the enemy army.(4/x)

Contrast this with the work of Saruman. Preparation. Planning. PPE for every front-line orc, troll, and Uruk-hai. *Custom* PPE made by orcs, for orcs, right there in Isengard. (5/x)

This thread gets at something that I talk to my kids about a lot: how stories interpret our reality and influence our ideas about the world and ourselves. A very consistent feature in many stories is that it’s the villain that’s the planner. [switches gears to Star Wars](6/x)

The protagonists rely on their pluck and bravery and somehow pull through in the end. They prevail and are hailed as heroes. I feel like this message (which is pervasive and appealing) is widely internalized by people. They think pluck and bravery are all it takes.
(7/x)

But their victory is only possible because of the planners on their own side who (1) reliably get them out of messes and (2) aren’t typically the *main* hero of the story. Women get delegated to this role a lot (think Leia or Hermione)(8/x)

Sometimes, there’s a wise old man around to make sure everything turns out okay. He has to die, otherwise it would be all too easy for the plucky youngsters to prevail. Also, he may be planning ahead, but nobody respects or believes him. Obiwan was just a ‘crazy old man’(9/x)

Reality requires planning, though. It requires respect for subject matter experts. It requires leaders that listen, and exhibit wisdom and judgement, not bluster and bravado. Like Mon Mothma, the ones that do this job the best may not be the ones we all know about. (10/x)

The front-line heroes are often the folks we never hear about, that don’t fit the usual bill of heroism. But when faced with danger and adversity they do their jobs, and some don’t make it home. (Fin)