Is the latest movie installment of the “Lord of the Rings” racist? “In the nearly five decades since “Lord of the Rings” was first published, Tolkien fans were willing to overlook parts of the text some condemned as racially insensitive. In “Rings,” it was argued, race was never directly addressed in the book, and physical descriptions of enemy humans were rare. Better to focus on the “Rings'” main themes: of courage, hope and love, of friendship, loyalty and spiritual strength, in the face of a fearsome threat. But like the ghostly faces in the Dead Marshes, that irritating issue of race always lingered just beneath the surface” and with the new movie, some critics are raising the issue.