Fantasy in fiction is inescapably political, and not just in the sense that all culture is inescapably political (art in the age of mechanical reproduction is no longer underpinned by ritual but politics… and so forth). Fantasy scenarios are most often based in the future or the past, or a future/past; we’re talking Star Trek or Lord of the Rings. The other not so common scenario is deconstruction of the present, near future or recent past; some titles plucked out of the air, Ape and Essence, Children of Men, The Mighty Boosh.
Fantasy can be a critique of our own society, taking modern institutions and prevailing ideology out of their context. This is satire. Satire is generally motivated by a reformist impulse, to expose hypocrisy, set wrongs right and so on. Satire, though a totally valid art-form, is actually a form of release. By focussing on specific issues it eases the pressure, ideological pressure, on our ruling class. We may be laughing at our rulers, but that means we’re not grabbing pitchforks and heading for Versailles.
But fantasy can also be experienced as a sublimated form of anti-capitalism, a desire to crack open reality in order to release the repressed potential inside. If for whatever reason the urge overthrow the current order is repressed, the drama of revolution is overlooked, instead it can come out as desire for restoration of the old order. All that is sacred is profaned by capitalism, so, goes the logic, we must restore what was once sacred. This is why we can root for Aragorn and Frodo, despite the fact their literal cause is the restoration of the King of Gondor. Lord of the Rings is a reactionary fantasy, but there is more than enough flexibility, in the film, in the book and in the genre, to allow multiple interpretations.