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In fact, you made *me* chuckle!

I've always been at a bit of a loss as to where all the mistrust, often manifested in bashing and even hatred, directed at Phillipa comes from. In many instances it's more vehement, and indeed more ludicrous, than any bashing and hatred I've ever seen directed at PJ himself; especially (to jump off from what you said), the tendency to crucify her for every imagined nuance of every word she says.

Tolkien wove some extremely powerful feminine energy into his stories in the form of characters like Melain, Luthien, Galadriel, Eowyn, etc.. Yes, there was little-to-no feminine energy in The Hobbit as written, but there was plenty of feminine energy at work in Middle-earth before, during, and after the events of The Hobbit both in named characters like Galadriel, and in un-named ones that the movie-makers are giving voice to in characters like Tauriel. I, for one, applaud the film-maker's desire to introduce that into the films, especially in the case of Galadriel who was a prime mover and shaker in the White Council and behind the scenes of the story of The Hobbit (as written) in many other ways.

Unlike you, I find picking apart and mistrust of Phillipa, hand-in-hand with hand-wringing about introducing feminine energy into these interpretations of the story (emphasis on interpretations), to be extremely sexist sometimes. I can understand that the boys of the board may not see it in comments from the other boys, but from the perspective of a girl they sometimes get to the point of being extremely sexist and very insulting.

Discussing the film-maker's execution of introducing feminine energy into the movies, as AO did in the original post, is a valid and worthy discussion. However, bashing a woman (Phillipa) for wanting to manifest something that is clearly evident in Tolkien's world at the time, comes across at best as having compartmentalized blinders on as to the role of powerful women in Middle-earth (i.e., they belong in this story and not that, instead of looking at the history as a whole) and, at worst, as sexist comments about a woman wanting to force feminine energy into a place it doesn't belong just because she's a woman.

I'm sure I'll get replies denying any sexism (beware, boys, lest you protest too much ). And, to clarify, I'm talking in generalities based on months of comments I've seen both before and after the release of AUJ, not directing this to anyone in particular. Of those posts, I'll quote you once more, Voronwe, if I may:

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Their posts do not make me chuckle. They make me sad.

I'm sure I'll get replies denying any sexism (beware, boys, lest you protest too much ).

Here's a reply that will not deny sexism.

Thank you for writing this.

that you or your comments are sexist.

All I personally wanted to do was to raise some awareness, in a comment specifically couched to be general and not directed at anyone in particular that, regardless of the intention, sometimes some comments come across as being sexist, especially from a woman's perspective. In the absence of pointing that out, I was afraid that people in general might not be aware of how they're coming across sometimes.

To your last comment, I don't believe I know of anyone here who is unwilling to allow that anything was wrong anywhere. We all have our preferences which are sometimes different than the preferences of others. But, that's the very thing that makes threads like these so interesting and fun! Let's not blow any of this out of proportion.

Was it totally baseless?

I mean, AO, you had your interpretation of how they described Galadriel in the appendices as the great power than Sauron needed to come there himself (and these are Tolkien's words), which I suppose can be subject to interpretation,

or

do you think she just did it offhandedly without thinking, or she really believes that and based it on blurbs about her and that she believes that being a man limits the Istaris' power, etc...what would she base it on?

Theo

And honestly? You're suggesting that Darkstone should re-read your posts.

What you say is logical AO, but aren't you also putting words into Tolkien's mouth. When he mentioned Galadriel, he did not mention any other creature left in ME, other than Sauron. True, the Balrog came from a different age, but it still remained in ME. Not trying to be nitpicky here, but I'm trying to understand where maybe P. Boyens is coming from. I'm definitely a fan of Galadriel, but certainly not fan boyish enough to make blatant statements that will send other fanboys or fangirls to the roof...lol

My curiosity lies then as to why Tolkien would say such a thing. I suppose it could be just a passing statement and what you concluded could be just as true, but isn't also possible that perhaps Tolkien meant that Galadriel at this point is the most powerful force in ME that no can overcome because she is using Nenya, and that while she may not be Mair, she learned enough to be more powerful than anyone person in ME other than Sauron (with the One Ring or No Ring is up for debate). I mean is there anyone else, other than Luthien (or was it Beren) that learned directly under a Maia. More curiously, why did Melian choose her? Why not teach the stuff to Thingol whatever it is she is teaching? And was not Melian not forbidden to make use of her full powers, unlike the Istari's?

I guess we will never fully know, though your explanations does also make sense, and that perhaps that is the beauty of the book; interpretation.