Eowyn Wannabe
The Shire
Dec 19 2007, 4:14pm
Views: 18834
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Just don't call it "Tolkien"
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It may be based on Tolkien's work, but it isn't his work. That's the distinction. I got so tired of people saying, "I saw the movies, so I don't have to read the books." Given how much the movies deviated from the books in many places, that's just wrong. I know that lots of people were inspired to read the books because of the movies, and that's fantastic, but what about the folks who now have the entirely wrong idea about the characters in the books because of how they were portrayed in the movies? I love the books, and the characters, too much to see them shortchanged like this. And for a "bridge" movie to be called Tolkien's work would be wrong in so many ways. They should say it's "inspired by" his work, but not claim it to be directly his, or an adaptation of his work. What I suspect is that people would see that movie and be sure they know what Tolkien wrote, or what he intended his characters to do, etc., when that would be about 180 degrees from the truth. All that stuff PJ threw in about Aragorn not wanting the throne, his fear of inheriting weakness, etc.? That directly conflicts with what we know of him through the appendices -- how he fought valiantly for Rohan and Gondor, how he spent years protecting people everywhere, how he even went into Mordor and into Moria seeking out the dark things living there. Doesn't sound like a coward to me, or like someone who's trying to hide from the throne. Nope. Sounds to me like someone who's learning everything he needs to know, someone who's testing his bravery, putting himself on the line, getting to know the people he'd be ruling, and most of all, protecting them all. He showed valor in his actions, remember? Denethor's dad admired him above Denethor, or crying out loud. So, how would PJ reconcile this version of Aragorn with the sniveling coward he put in his movies? I can't see it. And if PJ & Co. write the "bridge" movie, they would somehow find a way to do that, and betray Tolkien's very characterization of Aragorn even further. That would not be Tolkien's work, but an adaptation. Yet moviegoers who can't be bothered to read the books would think it's what Tolkien wrote. That bothers me. And I'm allowed to be bothered by it.
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