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Magpie
Immortal
Oct 1 2012, 5:07pm
Views: 1383
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picking up threads from both of your responses
[In reply to]
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Can't Post
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From my perspective, having been fairly active on TORn for at least 5 years...
The sense of overwhelming negativity that some people perceive can be attributed to a few factors. Among those is the fact that some voices just speak up more frequently than others. I know, because I've conversed with a goodly number of people in those 5 years, that many people are not nearly as negative as the most vocal voices here. They just don't visit TORn as often, or they speak up when a topic interests them and a topic that starts out negatively doesn't interest them, or they are shy of some of the contentiousness that can erupt so they just limit their posting to certain areas of the boards where they feel 'safer'.
So it looks like lots of people are negative or extremely worried. And lots are. But I don't, in my heart, believe they are the majority.
I'm so glad, elevorn, that you sensed the nuance of what I was getting at with my initial reply to you. When we 'seek' negative ideas, that's what we will reap. You understood perfectly what I was addressing and I appreciate that we've opened the conversation up to a larger context.
My take on the subject:
How I feel about the LOTR movies is so complicated, it would be impossible for me to address in anything less than a book! There was so much joy associated with those movies that spread far beyond merely what PJ put on the screen. There was my own personal situation which let a good message hit me just when I needed a good message. There was my reconnection with the books which brought me extreme joy and comfort. There was a renewal of my love of writing and connecting with people. There was the fellowship of fans (and I was especially blessed to find really, really good souls I conversed with at the time). There was an acquisition of new skills: TA-ing a LOTR online class - learning web design so I could share my knowledge and research on the soundtrack with others. There was my own step into a new life as I left my old profession and ventured (at the age of 52) into a new one - bolstered by confidence brought about all those experiences.
Was PJ perfect? No. But life has given me the skill to slough off at least some of the irritations and annoyances I encounter. (I could always use more of that skill) And as much as I roll my eyes at some aspects of the movies, I move past them and access the joy the movies brought me and represent to me.
Many of the things I might not like even allow me to understand what I do like better. If I think PJ screwed something up, I can often examine why I feel that way. What did the original source - JRRT's writings - do that I think is better? It helps me understand and appreciate Tolkien more deeply. How can I fault something that gives me that gift?
What I think I learned with LOTR is, if I go into the movie expecting MY Tolkien - that version of Tolkien we all think of as "THE" Tolkien but is really the version of Tolkien that each of us develops and nurtures within ourselves... if I go into PJ's movies expecting MY Tolkien, I am more likely to be disappointed than if I let PJ give me HIS version of Tolkien and I accept the parts I like, use the parts I don't to help me understand the original text better, and discard and ignore the parts that I just can't abide.
I am deliberately not revisiting The Hobbit - in book form - before the movies. I have never responded to The Hobbit, as a book, in the same way I responded to LOTR, as a book. So I don't have it ingrained in my head to start with. I'm going to leave it like that. I'm sure I will be eager to reread the book once I have the visuals and experience of - what I hope will be - a highly enjoyable movie in my brain. I will be highly capable, at that point, of taking in all that Tolkien offers. His work will be waiting for me and it will not be diminished by anything PJ does or doesn't do.
I am also trying not to shoulder PJ with the burden of replicating the experience I had with LOTR. I don't think he could. In some ways, it was a perfect storm of circumstances for me that neither he nor I have any control over. This is also a different book. And... it's a different world out there. It just doesn't seem to me that people want to be happy these days. They want to find lists of excuses for why they aren't happy. Or why happiness doesn't exist. Or why people don't want to let them be happy. Or why, maybe, they don't deserve happiness.
You can't really fight that attitude. I can't help them find happiness and I can't let myself get caught up in their negativity. All I can do is try to find small niches where that doesn't overwhelm the more natural (to my mind) balance of some good... some bad... we hope and work for the good... we get past and try to counter the bad.
That's the lesson I take from Tolkien. To do less would be a dishonor of my great affection and esteem for the gifts he's given us.
LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
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What Specifically...
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elevorn
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Oct 1 2012, 2:58pm
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It could be even more interesting to hold a separate discussion posing the flip side of your question
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Magpie
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Oct 1 2012, 3:07pm
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Good point!
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elevorn
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Oct 1 2012, 3:18pm
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Wait a second
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Shelob'sAppetite
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Oct 1 2012, 10:30pm
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Yes I did
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elevorn
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Oct 2 2012, 1:31pm
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Where is that *mods up* button???
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Loresilme
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Oct 1 2012, 5:00pm
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Understood
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Shelob'sAppetite
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Oct 1 2012, 10:26pm
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This reminds me of some advice about whether or not to marry a guy
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Escapist
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Oct 1 2012, 10:33pm
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Thanks
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Shelob'sAppetite
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Oct 1 2012, 10:45pm
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yep, group therapy can be a good thing!
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weaver
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Oct 1 2012, 10:53pm
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I'm going to give you a really mundane answer, sorry...
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DanielLB
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Oct 1 2012, 3:26pm
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quite alright
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elevorn
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Oct 1 2012, 3:37pm
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I think you just have to try and ignore the negativity
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DanielLB
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Oct 1 2012, 3:44pm
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picking up threads from both of your responses
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Magpie
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Oct 1 2012, 5:07pm
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Dead on right!
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elevorn
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Oct 1 2012, 9:20pm
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just remember...
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Magpie
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Oct 1 2012, 9:49pm
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wise words Magpie
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Elenorflower
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Oct 2 2012, 1:19pm
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IMO, that's a tad unfair
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Shelob'sAppetite
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Oct 1 2012, 10:42pm
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It's just different personalities of course
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Lacrimae Rerum
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Oct 1 2012, 11:04pm
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The key difference is
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Shelob'sAppetite
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Oct 1 2012, 11:12pm
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Well no I understand that
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Lacrimae Rerum
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Oct 1 2012, 11:22pm
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Got it - one point of clarification, though
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Shelob'sAppetite
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Oct 1 2012, 11:28pm
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That's a book I would defintely buy and read!
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Voronwë_the_Faithful
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Oct 1 2012, 10:54pm
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how shocked would you be...
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Magpie
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Oct 1 2012, 11:52pm
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Given that
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Voronwë_the_Faithful
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Oct 2 2012, 12:28am
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lol...
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Magpie
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Oct 2 2012, 12:32am
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On the contrary
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Voronwë_the_Faithful
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Oct 2 2012, 1:04am
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This is an excellent way to put it, Magpie
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Shelob'sAppetite
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Oct 1 2012, 11:11pm
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apologies
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elevorn
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Oct 2 2012, 1:42pm
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No worries at all, elevorn!
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Shelob'sAppetite
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Oct 2 2012, 4:50pm
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My thoughts (short to semi-short)
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Elessar
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Oct 2 2012, 6:46pm
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Agreed
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Shelob'sAppetite
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Oct 5 2012, 5:06am
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Yup
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Elessar
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Oct 5 2012, 11:05am
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a visit to one of these places is a good cure for negativity!
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weaver
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Oct 1 2012, 9:21pm
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"...if you hated the first set from PJ, please don't go see this next set because you will only hate it more..."
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Macfeast
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Oct 1 2012, 10:01pm
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opportunity cost
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Escapist
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Oct 1 2012, 10:10pm
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True; No one can have everything and see every movie.
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Macfeast
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Oct 1 2012, 10:50pm
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Editing time went out.
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Macfeast
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Oct 1 2012, 11:23pm
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Agreed
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Shelob'sAppetite
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Oct 1 2012, 11:29pm
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oh I know
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elevorn
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Oct 2 2012, 1:25pm
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The LOTR films did a lot to rekindle my interest in Tolkien...
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weaver
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Oct 1 2012, 4:27pm
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hmmm
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elostirion74
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Oct 1 2012, 8:37pm
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Specifically? That would be Aragorn's personality.
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Plurmo
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Oct 2 2012, 2:12am
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