A different Frodo
 

I just finished reading the LotR for the 10th time or something. I noticed this, the Frodo from the books is different from the Frodo in the movies. Obviously there will be some changes in the character, due to the transition from book to film, but I though that the whole character was different. So here is my question, do you think that the Frodo from the books is different or far different from the movie Frodo, please state the reason for your answer.

Now that I think about it, I remember thinking that too when I watched the movies.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'll think about it. That's a good observation!

What do you mean that he's different? Do you mean Frolijah is a lot younger, rolls his eyes ,and falls down quite a bit? Where Frodo stabs at a wraith on weathertop, stabs an orc in the foot, and a whole bunch of other heroic acts. If that's what you're shooting for then yes, they're different.

*** thread moved ***
 

I moved this to MOVIES since it is a comparison of the films to the books. THE BOOKS is for discussions of Tolkien's written pages without regard to the movies.

Yes, I did find him different. In the book he seemed happier and had a much better control of his temper.

Maybe it's that in the books he is innocent, whereas in the movies he tries to look innocent.

Well, lets see.
1. Elijah was still technically a teenager when filming started in New Zealand. Frodo in the book has his 33rd birthday when we meet him, and is 50 before he sets out on the quest. quite a different age and experience level.
2. Movie Frodo drops his sword and falls down on Weathertop when the Ringwraiths attack, etc. Book Frodo attacks the Witch King with his Barrow blade and is generally braver throughout, standing alone on the bank of the Ford of Bruinen against the approach of all nine Ringwraiths and continues to challenge them until he falls unconscious. There is no Arwen (or Glorfindel) to defend him in the book. Glorfindel is on the other side of the river behind the Wraiths.
3. Book Frodo was more discreet, and would never have shown the One Ring to the Ringwraith, even if he had ended up in Osgiliath. He would have either attacked or run away to protect the ring.
4. Book Frodo would never have sent Sam away as they were just on the verge of entering Mordor. Their mutual respect was too well ingrained to permit such a thought.

Anyway, there are other instances where Frodo is very different between the book and the movie. Those are just a few high points.

King of the North,

Oh, boy! Don't get me started on this. :rolleyes:

I agree with you. I felt the movie presented Frodo in a wholly different light than how Tolkien approached him in the book.

For the most part I enjoyed and appreciated the movies. PJ did a fabulous job with his visual depiction of Middle-earth, and I understand the need to cut out and rearrange certain episodes in the book. What bothered me more were those instances when I felt the film "tampered with" the basic nature of the characters in the book, giving them different personalities or motivations. This was true with Faramir and Denethor, and also with Frodo Baggins.

You might want to take a look at an earlier discussion of this topic, a thread that I started several years ago called Two Frodos. For another interesting discussion on similar lines, see this review of movie Frodo.

PJ's Frodo was one-sided. PJ sketched a portrait of a victim who had little will to combat the power of the Ring, but was constantly swooning and keeling over. We never see the Frodo who made a conscious decision to stay and try to rescue his friends at the Barrowdowns or the Hobbit with "perky cheeks" who danced and sang on top of a table in the Prancing Pony. Neither do we see the Frodo who struck out with Sting against the Ringwraith at Weathertop or who escaped on Glorfindel's horse, crying out his defiance: "By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair,....you shall have neither the Ring nor me!" Instead we get the gratuitous scene at Osgiliath that really bothered me with Frodo offering the Ring to the Nazgul rider.

Equally frustrating, I found nothing in the later scenes suggesting that there was an active struggle going on inside Frodo. The side that was under the domination of the Ring was certainly growing, but so too was the other side: specifically, his growth in wisdom and understanding, and the Elven light in Frodo's eyes that Samwise commented on with such affection. Frodo was a victim in PJ's movie, pure and simple.

Frodo's relationship with Gollum is even presented in a different light. The movie Frodo's sympathies for Gollum seem to stem from a personal fear that he too could end up that way. It is a decision motivated primarily by self interest. That is not what Tolkien emphasized in his own narrative. While Tolkien was certainly aware that Frodo's own situation would have made him more aware of what Gollum had gone through, the author emphasizes morality rather than psychological motives or the desire for self preservation. The Frodo of the book grows to understand that "pity" and "mercy" must lay at the heart of our decisions. Again, in the book, the events of the Scouring emphasize Frodo's role as a peacemaker in insisting that as little blood as possible be shed. But this too is swept away, since the Scouring did not make it into the movie.


If this sounds like I "hated" the movies, I did not. I have seen the films several times in the theater and on my EE dvds. I truly enjoyed them. But I did have to accept the simple reality that PJ's fanfiction changes the characters in some rather important ways.

We live in a time when people have trouble accepting "goodness" as someone's true motive. Instead, we have anti-heroes, or good folk who are tormented by self-doubts, individuals whose actions are motivated by inner psychological struggles. For this reason, we see a conflicted Aragorn or lose the nobleness that stood at Denethor's core before the madness struck. We have a Faramir who is motivated by conflicting feelings about his father and a Frodo who is addicted to the Ring from the first moment of the movie on, in the same way that a junkie would be addicted to dope. This may make interesting film....it may even be a logical extension of some things Tolkien set down on paper. But it is not the story that Tolkien told.

wow, child of the 7th age, that was a great answer. u seem to be made for this thread.

Yes.The book Frodo is older,wiser,and braver.

That's a nice sum-up right there.

And dare I say it, Book Frodo seemed to have more blue blood in him, for a hobbit that is. There was something about his leadership that seemed saintly and superior, like he always knew what he was doing and where he was going, and if he didn't he was honest and straightforward about it.

Movie Frodo was far less regal (if I can use that word), far more ordinary.

Well, yeah. Frodo is a great character in the movies, but he is also much different in the books. In the books he seems much more... strong? I dont know, but it is always hard translating a great fantasy character onto the screen.

Interesting discussion. Frodo is definitely one of the characters who was changed the most in the book-to-movie transition.

First off, I love Movie Frodo. Despite all the differences, despite the high-pitched voice, the helplessness, the rolling eyes . . . Elijah Wood has still managed to become Frodo for me. Not to say that he enters my head every time I read the book, mind you! Through no fault of his own, he hasn't defined the character the way Ian McKellen did Gandalf (the Grey), or that Sean Astin did Sam. But he's still phenomenal, and he is Frodo.

Having said that, I must agree that Movie Frodo is radically different from Book Frodo. All his major opportunities to be heroic seem to have been taken away. The "touch and go" situation in the Barrow - gone. The confrontation with the Nazgul at the Ford of Bruinen - given to Arwen. His greatest feat of all, walking steadily down to meet the eyes of Shelob while holding the Phial of Galadriel - gone.

And of course, this Frodo trips and falls while trying to flee the five Ringwraiths on Weathertop; he trips and falls again repeatedly while trying to flee Shelob -- and he is very visibly consumed by the Ring by the time he gets to Sammath Naur.

But in spite of all that, through it all, I still see the Frodo of Bag End: "What must I do?" And again, the Frodo who makes the decision to set out alone at Parth Galen, just like in the book: "All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you."

Frodo is made a victim, yes. But not an utterly helpless or lifeless victim. He's a character that I can still genuinely like and root for and cry over, just like Sam or Aragorn or any of the others.

Beginning early in TTT, Jackson chooses to show a much quicker consumption of Frodo by the Ring than the book gives. Again, this emphasizes the power of the Ring -- a pivotal theme from the book which, all things considered, is miraculously affirmed again and again throughout the films.

Frodo is certainly made more ordinary in the films. Jackson repeatedly makes his characters more conflicted, less heroic, because he wants his audience to be able to truly relate to them. Whether that's the right way to go about it or not, I will not deign to say here.

In the end, I like Frodo. No, he's not nearly as good as in the book. What do you expect? A movie that matches the book in brilliance, beauty and majesty?

Finally, please don't refer to PJ's work as "fan fiction." This may or may not be an accurate term depending on your interpretation of the meaning of the phrase, but it hardly seems fair to a team of thousands that worked diligently for years to bring Tolkien's world to life. I don't see anything about the work of PJ or any of his team that even remotely brings "fan fiction" to mind.

I have noticed these differences as well, but I think that the differences are unavoidable. Any time you cast someone to be a certain character this actor is going to interpret the character and the way that he/she thinks is best. However, I think that although some of Frodo's more heroic moments are gone from the movies, I still believe that Elijah Wood did a fantastic job as Frodo, for me he became Frodo and as much as I try not to when I read the books and visualize what's happening in my head, I see Elijah's Frodo.