[Jessica Jade]

(ok, first some ranting again...)<BR>I loathe the fact that anyone can BLAME the media for the violence in today's society. People need to be realistic. When you see someone steal something, or murder someone, or do drugs in a movie, does that make you want to go out and do it? Of course not. A movie is a movie, it's fiction (in general), and people know to leave it at that. Bad song lyrics and violent film scenes did not MAKE those kids shoot up their schools. People who do drugs did not start doing it because they saw movie characters doing it. Eminem and his mysogynistic lyrics are not causing people to hate women or gays. <P>It's true that young people might be influenced by the media...example-the way movies and TV shows make it look "cool" to have sex, smoke, party, get drunk...and so WHAT if the movies make that kind of stuff look cool? They cannot control what you do.YOU control what you do. And everybody is responsible for their OWN actions. To all those who blame the media for all the bad stuff that happens today...they need to get a life and stop finding excuses to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions. Also, if you remove violence from movies, you still see that kind of stuff in the News everyday. It's ridiculous to try to "save" kids shielding them from TV/movie violence. That goes for all those parents who don't let their kids watch rated-R or PG-13 movies. Do they think that they are actually accomplishing anything? Of course they aren't. Not to mention the fact that the when things are forbidden, their appeal becomes stronger.<BR>I think censorship is a bunch of bull too. So what if people on TV/movies say the F-word? It's not like you don't hear that word being spoken all the time on the street, at the mall, at the movies, in public in general. You know? I think it's right to censor nudity and stuff, because that's indecent (and pornography can be dangerous) but to censor language is utterly useless.<P>{that was my extended rant for the day.}<P>As for the LOTR movie vs. the books...<BR>The book is definitly better. Don't get me wrong now- i absolutely LOVE the movie. That was what inspired me to read the books. They had been highly recommended to me by some friends, but i had not given much consideration to actually reading them due to lack of time...but i saw the movie, and could not get enough of Middle Earth. Besdies, who would be stupid enough to wait to see what happens next when the books are available? The movie is incredibly well-made (considering what a daunting task it must have been for Peter Jackson to take all that and make it into an even decent movie)-the scenery is beautiful, the storyline flows, the acting is superb, and the soundtrack is grand. It's touching and i'll admit i even cried when Gandalf "died," and when Frodo leaves for mordor alone and sam almost drowns, and other parts. But the reason i like the book better is because of the intricate descriptions...Tolkien is a genius, and i LOVE the way he writes. He has that ability to bring such a vast, harmonious world into the readers mind, down to every last detail. I have the movie script, and i occasionally read it. Although it is well written, the book is still a thousand times better. It's more gripping, touching, sad, descriptive (i especially loved Lorien and Moria), and it's altogether more complete. <P>I think that the mistake they made when making the Harry Potter movie was that they tried to bring the entire book to life on the screen. They inevitably left some holes in the plot and it was targeted mainly for those who'd read the book. The ones who hadn't read them thought the movie was kiddy and boring. LOTR, on the other hand, was a great movie in itself and could stand alone from the book. PJ knew that he could not bring the entire book to life because that would result in excessive 6-hr + movies each . So he focused on a few main aspects of the story-mainly on Frodo's journey to Mordor to destroy the ring. ..that's why they left out Tom Bombadil and the Wights and the other stuff that wasn't extremely significant to Frodo's journey. They overplayed Arwen in order to increase the dynamic of the film with a romantic love story. In the films, everything was for a purpose...Sure, they left out a lot of stuff, and it was definitly missing, but it was not missed. I think Peter Jackson did they best job that anyone could have ever done. LOTR is definitly one of my favorite movies. The books are among my list of favorites as well. I acutally think that the book and movie are two totally different things. You have the movie...and you have the book. Both are incredible and thoroughly enjoyable. If the books didn't exist, LOTR would STILL be a great movie.<P>I agree about Harry Potter...read the books and forget about the movie. As for the writing style...when Rowling wrote HP, she wanted to entertain people, and she definitly accomplishes that purpose. Sure, there is an itty bitty bit of wisdom in the books as well, but nothing compared to LOTR. Tolkien does more than entertain the readers-he touches peoples heart(yea, i know how cheesy that sounds!) I'm saying this and i haven't even finished the whole series yet--i'm on Return of the King (chapter: The Seige of Gondor)and i still haev a long way to go. Based on the things that have been hinted to me about what's yet to come in LOTR...i'm dying to get through this book. And i have a feeling that at the end of the ROTK movie, it'll be a real tearjerker-i'll probably be bawling my eyes out. Although i have heard that they are leaving out Scouring of the Shire...it wouldn't reall be complete withough that would it? Erg it really makes me mad that they're leaving it out and i dont' see how it can be good without it..but we'll see...maybe it'll still be a great ending anyway.<P>Sorry for such a long post. Thanks a million for reading