[Erulasto]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Erulasto, I don't want your pity. I do not have a small, unimportant life, nor does anyone else here at the Downs. It is fine that you liked the movie. I could say that I pity you for that, but I don't.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>You pity me for getting delight from something? It doesn't work that way, I'm afraid. I pity the people who were disappointed by the movie, who are angered by it, who feel that they have to go out and rant about how bad it was. I wish they could have seen the magic that I did. I have something more than you - I have the book, AND the movie. I wish you did too.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. AS IS EVERYONE ELSE! We all come here to post our thoughts without trying to hurl insults at each other. Please be aware of that and try not to do it. Thanks! (and we don't yell - we type loudly)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I'm sorry, but I find the tone of some of the people bashing the movie to be less than civil. If you spew vitriol, don't be afraid of getting a little back.<P>Everyone has a right to their opinions, and here's one of mine: If you don't have anything nice to say, perhaps it's best to be quiet. If you like the book, praise the book. If you like the movie, praise the movie. If you HATE the movie, perhaps it's best to not ramble about how badly it sucks nearly two months after it came out? See, when you say something NEGATIVE about something, there's a good chance you're bashing something that another person likes, if not loves. If you really have to say 'the movie is a despicable insult', then be prepared for the backlash. I think I was more than civil in my previous posts.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>As far as finally walking in ME goes, I feel that way each time I read LotR. I didn't need a movie to make me feel that way.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I don't believe you. Seeing Hobbiton or Edoras or Orthanc in full technicolor glory on a giant screen is NOT the same as imagining it. If people could imagine that well, restaurants and bars would go out of business, as people would sit at home and <I>imagine</I> a filet mignon with sauteed mushrooms with capers and a nice merlot. The reason I love the books is because Middle-Earth FEELS like a real place. In a half-serious, clichéd way, yes, you're right. In reality, you feel, but I feel AND see.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>How could you not care about the details of the narrative? I love his works because of the details of his narrative. Without the details it would just be another story of Good vs. Evil. Tolkien spent years of his life creating the details of not only LotR, but the history of Middle Earth. What on ME would you say his "magic" was?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>That is exactly the reason why I love the book, as well as the movie. But you seem concerned with the details themselves, and not what they amount to - a living, breathing world with a past, present, and future. Faramir behaving differently is not a major enough change to do any damage to the sum of Tolkien's details. The magic of Tolkien is conveyed in the movies, even though some things happen differently, the world IS Middle-Earth. Compare this to Bakshi's travesty, which followed the PLOT, but completely and utterly destroyed the WORLD, with the Seleborns and the men in skirts and the rainbow-emitting Nenya.<P>It is far more important that hobbits smoke pipeweed and that their doors are round and that legal documents must be signed in RED ink, than how Merry and Pippin happened to join Frodo.<P>It is far more important that Narsil exists than when exactly Aragorn gets it.<P>It is far more important that elves bake lembas than their appearance or non-appearance at Helm's Deep.<P>It is more important that <I>simbelmynë</I> grows on the tombs of the Eorlings than what Théoden behaves like.<P>Get what I mean?<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>It's not important to "slavishly" follow the books. It is important to follow them enough that the book is recognizable on screen. The TTT was hardly that. The storyline was mutated to the point of absudirty, in my humble opinion. I am not going into a diatribe about all the changes (Faramir, Treebeard, the Elves at Helms Deep....). They have been discussed elswhere.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>And what I'm saying is that it DOES NOT MATTER. Frodo, Sam, and Gollum are going towards Shelob, and Mordor. Isengard was attacked by the Ents. Gandalf freed the King of Rohan from the influence of Wormtongue and Saruman. Merry and Pippin are going to meet Gandalf, Théoden, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli at Isengard. The Orcs were defeated at Helm's Deep. Why does it matter that a small force of Elves came to support Rohan (more importantly Elessar)? Why does it matter that Faramir behaved differently? They are plot details, and they are hardly important enough to spoil the story, unless you consider Tolkien's text to be scripture, and that alteration is heresy.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>I think that's all I'm going to say, for now. I have a headache.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Not because of me, I hope.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Just remember, play nice and keep your posts insult-free. <BR>Thanks.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I'm aiming more for sarcasm than insults. The purpose of this is to get my points across. Try not to take anything personally, as nothing is meant as such.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>I think that Lostgaeriel was referring to the script changes that were mentioned in her (his? sorry ) post. Please read it again, carefully. No one is asking for a literal interpretation. We would just like to see the characters potrayed the way Tolkien intended. Not "Hollywooded" into mere shadows of themselves.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Please read my second post again. I know full well what Lostgaeriel was referring to, the entire point of my post was to illustrate that to call PJ's changes 'destroying the essence of the book' is blowing things WAY out of proportion. Faramir was different, the ents a touch thick, elves showed up at the Hornburg, there was a brief battle with Warg riders on the way to Helm's Deep.<P>Details. Details which aren't nearly as important to the story as some claim. You cannot OBJECTIVELY state that the 'essence' of the story is destroyed, unless Peter Jackson gives you a movie in which Aragorn kills Theoden and annexes Rohan, Treebeard eats Merry and Pippin, Faramir takes the Ring and melts it into earrings, Orthanc is turned into an office complex, and Gollum opens a chipshop in Bree with Sam Gamgee. Or something even 10% as drastic as that.<P>These movies are NOT an insult to a wonderful book, they are a testament to the magic of Tolkien. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect these movies to be as wildly popular as they are, while staying as faithful to the books as they have. And by faithful I mean the meticulous details of the WORLD, not the STORY.<P>The story exists already, unspoiled, untouched, in the 1000+ pages of the book we all love. Consider the movies to be illustrations. They aren't meant to replace the story any more than the paintings on the covers are.<P>(edit=typos, grammar)<p>[ February 17, 2003: Message edited by: Erulasto ]