[Saraphim]

zb and Finwe, you both make excellent points. I agree with your statements out of experience. After RotK, I had many, many non-book-readers ask me why Frodo had to go into the west. That was one of the only really philosophical parts in the movie that wasn't spelled out, and about half the non-book-readers figured it out, if that!<P>Also, something I forgot to mention in my first post. The scene between Pippin and Gandalf, when Pippin asks about death. I think Jackson was indeed playing on the fact that most of the world believes that a good afterlife exists. He (most likely) based this perception on what <I>his</I> idea of the afterlife is, and thus it becomes Jackson's interpretation of Tolien's message. Tolkien, in his writings, specified that the spirits of humans (and presumably hobbits, as they are most closly related) went into the void, to "dwell with Illuvitar unto the ending of the world". this leaves quite a bit of space for interpretation, and, like I said, Jackson, either by his own person belief system, or by a calculated response to a particular scene in the film, filled that space as best he could.<BR>Thank you for listening to my ramblings again. This is a very thought-provoking discusion.<p>[ 6:34 PM January 22, 2004: Message edited by: Saraphim ]