Well, can beauty only mean youthful appearance? Cannot an older woman still be beautiful? I know several who have striking bonelines and wise eyes and radiant skin (not from cosmetics
) and who can walk with presence into a room and turn men's heads.
There are several reasons why I am disappointed with the casting of Blanchett. All of them derive from my reading of Galadriel in the book and in Tolkien's Letters, so bear with me for a bit, okay? And I recognise that Tolkien's ideas about Galadriel changed over the years, as he moved from initial idea of rebellious young elf to a situation which suggests or recalls the veneration of Mary.
Galadriel is a very old elf. In letter #144, to Naomi Mitchison, Tolkien wrote:
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Galadriel is as old, or older than Shelob. She is the last remaining of the Great among the High Elves, and 'awoke' in Eldamar beong the Sea, long before Ungoliante came to Middle-earth and produced her broods there....
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In terms of the history of the Legendarium, this is thousands upon thousands of years. From the beginning of the First Age to end of the Third Age is approximately 7000 years, and before that, the Years of the Trees covered approximately 14,000 years. Galadriel was born during the Years of the Trees, when Valinor was lit by the light of the Two Trees, before the Simarils were forged and captured the last remant of that light, and when Middle-earth was still in darkness without the sun and moon. This is one very long-lived lady.
This is how Tolkien conceived of her in retrospect (Letter # 348, written in 1973):
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Galadriel [the name] .. is in Sindarin form ... and means 'Maiden crowned with gleaming hair'. It is a secondary name given to her in her youth in the far past because she had long hair which glistened like gold but was also shot with silver. She was then of Amazon disposition and bound up her hair as a crown when taking part in athletic feats.
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Earlier, in 1971, Tolkien wrote (Letter # 32):
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I was particularly interested in your remarks about Galadriel ... I think it is true that I owe much of this character to Christian and Catholic teaching and imagination about Mary, but actually Galadriel was a penitent: in her youth a leader in the rebellion against the Valar (the angelic guardians). At the end of the First Age she proudly refused forgiveness or permission to return. She was pardoned because of her resistance to the final and overwhelming temptation to take the Ring for herself.
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Even granting the contradictory statements which Tolkien makes, as he rewrites her character into the larger framework of the Legendarium, we are still left with a woman of great age, who has 'seen' all the major battles of destruction and wars with Melkor and Sauron. She has grown from fiery, rebellious youth to eminently wise and knowing elder. She rules a people and a land.
For me, all of this translates into an image of at least a middle-aged if not older appearance. I wanted to see some of the wisdom of the ages in her eyes and face, the sad, sorry great grief of the elves.
And elves do age. We are told, in the chapter "The Grey Havens", when the ring bearers arrive at the Havens they are greeted by Cirdan:
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Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars.
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Cirdan's dates, to the best of my knowledge (I don't have HoME 10 yet and am going by the summary of it in the Encyclopedia of Arda, which is not always reliable) are lost in time, but he, like Galadriel, was born during the Years of the Trees or possibly awoke at Cuiviénen. They are of the same age.
And Galadriel is Elrond's mother in law. Why or how should she look younger than he? Or are elven females not subject to the same aging process as elven males?
This is not to say that my vision of Galadriel is the correct one or that anyone else's happiness with Blanchett is wrong. I think Peter Jackson clearly was appealing to his audience in his depiction of the women of LOTR. He wanted young, youthful looking women who would appeal to the demographic the movie is pitched at. (This works, also, I think, in the choice of Bloom and the hobbit actors.) He wanted medievalish visions of fair and beautiful ladies. Fair enough.
But I was hoping for a Galadriel whose strength and poise and presence could match that of Gandalf's and still be beautiful. What I got was a fairy princess dressed in delicate lace, a gown symbolisng a kind of perpetual prom night or confirmation or wedding. I wanted to see the Mary who grieves at the cross. I didn't get her.