I don't think the movies ruined the books. As some people said, the movies were what made me want to read the books, and they opened up a whole world for me. Certainly the books are better (isn't that always the case?), but the movies are great as an interpretation of them. There are a great deal of things I wish had been put in the movie (
SCOURING OF THE SHIRE!!!
) but I'm not going to go ballistic over it.
Hopefully the rabid fangirls will soon evaporate and we'll be left clutching our copies of the books (and for some of us, the EE DVDs) and we shall all be in peace.