[Essex]

Alatar, re

Originally Posted by alatar

Me and many other people I know that consider Merry and Pippin's behaviour weird, excessive and/or smarmy.

But the whole story arc for these two was that they 'grew.' We saw even Pip take responsibility and care for Merry. Now we have these two narcissists hogging Frodo. If you must bounce and hug Frodo so be it, but get it out of your system and give the others a chance (can you imagine eight persons on the bed doing the same thing?

.....I cannot have the bouncy beans take a chill pill as that's what they (the actors) I guess wanted to do.

....Do we really need Merry and Pippin to be so excessive in their joy (I'm suddenly thinking of excited dogs, but won't go there) when we have so much more said in a simple look?

....It works without bouncing on a bed.

Let's take a look at what Book Sam felt when he woke up.

But Sam lay back, and stared with open mouth, and for a moment, between bewilderment and great joy, he could not answer. At last he gasped: 'Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What's happened to the world?'
'A great Shadow has departed,' said Gandalf, and then he laughed and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count. It fell upon his ears like the echo of all the joys he had ever known. But he himself burst into tears. Then, as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed.
'How do I feel?' he cried. 'Well, I don't know how to say it. I feel, I feel' – he waved his arms in the air – 'I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!'

So Sam can have these 'exsessive' and joyous thoughts, so why not Pippin and Merry? They went through a fair bit too, let's be honest.

Therefore, I don't see Pipin and Merry's joy being neither weird, excessive nor smarmy!

PS - I didn't realise Jackson took Gandalf's laugh from the book as well. Well Done. (well, ok it was for Sam not Frodo, but I can forgive him that)