Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Form
In any event, you seem to be taking "seductive" a bit too literally. It is not my intent to suggest that Smaug or Glaurung has a greater sexual appeal to the reader (or other characters) than Lúthien. Seduction is not, of course, a term limited in its usage purely to sexual matters. By seductive here, I was meaning the ability to draw the reader in, to fascinate the reader, to make the reader like the character despite his/her "real life" dislike for anything the character would actually be in the real world.
|
Indeed. 'Desire' can cover all manner of things, not just sex. I know what Tolkien meant about profoundly desiring Dragons - you do not want them living next door to you and burning your house down, but this doesn't stop you from finding them utterly awesome and fantastic (in oh so many ways!) and wishing that somehow they really could exist in this world with us. Ever noticed how many kids love dinosaurs and other huge beasts? It's the same thing - awe. The film Reign of Fire, which is not one of the best things around, there is a scene in it which just has to be watched over and over again - when this ridiculously monstrous dragon just sits back on his haunches and annihilates Leicester with one firey blast. It's cool. Simple as. Now I don't want Leicester destroying, oh no, as tgwbs lives there (although any wandering, homeless dragons are quite welcome to nest in L**ds or in the environs of Richard Branson's house if they wish
)! But in the film this is just jaw-droppingly awesome.
It's monsters. They are bigger and badder than us. They are scary yet beautiful. If you wanted to write a fantasy with all the elements in place you'd have to get a Dragon in there. I'm enjoying ITV's shockingly good (shocking because ITV are usually crud) Saturday 'monster drama' Primeval which features all kinds of awesome monsters, and waiting for the next series of Doctor Who with the Daleks, Cybermen, etc, and another series of Torchwood with it's Weevils and evil faeries. Plus hopefully another series of Robin Hood with it's deliciously evil bad guys. TV makers have cottoned on to the fact that we like things like this, because they're just so much more exciting than the 'reality' stuff that's churned out! I don't care if some kid from Doncaster can sing well or not, I want Monsters and baddies!