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I think it does further the impression that Tolkien's books are nothing but fun escapism for teenage boys. The LoTR films already did this, and I get tired of hearing intellectual types dismiss books they haven't read while the rest say "I loved the movie, but I couldn't get through the first chapter in the book. It was so boring!" In both cases, people who don't know Tolkien at all are running around claiming they do.
Now we're up for another round of that, along with "Lonely Mountain" ice cream sundaes at diners and terrible Hobbit puns in every paper for the next three years. I'm really looking forward to it.
Not to say I don't find things to enjoy in these movies, but I do think they misrepresent the books. Book fans who start as movie fans seem quite rare (even if we tend to collect them here).
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