A HUGE problem with Bombadil's removal.

Hmm,<P>I was a whiter than white purist when I first heard about the films. I could never in my wildest imaginations concieve that it was possible to do justice to a work I had worshipped for 20+ years. <P>When I heard that Tom was missing in action I was locked in a small room under the stairs by my family because of the madness that took me. When I heard rumblings about elf-warrior Arwen I ran naked around my garden when the temperature was -5 just to cleanse the rancid thought from my head. Peter Jackson by god!!! Damn his eyes, damn his duckpond.<P>I boycotted any site related to the film. <P>Then quite by chance I saw my first image from the film. It was of a Black Rider. I said to myself that this was how I had first pictured them in my head all those years ago when I first read the marvellous tome. Then it kind of snowballed from there. So many of the images I have seen sent shivers of delight down my spine. They were exactly how I imagined them to be. Then I was taken by the casting. The boy Wood especially in the trailers I think is great as our reluctant hero. Even my hero Aragorn whom I thought was uncastable seems to be working. <P>For me it comes down to this. I may hate the fact the Tom is not there, I may hate the changes to the texts, I may hate Arwen Swordmaiden with such a sick, twisted passion which is not healthy, but ultimately I cannot pass up the chance to visit and see places and peoples who I have loved for so many years. <P>On a more practical note, sacrifices had to be made. It would be impossible to exactly replicate the book. I imagine some of the Newline bosses must have near croaked as it was with a 3 hour running time.