Gandalf Vs. The Witch King

[St. Povis]

You are entirely right, of course. It is futile to get upset about it. Its almost as silly to get upset about the people who get upset in the first place. Truth in my eyes: Its just what it is. Gandalf, for a lot of people I think is almost like grandfather figure. Certain types of people grow to love him in the books because of his bravery. His mere presence bolsters morale. Some people focus more on other characters. For instance, The Witch King. Some people have an admiration for the Dark threads of Sauron. Some people think its just plain stupid to invest so much of one's self into a story. Who cares? It takes all kinds, doesn't it? I don't expect that everyone here will agree with me, anymore than I expect people to expect me to agree with them. I can see your point, but, in truth, my blood pressure didn't sail through the roof, and, so far I can tell, I'm in no danger of a heart attack or stroke as a result of having witnessed this movie. Haldir's death is irritating to me for no other reason than that it deviates from the book.

Tom Bombadil: Well, can't say that his character touched me much when I read about him the first time around. In fact, I think the first time I read it, I must have drifted off into other thoughts while reading about it, because when I picked it up for the second time, I had no memory of him at all. None. It was like a totally new character which put a whole new spin on the book. I read the books in 5th and 6th grade (thereby dooming me to my nerd-dom, if there's anything to 'formative years' theories). But re-reading and then discovering his charater added a totally new dimension to the experience. I can almost equate with some of the reasons I imagine Jackson to not want to 'go there', so it doesn;t frustrate me all that much.

Now, the other scenes just don't hit people like myself (Remember, even being one in a million still means there are at least 61/2 thousand out there exactly like you) with the same strength. Its like watching your grandpa get his *** kicked in a subway or something. Maybe not as traumatizing, but still an unpleasant experience for those with the emotional investment in his character. I'm sure Gandalf isn;t the only one with fanatics.

Face it, Tolkein's work touches people in ways that most contemporary pieces of literature do not. I don't expect you to understand, or even to want to understand. IT just irked a lot of us because of all the things that Big G stands for to them.

Well, sorry if its too long a read, I usually can't help but to be verbose, especially when I'm trying to give someone a quality answer, and one that they asked for.

[The Only Real Estel]

You are entirely right, of course

Bah. I am never entirely right. I only hope to occasionaly make sense & maybe hit somewhere close to the X that marks 'right'.

It is futile to get upset about it. Its almost as silly to get upset about the people who get upset in the first place

Ah, if that is how I came across you have my sincerest apologies. I was neither upset at you, nor even particularly upset at any of your post, just a bit puzzled as to the considerable emotion behind it.

I can see your point, but, in truth, my blood pressure didn't sail through the roof, and, so far I can tell, I'm in no danger of a heart attack or stroke as a result of having witnessed this movie

Good, good. I was only using it as a figure of speech. Still, I remember a year ago or so when I was posting on TTT Movie Faramir; I don't think I could quite swear my blood pressure was at normal levels all the time .

Its like watching your grandpa get his *** kicked in a subway or something. Maybe not as traumatizing, but still an unpleasant experience for those with the emotional investment in his character

I don't expect you to understand, or even to want to understand. IT just irked a lot of us because of all the things that Big G stands for to them

That explains it to me better, thank you . And I also do understand, at least to a point, your emotions & your frustration with Jackson here. I'm sure I felt much the same thing at a different time--when Frodo sent Sam away. Different parts of the movie touch/irk different people in many different ways, that is certainly a fact of life.

I suppose what I've been trying to say in the last two posts is this in a nutshell:

Everyone has characters that he or she might feel more attached to than others, & everyone will be more upset at times than others. Thank God we are not all carbon-copies of eachother, life would be so boring! But I learned through my old Faramir posts that it is much better (IMO) to discuss dissatisfaction with characters & subplots in a cooler manner, no matter how annoying or personal the change might be.

[St. Povis]

Well I sincerely hope I didn't sound like a snot or anything, its tough to nail down who you're speaking to in a forum. If I came off as 'sassy' or nasty to you, I ask your pardon. I'm told I can be testy at times, and my sense of humor tends to walk the shadows into darker territory. I really do apologize if I came off as sounding off at you. In any case, that's my two cents, in a nutshell.


P.S. Amen to your 'carbon copy' sentiment!