Dumbing it down

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

That irks me a little. When people praise Legolas for killing Grima, the awful baddie, that helped Saruman.

The thought came to me reading this that when I read the book, I feel sorry for Wormtongue. I couldn't stand to be around him, but I feel sorry for him when the company meets him on their way to Rivendell, and he has to continue following Saruman and receiving his abuse. Horrible as it was, I pitied Grima when Saruman tells us he killed Lotho. I can understand Gandalf's contempt for him, certainly, but I can also see how he might have wanted to throw the palantir at Saruman, and not Gandalf.

But in the movie, that was lost, I felt no pity for Grima. He became more one-dimensional. He became just an ugly traitor. He lost all elements of being a victim. We feel that he gets what he deserves at the end.