Think about it. Please.

[Sauron the White]

from Sauron the White

If you buy an award winning orange juice that is #1 in the marketplace but you do not like the taste .... I wonder where the problem really lies?

the reply from Boromir88

Certainly not with the individual who has his/her own personal tastes. I don't like wedding soup, and you can give me the opinions of 500 million people who adore wedding soup (among them several of the world's most prestigious taste testers), I still wouldn't like wedding soup...simple as that.

Oh really? The problem lies with what then? Certainly not the maker of the juice which pleases an extremely wide audience and is very profitiable for that company. Certainly not with the orange juice experts who praise it and bestow their highest awards upon it.

Of course you have a right to like or not like anything you decide to and need not justify it or explain it. Films, juice and soup included.

But then lets not pretend that everyone else is marching out of step and you are not the exception to the rule.

What you are essentially suggesting is a slave like obedience, and worship, of Peter Jackson because he directed 3 movies that millions adored and it won a lot of awards. Might as well start making robots of us all.

Not al all. Everyone is free to like or not like what they want to.

But again, look at the article that Estelyn quoted from Encyclopedia of Arda on the publics love of the movies and some book critics loathing of it:

From viewers who have never read the original books, the response seems to be almost universally positive. For those of us who know Tolkien's tales well, though, while we can certainly enjoy the movie on its own level too, it's probably true to say that there's a general sense of discomfort at its distance from the original work.

You mention wedding soup. Fine - I understand that. Allow me my comparison - Coca cola soft drink. I hate the stuff. From my first taste as a little kid all the way through my mid life, I have abhored the stuff as swill. But I do accept a few undeniable facts of reality in this world.

Coke is the most popular soft drink on the planet selling more of its product than any other in countries all aroudn the world.
It is so popular that it is the single most recognizable brand name on the planet and its logo alone is valued at several billion dollars.
This soft drink which I find terrible tasting, is loved by hundreds of millions of people who have made the company that makes it a very rich one and its stockholders very happy with their investments.

But I still do not like it.

But I accept that I am the odd duck here. I accept that I am the one marching badly out of step. I accept that my tastes in this matter are different and out of sync with the vast majority of this world.

I do not attempt to rail against the Coca cola company and their product. I do not attempt to convert anyone to my anti-coke tastes. I do not go on any crusade to destroy their good name. I do not put forth my opinions on coke centered message boards and argue with its fans about the product.

I accept reality and acknowledge my that my tastes in this matter are the thing that prevents me from enjoying a product that so very many more people love.

But alas, this is this. This is not something else. This is the movies section of a Middle-earth discussion board. Not orange juice... not wedding soup... not soft drinks. So here is the on topic question that is at the heart of all this.

Is in depth knowledge about the actual writings of JRRT a help or a handicap in appreciating the movies of Peter Jackson? There is something to ponder.