Movie Characters Revisited: Frodo

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Too passive, and too young.

Frodo was, in the books, definitely older, wiser, and as CT puts it, "more long-headed" than the other hobbits. It's no accident at all that Tolkien made him the same age as Bilbo was at the time of his adventure, 50: a middle-aged bachelor getting set in his ways.

Movie-Frodo comes across as a teenage emo.

[Mithalwen]

I shall now mentally bracket Frodo with a character in my second most beloved book series... Nicholas Forsyte who was a long-headed fellow..

[Rhod the Red]

I'm very biased because I have the hots for Elijah.

If the scripting was better, more book-accurate, he'd have performed better, IMO. Elijah had the perfect Hobbit 'look'. Because of the scripting though they made Sam look older and more mature, grr.

When it came to 'crowd control' of the Hobbit group up until they meet Strider, Frodo is meant to be in charge. Instead it's like they're a bunch of uncontrolled troublemakers. Yes, with say Pippin, they ARE. But all are quite mature and show a lot of it before they reach Bree in the book.

Obviously it can be a positive storyline factor in a way in a movie to help stick a memory about Hobbits as sort of free, fun-lovers. But to the point of recklessness? That's not so. Hobbits don't like adventures or public misbehaviour, etc. So while on one had it's okay to show them as playful, like when Frodo & Sam are intercepted at Maggot's crop field on the other they seemed a little to childish.

And Sam gives the order "Get off him!" He grabs Shire aristocrats to pull them off Frodo, I mean talk about uncharacteristic class-insubordination Sam would never do!

2 days ago I listened to a very fascinating interview with Elijah by a radio station. I like him a lot, very smart, mature, etc. He wasn't able to show much of it in the film so....I blame the scripting more than anything else.

[Pervinca Took]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Too passive, and too young.

Frodo was, in the books, definitely older, wiser, and as CT puts it, "more long-headed" than the other hobbits. It's no accident at all that Tolkien made him the same age as Bilbo was at the time of his adventure, 50: a middle-aged bachelor getting set in his ways.

Movie-Frodo comes across as a teenage emo.

Heartily agree - but who is CT - Christopher Tolkien?

[Galadriel55]

I also very much agree with that.

Originally Posted by Pervinca Took

Heartily agree - but who is CT - Christopher Tolkien?

Yup. CT, CJRT, Christopher Tolkien - all one and the same.

[Pervinca Took]

Thanks, Galadriel55

I hadn't heard the term "long-headed" before. But I've googled for its definition and I'd say it fits Frodo pretty well:-

"long-headed - definition of long-headed by the Free Online ...
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/long-headed
long·head·ed also long-head·ed (lông h d d, l ng -). adj. 1. Anthropology Dolichocephalic. 2. Foresighted; wise. long-headed. adj. astute; shrewd; sagacious ... "