The Tolkien Coming of Age Club

[Alatáriël Lossëhelin]

For that (seemingly rather small) subset of Barrow-Downers who are interested in prayer and in Tolkien both, I think it's appropriate to pray that the actors absorb the very best of their characters and take that with them. Readers have that golden opportunity, hopefully the actors are not denied it by their own attitudes or by anything else, but with open heart and mind, recieve the very best that Tolkien's work has to offer each of them.

We're not that small a subset. I hope that these individuals take the opportunity to study these works that they've been involved in & retain some of the traits of their character in their future lives. I don't know what any of the actor's religious beliefs are, but as our "subset" celebrates the Resurrection, I hope that the friendships made during the filming and their experiences in living in Middle-Earth bring them to a closer understanding of our Creator.

So many sense a challenge, or a call, to something higher in the professor's Legendarium, and so many do respond heartily. My highest hopes of seeing that manifested among the actors lie in Wood and Astin, for a number of reasons; but I do hope that for them all, and think that many others will to some degree. Far from it being beyond their reach, I think Tolkien by his art makes the possibility accessable.

Maybe they won't be as obsessed as the average BD'er, but the possibility is there.