The Examples of Dumbing - Down - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

***Mister Underhill*** · 08-27-2003, 09:33 AM

Although I have some problems with the films, especially TTT, I’d personally draw a distinction between dumbing down and simplifying things for clarity’s sake. For instance, I don’t have a problem with most of the map use in the movies. If you know a better way of communicating the geography involved, I’d like to hear it. It’s quite reasonable to assume that Bilbo, a widely traveled and worldly-wise Hobbit if ever there was one, would know of Mordor and even have a map which included it. On the other hand, I do agree that the bit with Faramir and the map at Henneth Annûn was a particularly clumsy beat – especially since the filmmakers then subsequently flout geography by having Faramir, Frodo, and the others easily cross Anduin to the western half of Osgiliath, then just as easily travel back to the eastern side after Faramir “sees the light”. In my opinion, the most egregious examples of dumbing down include instances where a voice-over cue from an earlier dialogue scene is dropped in to MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER. For example, Aragorn’s memory of Gandalf’s words just before they ride out from the Hornburg.Of course, I would also include Elijah Wood’s portrayal of Frodo’s relationship with the Ring as the worst example of all. Instead of scenes with psychological complexity and subtlety, we just have a Frodo who gets woozy when the Ring’s power waxes. I would have loved to have seen a more interesting portrayal of the increasing psychological burden of the Ring, not to mention a more nuanced handling of the Frodo-Sam-Gollum triangle. The Uruks turning “northeast” was a glaring and inexplicable geographical error, but one minor correction should be observed here: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> in TTT, easterlings are coming from the west <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I’d argue that this is correct. Assuming the troops traveled the Harad Road to reach Mordor, they’d have to loop west to east around the shoulders of the Ephel Dúath to reach the Black Gate.[ August 27, 2003: Message edited by: Mister Underhill ]

08-27-2003, 09:33 AM	#10
*Mister Underhill* Dread Horseman Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Behind you! Posts: 2,744	Although I have some problems with the films, especially TTT, I’d personally draw a distinction between dumbing down and simplifying things for clarity’s sake. For instance, I don’t have a problem with most of the map use in the movies. If you know a better way of communicating the geography involved, I’d like to hear it. It’s quite reasonable to assume that Bilbo, a widely traveled and worldly-wise Hobbit if ever there was one, would know of Mordor and even have a map which included it. <P>On the other hand, I do agree that the bit with Faramir and the map at Henneth Annûn was a particularly clumsy beat – especially since the filmmakers then subsequently flout geography by having Faramir, Frodo, and the others easily cross Anduin to the western half of Osgiliath, then just as easily travel back to the eastern side after Faramir “sees the light”. <P>In my opinion, the most egregious examples of dumbing down include instances where a voice-over cue from an earlier dialogue scene is dropped in to MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER. For example, Aragorn’s memory of Gandalf’s words just before they ride out from the Hornburg.<P>Of course, I would also include Elijah Wood’s portrayal of Frodo’s relationship with the Ring as the worst example of all. Instead of scenes with psychological complexity and subtlety, we just have a Frodo who gets woozy when the Ring’s power waxes. I would have loved to have seen a more interesting portrayal of the increasing psychological burden of the Ring, not to mention a more nuanced handling of the Frodo-Sam-Gollum triangle. <P>The Uruks turning “northeast” was a glaring and inexplicable geographical error, but one minor correction should be observed here: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> in TTT, easterlings are coming from the west <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I’d argue that this is correct. Assuming the troops traveled the Harad Road to reach Mordor, they’d have to loop west to east around the shoulders of the Ephel Dúath to reach the Black Gate.<p>[ August 27, 2003: Message edited by: Mister Underhill ]