Frodo v's Elijah

[Lyta_Underhill]

Also, in regards to my Weathertop "Waaa!" comment, to be more concise, in the books I never saw Frodo as anything other than a Hobbit, and would say that his 'voice' was always that of an adult. In the movie, however, in that particular scene (and elsewhere) I hear the hysterical cry of a child, so instead of thinking Hobbit, I think child. Couple this with PJ's belittling (sorry) of the Little Folk, and I don't see Frodo being in charge of his own fate.

I seem to recall a scene in the book from near Weathertop when Frodo is panicking in a manner reminiscent of what some here might term a "Waaa!" reaction. I don't have the books handy, but I can tell you Frodo was NOT composed or showing his older and wiser nature at this point! Also, I noticed all the hobbits voices seemed somewhat higher pitched than the humans' . I wondered about it at the time, thinking Billy Boyd had a particularly high voice, but I put it down to the shortening of vocal chords in a smaller statured humanoid being and thought no more of it. OK, I forgot Billy Boyd was human, and not Pippin the Hobbit, OK? Same with Elijah...but, as mark12_30 says so concisely above, he is not an identical copy of the printed page Frodo Baggins. I think every character suffers from this "shortening," but I can't bring myself to believe that the abridgment of Frodo Baggins makes Elijah less of an apt personification of the character in the context of the film. The Middle Earth of the movies is abridged, shortcuts taken, subtleties lost.

But I think that Frodo of the movies is no more or less a master of his fate than Tolkien's Frodo. They are both in the same boat. They both make the same decisions when those decisions are shown. (Keep in mind that I just assume they went through the Barrowdowns and saw old Tom, even if this wasn't shown!) It does not matter whether Frodo stabbed at the Witch King's feet and invoked Elbereth when we are considering large plot points. It would have made the character richer, but it was not included for one reason or another. In the end, any representation of the character of Frodo Baggins other than Tolkien's will fall short or at least be different enough to lend credence to the argument that it is a different character. Elijah Wood is not Frodo Baggins. But he does a good enough job of invoking the spirit of Mr. Baggins in many (but not all!) particulars to allow me to suspend disbelief and forgive him a few missteps. I remain indebted to the movie for making me go back and re-read the books and for opening my eyes to things I never considered when I first read them (but which had lain dormant in my attic-like brain all the same!)


Cheers!
Lyta