Serving animals in HOBBIT film

[Sauron the White]

Outside of the independent rich the vast vast majority of us needs cash for all kinds of various purposes. Tolkien was no better or no worse in that regard. We all have to pay our taxes and our bills. I still wonder about the ethics of selling somebody something which you feel is actually worthless and which cannot be actualized or realized.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

However, whether Tolkien sold the film rights eagerly, or only when forced by circumstances, is entirely relevant to the question as to whether, given his druthers, he wanted to see film adaptations made.

[Morwen]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

Outside of the independent rich the vast vast majority of us needs cash for all kinds of various purposes. Tolkien was no better or no worse in that regard. We all have to pay our taxes and our bills. I still wonder about the ethics of selling somebody something which you feel is actually worthless and which cannot be actualized or realized.

As long as you're not misrepresenting the nature of what you're selling, what does it matter if you personally regard it is worthless?

[Sauron the White]

However, whether Tolkien sold the film rights eagerly, or only when forced by circumstances, is entirely relevant to the question as to whether, given his druthers, he wanted to see film adaptations made.

He eagerly cashed the check and spent the money knowing full well what he was doing of his own free will and with a sound mind. He said he would go for art or cash and he selected cash. He knew that the deal he entered into gave away the film rights to both THE HOBBIT and LOTR in perpetuity and allowing him no involvement or say of any kind. His sale of the film rights, under the terms he entered into freely, gave the holders, and in turn Peter Jackson, the right to make any changes he saw fit with the full authorization and approval of JRRT.

Given the tremendous increase in the sales of LOTR over the past six years, I am reasonably confident that - had the Professor been alive now - he would have a very broad smile upon his face every time he cashed a royalty check for book sales that were many times what he had been used to. The movies would have put a smile on his face, a skip in his step and a song in his heart. The movies would have given him millions of reasons to celebrate their success.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

He said he would go for art or cash and he selected cash.

Please reread my post above- don't confuse the "Art or Cash" era with the situation ten years later.

When the Earl of Fluteney is forced by confiscatory taxation to make over his ancestral home to the National Trust, does that mean he wanted to do it? Of course not. If it were up to him he'd continue living there, and pass it in turn to his son. Don't claim that a decision taked under duress is voluntary, any more than signing that contract with Luca Brazzi's gun to your temple.

[Sauron the White]

With all due respect sir, that is a huge line of malarkey. JRRT darn well knew the laws of paying taxes since he had been doing it for some time. Nobody .... nobody .... nobody forced him to sell his film rights.

Please tell me why his LETTERS do not apply? He clearly said art or cash? If anything, what had changed is that he became even more concerned about cash in his waning years and cared less about the art side of the issue.

Quite frankly I do not give a hoot about some Earl or Baron or upper crust landed piece of royalty and their tax problems. Must be tough to sell off a few thousand acres of something you inherited and never worked for a day in your life to purchase. I could not care less about that.

JRRT was a college professor who had the advice of his publisher and access to legal advice and assistance. His LETTERS clearly and without any doubt state what his choices were and he acted of his own free will like any citizen.

Lets face it, we all know that the power of the government could come down upon us if we do not obey the laws be it taxation or anything else. Why is JRRT any different than the common person? Answer: he is not.

Perhaps you believe that the upper classes or the better people have more rights and should get more benefits than us uncouth mouth breathers? If so, I have no sympathy with that elitist attitude.

JRRT was of sound mind and body when he signed that films rights contract. He needed money. Big deal. We all do. And we all do what we have to do to meet our legal obligations. That is not duress or force. Its called real life and being a man without whining about it.

[Aiwendil]

Sauron the White: I think you may have missed the point.

The argument was this: The fact that JRRT needed the money and thus sold the film rights doesn't mean that he gave up the right to have an opinion on future adaptations. As indeed his reaction to the Zimmerman script shows.

[Sauron the White]

Aiwendil said

The fact that JRRT needed the money and thus sold the film rights doesn't mean that he gave up the right to have an opinion on future adaptations.

Of course one always has the right to their opinion. Unless one signs a contract with a clause that demands their silence, an opinion is free and interfers with nobody else or their rights or property. I imagine one could argue that one sells total rights to someone else and cashes the check and spends the money, decency and propriety may demand that you take a low profile regarding the other persons exercising of their rights. After all, you did sign the deal and give them complete control in perpetuity. But that is a matter of individual decision.

I think Hemingway had it right. He said that the best way to sell a book to a film studio was on an otherwise deserted beach at midnight. The author tosses the book towards the producer while he in turn tosses a briefcase filled with cash to the author. Then the two never bother each other again.