"You're sad, you are!"

[MatthewM]

Originally Posted by Hookbill the Goomba

Of course, the argument is always raised that these things (sports, celebrities etcetera) are from 'real life' and this Middle Earth is not.

So, why do we do it? The 'reality' of Middle Earth may be debatable, but we just can't stop loving it! This topic is here for us to discuss our trials and tribulations as Tolkien fans. When has a useful quote from Gandalf got you out of a tight spot? A quick "what would Bilbo do in these circumstances" given you a new way of looking at things? A Gollum riddle stumped your friends?
Do we all get a hard time from others about our supposed 'obsessive' behavior?

What a great topic! I can completely identify with being badgered by non-believers, and could go in depth about circumstances I've been in. There's been many! Just recently, actually, I was in the car with my best friend who is not a Tolkien fan. He doesn't dislike it, but he only knows the movies. Anyway, my car is decked with LotR decals such as the Leaf of Lorien, the White Tree, the One Ring script, and a Gondor sticker. He asked me what the Leaf was, and I told him it was the Leaf of Lorien. He started to laugh, saying it's funny how I treat it as if it was real. I rebuked him by saying "it was!"

Needless to say, we went on and on for the whole car ride...he kept asking me questions and when I told him the answer, he purposely messed with the way a name was pronounced, just to try and get to me (yeah, he's that type of kid). For example, "Sauron" became "Zordon", and so on. Yes he is annoying. The "real life" thing kicked in again because I tried to relate my obssesion with him. He's obsessed with hockey - the NHL. He of course used the argument, like Hookbill pointed out, that hockey is real and Middle-earth isn't. I rebuked him again by saying "that hasn't been proven yet!" And his needless badgering went on. I could think of a ton of these sorts of instances, but I'll leave it at that one. People I talk to who don't know Tolkien find it amusing that I can tell them pretty much everything about LotR and Middle-earth.

When has a useful quote from Gandalf got you out of a tight spot? A quick "what would Bilbo do in these circumstances" given you a new way of looking at things? A Gollum riddle stumped your friends?

There is hardly a time when I don't think "what would Pippin do in this situation?" or Boromir, or Aragorn, etc. And many a time I have made the right decisions based on trying to think as one of Tolkien's characters! I have also, of course, borrowed many lines from the book and the movies during conversation.

Great topic! Middle-earth is much deeper and meaningful than any non-believer could understand.

[Lush]

I was born to be a fan-girl and shall die a fan-girl. If I live to 80, I will be a fan-girl. My future grandkids can make fun of me all they want.

Some things you can't change, no matter who thinks you're sad.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

If I remember correctly my friend, Lauri's first post on the BD went something like

TheGreatElvenWarrior knows all.

or something to that effect... But coming here I notice that I am not as knowledgeable and as much of a "Tolkien geek" as other people.
But at school I usually am associated with Middle-Earth in general and have my own Middle-earth related nickname...

But my mom found "The Very Secret Diaries" (which btw I recommend not reading if you value your sanity) and my dad was reading it out loud and was pronouncing Moria, Moriah. Which made me very upset because of the fact that I seem to have found myself in the obsessive position.

I guess I was born to be obsessed with something and so I am...

[Bêthberry]

I must thank Hookbill for his thoughtful editing which provides help to those who, unaccustomed to watching television, are less adept than others at reading this dark screen.

Originally Posted by alatar

And, having visited Graceland (the house of Elvis Presley), I've realized that we all have 'something;' ours is just LotR. It's probably due to some gene.

Wait a minute! Are you comparing us to those folks at Graceland? Where do they fall in Cornell's two possibilities of interpretation, the mad consumers or the playful hunger artists?

Originally Posted by Cornell

They want to portray fans as mad consumers, people who accept everything the television [or books or whatever] gives us, without question. That's them, I'm afraid. Fandom is the culture that takes what television [or books or whatever] gives us, chops it up, laughs at it, pulls it apart, makes its own art with it, and eats it.

I had previously thought that those who Await The Return of The King are like the first kind of fans which Cornell described--"mad consumers"--but now I see that those who believe that Elvis Has Just Left The Building are more like the second kind of fan. Having never visited Graceland, I don't know which kind al is referring us to. And would there be two kinds of genes, or would one be a mutation of the other gene?

I myself daily wish that I had an ent's company in my garden. I've got a few plants that would really benefit from some ent-draught.

[Lush]

But my mom found "The Very Secret Diaries" (which btw I recommend not reading if you value your sanity)

I am a "Very Secret Diaries" fan-girl as well. Sanity is over-valued anyway. I only wish I would have been able to trade mine for Google stock back in the day.

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Wait a minute! Are you comparing us to those folks at Graceland? Where do they fall in Cornell's two possibilities of interpretation, the mad consumers or the playful hunger artists?

There is a spectrum, ranging from almost not interested to needing X more rabidly than oxygen, and we all are on it somewhere.

I had previously thought that those who Await The Return of The King are like the first kind of fans which Cornell described--"mad consumers"--but now I see that those who believe that Elvis Has Just Left The Building are more like the second kind of fan. Having never visited Graceland, I don't know which kind al is referring us to. And would there be two kinds of genes, or would one be a mutation of the other gene?

Sight unseen, I would bet that you are nothing like the fans of the King. I can only describe it as the same adoration/fanaticism that would be bestowed upon a holy person.

I went to Graceland, as might be expected, to annoy a coworker who could not stand the King or the adoration that this singer somehow evoked. Knowing that I went to Graceland just irked this person to no end. So I went, intent on playing the part of a true believer, preparing my sarcasm for others who were going under less pretenses.

In the Jungle Room, I made the statement that carpeting the walls was 'true fashion genius,' meaning, of course the exact opposite (though with the plastic jungle furniture, I guess that it did sort of work). Much to my amazement, others in the tour group agreed with my observation, though they thought it true.

The hair on my head stood up and turned white, much like my avatar.

My faked tears at the gravesite were for both the camera and to 'fit in,' as I feared for my life. People in the group were wailing at the grave as if it were a parent or child, fresh under the turves. I'm guessing that many of these people never met the King in person, and they may *at best* have attended a concert. People left notes, not only at the grave, but in any imperfection in the stone wall that surrounds the compound. Every square inch, on the wall, on the sidewalk, on the public telephone, had some message scrawled, such as, "I'll miss you, Blue Eyes."

So, to answer your question, the people I've met here may be geeked out about Tolkien, but I've never felt in fear of my life for disagreeing with dogma.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by MatthewM

Middle-earth is much deeper and meaningful than any non-believer could understand.

Hehe... too true.

Before I came to these wonderful Downs I had to be a fan "by myself", because only one person who I knew has read LOTR (or any other Tolkien books), and he didn't like to discuss it. NO ONE at my school even knew who Tolkien was! And even when I explained, they wouldn't get it for like 5 minutes. And then they'd roll their eyes and say something like "why don't you get facebook instead?" or "why don't you watch this reality show this evening instead of reading?". And one of my friends sometimes makes references to Tolkien like "the person who wrote the books that you always read".

So yeah. My Tolkien obsession is pretty much ignored by the majority of people. And the rest either disapprove or are too exasperated to say anything serious about it.