First look at Evangeline Lilly in 'The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug'

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I am not against feminism, but I dislike over-the-top demonstrations of the phenomenon (Agan will now for sure beat me with a banana when we meet in the indefinite future )

Heck, I am an outrageous over the top demonstration of everything I am, including feminism, and I will only beat you with a banana if you don't like me because of it.

Still, I doubt Tauriel was written from a feminist perspective entirely. I feel Mith is right when she says Tauriel isn't there for the girls. Us women, we have got used to relating to male characters because women aren't available - that's not the problem. But can straight men watch a film without a hot heroine to entertain romantic thoughts about? The movie industry thinks not.

Again, I'm unwilling to pass judgment yet, but if Tauriel, who is 'slightly reckless and totally ruthless and doesn’t hesitate to kill' only has a harsh exterior, and all it takes to warm her up and help her solve those dassy issues is a whiff of testosterone, you will know she wasn't there for the ladies.

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Would everybody be carrying on nearly so much at the addition of “a shallow desperate fighter” who was a male? (Note that technically the “shallowness” is still an assumption, though probably a safe one.)

I don't think there was much of a fuss about Figwit, or Lindir if you prefer, even though it wasn't exactly necessary for him to have a name or lines. We don't complain (much) about Lurtz replacing Uglúk, or any of PJ's other original characters that I just read about on Wikipedia.

While I certainly have my doubts about Tauriel, as I have pointed out, I feel a lot of the hate comes down to her being a woman. She seems off primarily because there are no women in The Hobbit, and when you're uncomfortable with something, it's easy to come up with excuses for why she's a baaaad character. Mind you, I am by no means implying anyone is misogynistic for not liking her (even if there's also evidence of that on the internet) - it's just something I feel needs saying. Especially as all we actually know about her is how she looks (also, would we be paying so much attention to a male character's looks?) and a couple of little things.