Will The Hobbit do damage to the books?

[Mister Underhill]

My usual reaction to this question used to be, "Damage the book? How could it? It's right there on my shelf, same as it ever was."

I think that mindset comes from the pre-internet days. As a young Tolkien fan I read and re-read TH and LotR, but I didn't really have anybody to talk about them with. Whatever I thought of a particular movie adaptation really only affected me. Fandom was a much more personal experience.

Along comes the internet, suddenly there's a virtual community -- well, actually more like a number of (sometimes) overlapping communities. And I think really the question now is about how movie adaptations affect the conversation about a particular story, and along what kind of timeline. Right now, today, if you are talking to someone and you both declare that you are fans of The Hobbit, some clarification is in order. You might be fans of two fairly radically different things.

Probably at some point there were (still are?) Hobbit fans who despaired over revisions that altered their favorite story, and for whom the Lord of the Rings sequels were unwanted and unnecessary. "Middle-earth is so dark and depressing and mundane now!" Some of us original Star Wars fans have undergone such a sea-change within our lifetimes.

The real questions, for me, are, "How are the movies affecting the conversations I am having about Tolkien right now?" and with thoughts of my son in mind, "How will they affect those conversations going forward?"

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

The real questions, for me, are, "How are the movies affecting the conversations I am having about Tolkien right now?" and with thoughts of my son in mind, "How will they affect those conversations going forward?"

My own observation is that in this world, with its relentless drive for 'efficiency' and technology, reading is fast becoming an anachronism.
Of course, there are still those who enjoy quiet time with a book (and I daresay this forum is rife with them), but especially with the millennial generation and beyond, my fear is that PJ's films will in time become what the majority thinks of when they hear 'hobbit'.
Those of us who would like to put on the brakes a bit, at least in our own lives, can do what we can to transmit our love of reading to our offspring. I think I've made some progress with mine, though I've yet to convince her to read any Tolkien. Then again, she's just 10, so there's hope.

At the core of it, I don't think it's the movies themselves I deplore, but the seeming idea that they and boring, old-fashioned, CGI-less books simply cannot share a stage indefinitely, and that one or the other will fall by the wayside. My money is not on the books to win out. But as Gandalf said, ours isn't to master the tides of the world, but to do our part in our own small way.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

My own observation is that in this world, with its relentless drive for 'efficiency' and technology, reading is fast becoming an anachronism.
Of course, there are still those who enjoy quiet time with a book (and I daresay this forum is rife with them), but especially with the millennial generation and beyond, my fear is that PJ's films will in time become what the majority thinks of when they hear 'hobbit'.
Those of us who would like to put on the brakes a bit, at least in our own lives, can do what we can to transmit our love of reading to our offspring. I think I've made some progress with mine, though I've yet to convince her to read any Tolkien. Then again, she's just 10, so there's hope.

At the core of it, I don't think it's the movies themselves I deplore, but the seeming idea that they and boring, old-fashioned, CGI-less books simply cannot share a stage indefinitely, and that one or the other will fall by the wayside. My money is not on the books to win out. But as Gandalf said, ours isn't to master the tides of the world, but to do our part in our own small way.

As much as I hate to cite this as an example, but I think the frenzy surrounding George R.R. Martin's books might provide something of a rebuttal to your point about the ultimate fate of books.

Yes, we are adrift in a sea of idiots, but in many respects we always have been.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

As much as I hate to cite this as an example, but I think the frenzy surrounding George R.R. Martin's books might provide something of a rebuttal to your point about the ultimate fate of books.

Yes, we are adrift in a sea of idiots, but in many respects we always have been.

Well, I hope you're right.

I don't know anyone personally outside this forum who is into the Martin books, and few who are even generally as avid a reader as I.

You do see fandoms around book series like Twilight and The Hunger Games, but those seem more like purpose-designed commercial products rather than enduring works of literature. It's just hard to see a future in which books hold their own against high-tech, instant gratification entertainment.

[Tar-Jêx]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

You do see fandoms around book series like Twilight and The Hunger Games, but those seem more like purpose-designed commercial products rather than enduring works of literature. It's just hard to see a future in which books hold their own against high-tech, instant gratification entertainment.

I have kept myself out of pop-culture, but it seems like books are being used being used to make money, rather than to be amazing. This is evident when considering fanfiction being turned into a book, and then a movie (50 Shades of Grey). This sort of mindless rubbish should never be written, because there are very few things a 'book' of that genre can do that visual representations can't.

I do despise these sort of things, where people do it to make money, rather than doing it out of personal enjoyment, or because they want to write high quality novels.


The Hobbit movies are already giving a bad representation of the book, and although people are buying the book, a lot of potential customers have been put of by the money-grab-ness of the movies. If the movies were better, and concise, the books would sell a lot more. I guess it just comes down to how the media is treating literature, and they aren't treating it respectfully.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Tar-Jêx

The Hobbit movies are already giving a bad representation of the book, and although people are buying the book, a lot of potential customers have been put of by the money-grab-ness of the movies. If the movies were better, and concise, the books would sell a lot more. I guess it just comes down to how the media is treating literature, and they aren't treating it respectfully.

To me, one of the main problems with books today is that it seems potential for movie development instantly supersedes any consideration of the books themselves as stand-alone works. And that isn't good enough, either: it's required to mine well-loved books from the past that are well-written and moving, and subject them to the same treatment.

What really saps my hope for the future status of Tolkien's books in the mainstream is uselessness like this:



But hey, if it sells, go for it!

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

You do see fandoms around book series like Twilight.

There are still Twilight fans around..?

Originally Posted by Inziladun

What really saps my hope for the future status of Tolkien's books in the mainstream

The mainstream is an icky place to be anyway. All the sewage ends up there.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

But it does answer the question "What do they eat when they can't get hobbits?"