<BR><br><br> Well, I have to agree with réd pretty much straight down the line here. If your imaginative vision of Middle-earth is so fragile that the LotR movies will shatter it like a sledge hammer smashing into a China plate, then just don’t go to see them. But if PJ (or anybody else) wants to make a movie out of LotR, or people want to set its poems to song, or carve miniature figures representing its characters, or paint pictures inspired by its scenes, or make any other sort of creative response to it, then who are you or I to say that it shouldn’t be allowed? If you’re not interested, don’t go see it. What a sad world it would be if artists were restricted from approaching material that someone else considered “sacred”. In such a world, LotR, which borrows liberally from other, older cultural traditions and myths, wouldn’t exist – because its creation would have been outlawed! (“Gandalf a wizard? Everyone knows ‘Gandalf’ is a dwarf! How dare this upstart JRRT meddle with our sacred traditions!”)<br> <br> I understand your arguments. Maybe I would have better wondered why you insist on raining on the parade of everyone who <i> does</i> want to see the movies. So the interpretations of PJ, the actors, and all the other artists making the films may not match yours. But your glass-half-empty pessimism neglects to consider the possibility that this may not be a bad thing in every case. I read <i> The Hobbit</i> before I saw the Bakshi film – but I instantly dropped whatever feeble notion I had of how Gandalf spoke as soon as John Huston said, “I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me!” I’m eternally grateful that Mr. Huston gave me that gift. The Gandalf I know is richer because of his performance. I’m confident that McKellan’s portrayal of Gandalf will be creative, insightful, and compelling – but in my head, when I read the books, I will always hear John Huston’s voice when Gandalf speaks. Conversely, I remember that the Bakshi Sam didn’t match my idea of Sam at all. So I just discarded it. I still have my Sam.<br> <br> PJ and his team may interpret scenes and characters in ways you hadn’t thought of before, or show you images that you’d never dreamed of (but that are just right!), or find interesting ways to fill in gaps that Tolkien left open to the imagination (just how did things go down in the frantic minutes prior to Boromir’s death?), or bring home the reality of some scenes in a way that a book just can’t do (nothing I’d read about D-Day – and I’d read plenty – could have prepared me for Spielberg’s interpretation in <i> Saving Private Ryan</i>). Take what you like and leave the rest. I’ve seen several trailers already, and I can tell you that <u>none</u> of the actors that I’ve seen so far matches my vision of the characters. Has my vision already been wiped out? Let me be clear: <u>NO!</u></b> Does the fact that the actors don’t match my vision dampen my enthusiasm for the movies by one iota? Again, <u>NO! </u></b><br> <br> Lastly, I still don’t understand why action figures are so evil. I would have loved them when I was a kid – did in fact buy LotR-inspired metal figurines and role-playing games. Every year for Christmas for many years I got a Tolkien calender. I have fond memories of <i> Star Wars</i> figures, toys, lunchboxes, and sheets, and I imagine that twenty years from now all the unsuspecting (but lucky!) children who are about to be blown away by the movies will look back with the same deep love and wistful affection on hours and hours of play and enjoyment, and remember their LotR action figures as tokens of a childhood that was better because LotR was in it. <br> <br> When you think about it, the movies can’t subtract from your LotR experience – they can only add to it. Take what you like and leave the rest. <br> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://www.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_profile&u=00000005>Mister Underhill</A> at: 6/9/01 8:35:52 pm<br></i>
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