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doug*platypus · 12-15-2003, 03:30 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> eat one another at times of scarce food resources <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Umm... yeah, that might be near the part where Gimli talks about the central nervous system. Where in the book was that again?It wasn't very clear, but I meant that no specific incident occurs in the book that we are told about, where orcs eat one another. It may have happened at some isolated times or places, but it certainly wasn't common practice as Grishnákh's comment shows.I'm quite disappointed with the movie treatment of the orcs. It is understandable, but I don't see any reason why the writers had to follow the norm. I personally believe very little in "good" and "evil" as protrayed in Hollywood. There are many, many instances in the books where evil is shown to not be entirely so. Not just Gollum, but orcs, Sauron, Melkor, a southron warrior, the Dunlendings, the list goes ever on and on. However the scriptwriters of these movies elected to go the old predictable way, on yet another ill-advised departure from the written word. It's basically been turned into Braveheart or The Patriot, where the enemy has no heart, moral code, or basically any human emotion. They exist for the sole purpose of being the enemy of the good guys. This is a dangerous way to portray a war, because this concept can leak its way into peoples' sub-conscious, and for some even affect their view of any real conflicts. In times of war, politicians and generals systematically dehumanise the enemy, try to transform them into some kind of devil so that it will be easier to kill them without pangs of conscience. I'm not suggesting that every war movie should be an endless rant about how even the enemy has emotions, but surely there has to be a middle ground.The way the orcs have been dumbed down is just another case of the book in general being dumbed down to give a more traditional Hollywood feel. I think it's a shame, because the story is worth so much more than that kind of treatment. Orcs represent the darker side of human nature and what we as a pretty barbaric species are capable of, but the point is lost entirely if they are only ever portrayed as animals.

12-15-2003, 03:30 PM	#10
doug*platypus Delver in the Deep Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Aotearoa Posts: 960	<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> eat one another at times of scarce food resources <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Umm... yeah, that might be near the part where Gimli talks about the central nervous system. Where in the book was that again?<P>It wasn't very clear, but I meant that no specific incident occurs in the book that we are told about, where orcs eat one another. It may have happened at some isolated times or places, but it certainly wasn't common practice as Grishnákh's comment shows.<P>I'm quite disappointed with the movie treatment of the orcs. It is understandable, but I don't see any reason why the writers <B>had</B> to follow the norm. I personally believe very little in "good" and "evil" as protrayed in Hollywood. There are many, many instances in the books where evil is shown to not be entirely so. Not just Gollum, but orcs, Sauron, Melkor, a southron warrior, the Dunlendings, the list goes ever on and on. <P>However the scriptwriters of these movies elected to go the old predictable way, on yet another ill-advised departure from the written word. It's basically been turned into Braveheart or The Patriot, where the enemy has no heart, moral code, or basically any human emotion. They exist for the sole purpose of being the enemy of the good guys. This is a dangerous way to portray a war, because this concept can leak its way into peoples' sub-conscious, and for some even affect their view of any real conflicts. In times of war, politicians and generals systematically dehumanise the enemy, try to transform them into some kind of devil so that it will be easier to kill them without pangs of conscience. I'm not suggesting that every war movie should be an endless rant about how even the enemy has emotions, but surely there has to be a middle ground.<P>The way the orcs have been dumbed down is just another case of the book in general being dumbed down to give a more traditional Hollywood feel. I think it's a shame, because the story is worth so much more than that kind of treatment. Orcs represent the darker side of human nature and what we as a pretty barbaric species are capable of, but the point is lost entirely if they are only ever portrayed as animals. __________________ But Gwindor answered: 'The doom lies in yourself, not in your name'.