[Thinhyandoiel]

Ah! I haven't gotten my train of thought back, but I've been reading more of the thread and something else jumped out at me while reading some one elses post on the first page. I'd quote it...if I could find it... [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] But it reminded me of something a friend said to me when I asked her if she wanted to go and see FOTR with me. Her response? She said "no" because "It's just a big money-making induced movie that has no relevance at all to the real world". Now, she is my best friend...and I have never wanted to just SMACK her more than when she said those words. I asked her if she had ever read the book, to see that there is MORE to Tolkien, that his world is marvelous, believable and wonderful, and that his characters are memoriable and have flaws like we do, and still they make you love them all the more (I'm referring to Boromir here [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] ) She said no, and why again? Elves, Dwarves, and "Hobbits" (she emphasized Hobbits to show her disgust might I add) aren't real, and therefore can not be taken seriously. Again, visual-friend-smacking in my head.

These Elves, Dwarves and "Hobbits" are characters, regardless of race. And while my friend is a realist by all extremes, it astounds me that she can't see this simple concept that she is...yes...Elfist & Dwarfist, which is quite ironic considering her attitude rowards racism...but anyways. What is the difference, then, of loving Elves and loving Vampires? She is a huge fan of Buffy (or more appropriately...Spike [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] ) and I asked her, once more, This Vampire story you love so much is no different than My Hobbit story that I love so much, why then, do you verbally abuse LOTR? "But Vampires are believable" OHHHH. I get it, right. I mean, what's more believable than blood-sucking humans that turn into dust at sunrise?! *notice sarcasm* (And don't get me wrong, I love Buffy, I was just using it to tick her off)

I think this prejudice against the fantasy genre is ridiculous, esp. when those that give it flack have not exposed themselves, or allowed themselves to be exposed to it fully and with enough sincerity that they give everything else. Critics lean towards the realistic literature, and by realistic I mean modern. Every day, 'in-the-now', disregarding older, much more developed genres such as fantasy and romance (which I pretty much group together considering the type of romance I read) as 'fluff' (as was mentioned before) and trivial escapist literature. I am NOT liking this trend, I think it's wrong, biased and just plain idiotic. That's why I love the 'Downs. I see everyone here as so open-minded that I wish the whole world was consisted of you peeps. Alas, reality sinks in. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]