[Essex]

Originally Posted by CSteefel

These bother me, with the presentation of Frodo bothering me more and more as I see it again. In the book, Frodo is shown as feeling the heavy heavy weight of the ring and its evil power, but he doesn't descend to the point of having to be urged on by Sam the way he does in the movie. Look at the scene right before they catch the coneys for lunch--Sam comes across as the only one leading him on, the only one seeing what is happening to him, while in the book, Frodo never loses sight of what he needs to do and is well aware of the evil power of the ring (this is why he is able to feel pity for Gollum, since he sees that he will descend to this in the end).

Yes, in the book Frodo is aware that he is almost under its full power, esp near Mount Doom. But the key thing to remember is that book Frodo is under its Power, in the same way movie Frodo is. That is why both book and movie Frodo need Samwise Gamgee to help him complete the Quest. Without Sam, the Quest would have failed too. As well as Frodo's Compassion, we also have Sam's Heroism to help him complete the Quest.

And then later, he is conned in the movie by Gollum, sending Sam away.

Yeah, I know. I don't like this, but I can understand why the scritwriters did this. Sam turns up to save the day but it also too late to save Frodo (and we wouldn't have the stunning scene of Shelob creeping up on Frodo). Also, we wouldn't have the very important interlude between Frodo and Gollum which perfectly shows Frodo's compassion towards Gollum which resulted in the Quest being succesful.

Faramir comes across in the end as noble, but not convincingly so. It isn't quite clear to me how the events in Osgiliath lead him to "understand" Frodo, which he could not do before. Anyway, this was a missed chance to contrast Faramir, a human with Numenorean blood and wisdom to resist the lure of the ring, with Boromir (who lacked this wisdom).

As in the book, Faramir decides to let the hobbits go once he has learnt of the truth of what his brother did. In the book, Sam is cajoled by Faramir the excellent 'interrogator' into giving away the Plan regarding the Enemy's Ring, and his brother's part in it. In the film, Sam berates Faramir into understanding the peril of the Ring by again explaining the effect it had on his brother. In both cases, Faramir lets them go.

Remember book Faramir was also tempted. Let's not forget that it was his WORD that was one of the deciding factors that helped his reasoning on letting the hobbits carry on with thier Quest. He said before he knew what the Enemy's weapon was Frodo carried that he would not pick it up if it lied on the side of the road. He kept to his word once he found out what it actually was. But he WAS tempted to take the Ring. Movie Faramir was 'more' tempted, and made a detour to Osgiliath before realising his mistake.

I'm not saying I agree with the Change, but I have learnt to live with it and see it for what it was. A Detour.

Gandalf is messed up to some extent as well, with him providing the doubting point of view in the Last Debate, which goes against everything before in which he is the prime mover against Sauron.

Ok, I understand this, but its not a real major point. Why can't Gandalf have a bit of self doubt? He's sent two little hobbits on a 'foolish Quest' to get rid of the Ring. He knows it's Middle-earth's only chance, but he has already stated (at the Council for example) that it was full or risks and foolhardy. Wouldn't you have some self doubt in his position too?