Sauron,
I have said this before and I rather suspect I shall have to say it again: this is a grey area. You insist it's a black and white, either-or situation. It isn't.
Yes, people adapting a book to the screen have to change things. But how faithful to the original should they strive to be? A lot? A little? Not at all? This is a difficult question, and probably one on which there will never be universal agreement.
I don't know the answer myself. Neither do you. I think it's something we can discuss– which you never do, that I've noticed.
Instead you repeat, "Movies are different from books". Then you switch to an appeal to authority and remind us all that the movies were popular and won awards, which according to you is the ultimate stamp of quality.
Now, as I have said, I do like the LotR films– and
I'm insulted! As it happens, I formed my
own opinion. All by myself. I like some films that are popular, some that are unpopular– some that win awards and some that don't. (And just so you know, I thoroughly disliked "Gladiator".)
You attack people for using faithfulness as a criterion– but how is "majority rules" more valid? Some great films have been popular and/or have won Oscars. So have some not-so-great ones.
And really, how do you expect to sell a bunch of highbrow nerds on the general principle that the majority is automatically right?
