[Nerwen]

Okay, nafforc. As I just said, I don't think people should feel obliged to like anything whatever, anyway. It's not that: I was just objecting to your phrasing, which came across as though you were saying, "anyone who likes the films is an idiot". I accept now you didn't actually mean that.

And yes, Jackson & Co. made what I think are some pretty odd decisions. That's part of what I was trying to say before: there's too many changes that aren't for the purpose of streamlining the story, or otherwise adapting it to the medium of film. Some of the reasons they gave remind me a little too much of the sort of thing you learn in screenwriting courses– "the rules" for how to give characters "realistic flaws", how to build tension etc. Which is to say, a useful guide, especially if you're writing a story from scratch, but not one that should be followed too rigidly.