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Old 09-11-2022, 05:11 PM   #28
Galadriel55
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Having caught up to the show, I am looping back here, as promised. First, a general reflection, and then some specific responses.

I don't think there was ever a time when I didn't esteem fellow Downers' opinions highly, but I think this watch goes to show it. I was ever so much more excited about things I liked that I knew other people here liked too, and felt a somewhat disproportionate disappointment about things which have been praised highly here but did not quite meet my vision - disproportionate because they are still goon elements, IMO, just not bullseye. And that is discernably not anything to do with the show itself, but part of my own expectations for it. I feel like on a subconscious level the fact that certain elements were praised by Downers somehow led me to believe that they will be reflective of my vision of what it should look like - a grievous error, perhaps, since I was trying hard to psych myself up to not fall into that trap. It does point out an interesting aspect though that my mind associates "what Downers think" to be representative for "what I would think". I'm certainly happy to have found a community where though we might disagree on this or that we still end up respecting each other's opinions to such a degree. You sociology experts can keep working away at the deeper meanings of this observation, my own self-psychoanalysis will stop here.

Now, in answer to the last couple posts. I wasn't going to bring up Galadriel, because there has been much chaffing about her that's left a sore spot on everybody, I think - and no less on myself, as I find myself arguing with both of the extreme camps. But that box is open now, so might as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitch
To be clear, I don't think presenting Galadriel as a swordswoman was a stellar decision on the makers' part - it's a rather lazy visual shorthand for agency, and it seems like they felt they needed to have their own Brienne to keep up with Game of Thrones; but it doesn't bother me, and I think there are worse problems with RoP's writing of Galadriel - like, what in the name of diplomacy did she think she was going to accomplish by being all haughty and lick my boots (oh wait I'm barefoot) with Míriel? Shouldn't Finrod's sister have been a little more sympathetic towards mortals?
This. The armour is the least ridiculous thing about that character, and I am saying this having now watched the episodes and not just speaking from the promo material. I don't have much against the armour itself, but it is done in a way that cheapens Galadriel as a character. She literally says herself in the show that all she is is a sword. All she is, is a sword. And a loud mouth, and zero patience and negative scores on wisdom. Even Brienne was more than just a sword. Galadriel's raison d'etre seems to be to be as outrageous as possible - but because we the audience know that she's supposed to be right in the end, we're supposed to... cheer for her?

...Sorry, I'm starting to rant again.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bethberry
Why is sword Gal so objectionable but not origami Gal?
It's interesting you ask. Because I did have a minor objection to the origami - not because it's origami, but because Galadriel didn't seem to ever be much of a builder, or much of a shipwright, and I thought that if you had to pick an activity that would be representative of her, this was an odd choice. However, I then immediately rebutted my own objection by arguing that she may have done any number of things in her youth, just did not develop enough of an inclination to pursue them further, and this may be her exploring her Telerin heritage. And when she punched the kid who sunk her origami boat, my reaction was "this is perfect Nerwen".

So what issue do I have with the concept of shieldmaiden-Galadriel? For one thing, in my mind she was so much more than that. For another, that the chronology of her character development is all wrong. She is Nerwen in Valinor. I can well see a young Galadriel getting all hot-headed and rushing off on a vengeful quest or even leading an army in the Valinor days, or at Alqualonde, or Helcaraxe, or perhaps shortly after. In Beleriand I can see her donning armour to stand guard with other soldiers and/or generals during the wars of her kingdom(s). Perhaps she might even have marched up to Morgoth's gate with Fingolfin's host, or done a tour of the Leaguer. She might certainly still do whatever masculine sports Nerwen might have enjoyed - but as sports, not as raison d'etre. And had there been reason for them to be more than sports, I think she would have used her skills accordingly. But I think she would have respected Doriathrin politics of minimal interference in the Noldor messes, standing by her husband's house in that, and by the time Thingol and Melian died she and Celeborn were no longer there, or else the Dwarves and Cel&Cur might have found more resistance. Then, as time goes by, she devotes less care to swinging the sword, and more care to building a kingdom - after all, that was her ambition in coming to Middle-earth in the first place, and it is a natural progression from soldier to general, from hot-tempered youth to wisdom. Her energy is directed less into brute force and more into other forms of power. Her power grows not in martial prowess but in her "magic" and in her position in the world. Does she still have the martial prowess? Sure. Is that what she values most about herself? No. Does she wear armour as she marches on Dol Guldur? Probably. In the end, is it her sword-bouncing skills that take it down? No. The progression is from Nerwen to Galadriel, not the other way around.

What we see in the show is a Galadriel who seemed a little bit of an outcast as a kid, and had a bit of a temper - which was actually still tempered by none other than Finrod. She then spends the glimpses of the First Age in presumably a more docile role - she comes to the battlefield to bury the fallen, not to fight. And then she decides it's time for her to get all fiery and start swinging the sword. She goes from a generic bereaved female to Nerwen, in a backwards progression - the bereavement is one of the things that's supposed to temper her manners, not fuel them.

So I dislike that, and I would argue that the Nerwen argument loses its weight here - not because of the physical presence of sword and armour but because of the timing and development of what she does with them. It's not her holding the sword so much as that this seems to be her character's only positive attribute so far. An attribute that is made ridiculous by cheap fight scenes like that troll. She's not the only one to suffer from ridiculous fight choreography, but the troll scene so far stands out from the rest by virtue of highlighting the alleged skills of one person against a bunch of failures and breaks all semblance of realism and suspense. But that's another rant altogether, more to do with fight sequences in general - so far they do not make their heroes stand out more positively, but on the contrary.

All this to say, I suppose what it tells about me is that I do have some subconscious expectation for parallels with canon in terms of at least the broad strokes of character development for characters whose progression and story we actually know. It can be achieved by alt-fic means, but you still have to get there and hit certain milestones. It hurts me a lot more to see a beloved character's milestones mangled up. It makes me angry when I think about all the times the promos claimed to have made this storyline an improvement on what was, a more modern view, etc. The idea of a woman wielding a sword is not modern, nor is it in itself anti-Tolkien; but this woman does so little for which to be respected that I don't know what favour they think they are doing her or women in general with that depiction. I know the attitude that you are referring to in your post, and I agree that the preconceptions at play may reach quite broadly. For myself though, I feel that I would be much less angry in this case about "a generic character" taking this role, and much more angry about "this particular known character" taking this role.

All of these thoughts have made me wonder about alt-fics in general, and what we find acceptible or otherwise, and why. But I think I will put those ponderings in a separate thread, probably over in N&N as it is not necessarily specific to the movies.


Edit: X-ed with Form. It's a rare day when this happens outside of a WW game!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Form
the best canonical complaint is that RoP makes Galadriel way too underpowered.
Yes!!! But not underpowered in the "how many backflips you can do while swinging your sword", but rather all the other power she's supposed to be emanating even at this point already. Becoming more queenly, like you said - being the charismatic leader, playing the political game, exerting her spiritual power Melian-style... That doesn't mean she can't swing a sword - but right now ALL she can do is swing a sword. Where is her charisma? Where is her leadership? At the very least her bit of common sense and tact???
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Last edited by Galadriel55; 09-11-2022 at 05:17 PM.
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