[Dininziliel]

Finwe writes: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> All I'm saying is be grateful that Peter Jackson didn't make the Balrog wear bunny slipper-like footwear. In Ralph Bakshi's version, the Balrog's feet looked like they were encased in bunny slippers.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well . . . here is the intro I've sort of been hoping would not arrive.<P>When Saruman is turning the pages of his tome on Moria and narrating the Balrog threat to Gandalf, there is a picture of said Balrog. Each and every one of the innumerable times I have seen this picture, a Bugs Bunny cartoon does a popup number in my head. It is one where Bugs ends up in a haunted castle inhabited by a mad scientist who creates a monster in his lab. This monster is red, furry, has a part down the middle of its furry head, and its head looks like broad shoulders tapering to the bottom. Whoever rendered that picture in FotR <I>had</I> to have seen that cartoon. I was much relieved upon seeing the "real" balrog. In fact, in my opinion, I think the balrog is <I>the</I> most underrated character in the whole extravaganza. I marvel each time I see it. To me, it is a masterpiece of cinematic artistry. I truly do admire what Jackson and crew did there.<P>It's just too bad we got so much wonderful perception-boggling spectacle and so little soul-enlarging story. <P>LotR is not in same league with <I>The Shining</I>. It is up there with the greatest books and plays of all time: Bible, Koran, Shakespeare, Bagghavad-gita (sp?). We are all having much the same reactions to the changes in LotR's story as we would if someone had scripted and directed the Christmas or crucifixion stories in the Bible but decided a few things needed to be changed for the sake of entertainment value.<P>The story touches something deep within us. Those of us who read the book first--especially those of us with 25+ years of repeated readings--have developed within our hearts and minds a cherished relationship with the story, its characters, and its author. Along with being a ripping good story, it instructs, inspires, illuminates and elevates the darker, heavier corners of human existence. <P>Again, if people come away from seeing one of the movies pondering and commenting on even one or two of the themes--faith, Love, commitment, hope, friendship, forgiveness, salvation, the wages of fear, the consequences of lusting for power and/or immortality--instead of the grandeur of special effects, stunts, and how cute an actor/actress was, then much can be forgiven. But I just don't see how that can happen. <P>A simple perusal of the headings for the movie reviews tell what the public mind has been well trained to see and find significant--" . . . Orcs! Battles . . .!" This is the movies' disservice and main crime to Tokienity. I agree with Pandora--the world is there but not the story. Without the story the world is simply a beautiful picture to look at. <P>Masterpieces are decided by time. As much as we would all like to have the definitive voice at this time, it is only possible to have opinions. Mine is that masterpieces don't cut from key moments too soon and don't have glaring continuity gaffes interspersed throughout the entire 9-12 hours. This is entirely independent from whether or not Jackson screwed the storyline.<P>The last thing to mention, is that Tolkien has been dinged by critics since day one who said LotR was lightweight airy fairy fare. The outrage and genuinely deep (and sometimes bitter) disappointment of so many of us attests to the power of fairy stories exactly as Tolkien delineated in his lectures and writings ("On Fairy Stories"). This is the other "crime" against Tolkienity, and maybe the highest crime--by playing up the stunts, tension, cliched "startle-izations" (Gandalf's sudden clutching at Frodo from dark corner, floaty ghouly faces in Dead Marshes, etc.), l-u-v, and contemporary gag angles (tossing, boarding, etc.), the movies would seem to validate Tolkien's critics--It's just a movie/story for kids or immature adults who can't handle reality.<P>When really, it is a story about the only way to handle reality--with faith, Love, and selfless commitment to something higher than one's personal life. And this does not include box office profit or public acclaim.