New interview with Christopher Tolkien

[Inziladun]

Thanks for that link, davem. I think the interview explains a great deal about the reasoning the Estate might have in being so mulishly opposed to third-party uses of Tolkien's work. Yes, there are probably instances in which permission to use the character names and likenesses could be harmlessly granted, but I can sympathize with the desire to simply throw out the wheat along with the chaff, especially when it seems likely the latter is much more ubiquitous.

CT also expresses very clearly, much better than I ever have, the problem with the PJ movies.

"Tolkien has become a monster, devoured by his own popularity and absorbed by the absurdity of our time," Christopher Tolkien observes sadly. "The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has gone too far for me. Such commercialisation has reduced the esthetic and philosophical impact of this creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: turning my head away."

That's it in a nutshell. The books have always struck a deep chord within me, but the movies have been a hollow imitation, with the main focus being money. They do nothing for me.