Spoiler Alert!

[Bêthberry]

I've never really got into the spoilers thing--I find it difficult to appreciate how it affects some people. This perhaps is because, as a student of early literature, I was accustomed to reading literature that was not valued for novelty or newness but for aesthetics--that is, how the author put the story together rather than what the story was about. (The novel starting in the 18th century blew this away.) Although there are sixty plus years between my education and Tolkien's, essentially I was trained in the similar historical method that he was.

I suppose in one way I was spoiled for the movies by having seen a live theatre performance of The Hobbit. The actor who played Gollem was superb--both an actor and a gymnast--and no matter how well Andy Serkis portrayed Gollem, I had in my mind vivid memories of an actual person who surpassed and exceeded the CGI antics, with all the tangible immediacy of live performance.

But I have to admit that watching the first Hobbit movie definitely spoiled the following two for me--I haven't had any interest in seeing them.