Was Christopher Tolkien right?

[Bêthberry]

I haven't seen anything else Jackson has done, Child. Should I? That he comes out of the horror sub-genre is interesting. I wonder what that foretells about ROTK, if anything.

My optimism in the face of Christopher Tolkien's pessimism derives from my respect for artists, from my knowledge that there are those who speak for beauty and imagination. Some film-makers have that gift.

One difficulty with LOTR is that so many different characters play significant parts in the defeat, that they all must be developed adequately for their role to be meaningful. I shudder to see a ROTK which will play out much like Return of the Jedi, with each plotline inching closer to resolution but waiting for Gollem's climactic fall into the electric depths. I want to see Frodo's moral growth given adequate, due weight. If TTT gives any sign, I fear we will not.

Bethberry