Greatest sin of Peter Jackson

[Sir Kohran]

Originally Posted by Macalaure

I'm not sure whether this effect is so serious. I mean, let's be honest, even before the movies, there have been people who read the books but didn't like them or didn't even make it through, haven't there?

The difference is that now there is a second "entry" to Middle-earth. Before, if one wanted the LotR, one had to read - and had no choice. It didn't matter whether one found Tolkien's style to be boring or slow or whatever. If one liked the story by itself, one needed to read it. Now there's a second approach: easier and more suitable for today's mass culture (keep in mind, this would have been the case, too, if the movies were more faithful to the original). Now one can enjoy the story without having to bother with reading it. Now one can not like the books but still enjoy its story.

Though this is surely sad to lose many readers, I think the question is: are these people really a loss to the LotR readership? I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I don't really think so. Without the movies, they probably simply wouldn't be here at all to contribute their opinions on Tolkien (and Jackson). I would claim that their loss is quite compensated by the gain of people who wouldn't have picked up the books without the movies, and the people whose interest in them has been re-sparked because of them.

I agree. I now consider Tolkien to be one of the finest writers of all time and his books some of the best ever published, and what led me to this? Peter Jackson's movies. I remember reading the books madly throughout 2002 after seeing FOTR the previous December. Peter Jackson's work was not perfect but it introduced me to Tolkien's, which is pretty much perfect. So I have him to thank for that.


BTW, the 'Where's There's A Whip There's A Way' is quite possibly the worst movie scene of all time. I'm sure to suffer from musical depression for months now.

Also, it's full of errors. Firstly, Sam claims they've slept until 'daylight'. Daylight in Mordor? Also, when the orc captain sees Frodo and Sam...their helmets have only got nose-guards and their faces are fully visible, so surely the captain would have recognised them right away? Finally, it gets even worse when Sam openly says, right in front of the captain, "We're in luck. He thinks we're orcs". What terrible scene directing.

[Durelin]

William Cloud Hickli's post has a feeling to it I don't like, and that is familiar...

I think there is a feeling that, to not enjoy Tolkien's works is to be unintelligent, when there is nothing to say that at all. I know some very intelligent people who don't like reading fantasy, enjoy a very different style, and others who don't like reading much at all. I think it's sad that some don't enjoy reading in general, but I know not to automatically judge them as a waste of time.

Personally, I've actually grown less fond of Tolkien's style and story since I first read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (yes, which I read because of the movies). I'm much more a fan of the world then the story or his actual writing.

I've only made it through The Lord of the Rings entirely once, though I've seen the movies numerous times.

Does that mean I am a teenage Peter Jackson movie casualty (or *worse yet*, a casualty of '21st century America')?

No, it means my tastes have changed, and they'll probably change again.

And for practicality's sake...the book does take considerably more time to read than it does to watch the movies.

So, "Where there's a whip, there's a way" is remembered, but the sheepishly-grinning-Orcs-in-flowery-Mordor scene is not? The dreamed of brotherhood of Orcs and Hobbits is lost to us, it seems. *tear*