Why all the anger?

Seeing the above posts I was really suprised that anyone was actually 'angry' at all. Anger and the works of Tolkein do not sit well together by any rationale I can imagine.<P>Darkside:You seemed angry due to a lack of respect thing going on? But Tolkein has never been more respected than he is now - in the UK at any rate. His works are being used as source material in English classes all over the world, and sales of all Tolkein books are soaring as legions of new readers materialise and find out for themselves just how magnificent the texts are. And this is a lack of respect?<BR>As Saucepan himself points out:<BR>"if a new generation of readers is introduced by the films to the books, that is surely a very comforting thought indeed" Right on.<BR>Alphaelin:Your 'disgust' is in part aimed at the 'masses' getting what they want at the expense of some of Tolkeins vision(?) With an open-mind you have to take these films for what they are, a loose non-elitist interpretation. <BR>I was initially gutted when they left out Erkenbrands charge and battles at the Fords of Isen, my friends though, (nonreaders that they are)said words to the effect of:<BR>"Chill out and be happy that anyone has even attempted to tell this massive story on film" so I chilled on it, smiled again and was satisfied enough to re-read that section of the book later - if anything I enjoyed the read all the more because it was so much richer in detail and plot.<BR>We all have favourite bits/characters that didn't make the cinema edit, but to use words like 'anger' and 'loathed' seems a bit harsh and self-defeating when you look at the bigger picture.<p>[ January 14, 2003: Message edited by: Numenorean ]