Sam and Frodo: The Big Picture

[Rosenberg]

I think Peter Jackson might have been a bit nearsighted when creating his overall interpretation of Sam and Frodo's relationship. I'm agreeing with Tolkien and anyone around who says that Sam is the real hero of LoTR, but Frodo's essential to that because, well, Sam wouldn't have gone off on the quest if not for him. And, as is clear in the books, Frodo would have failed miserably without him.<BR>The problem with the movies is that Frodo's debt to Sam seems to be even greater, and yet it's almost as if PJ is trying to underscore the very thing he's calling our attention to. I mean, not only do we get all the shots of Frodo flipping out because of the Ring, but Sam saves Frodo time and time again. He's the one who knows Gollum is trying to kill them (and Frodo trusts the little jerk completely and--unlike in the books--abandons Sam for virtually no reason); Sam's the one who defeats Shelob whereas Frodo, given the exact same implements, was beaten almost instantly; Sam killed four orcs single-handedly; he carried Frodo's sorry *** up Mt. Doom; and then, when Frodo is finally in the position to do the only thing he has to, he can't even do that!<BR>With all this going against Frodo, I'm surprised PJ thought he could redeem the little guy by making him push Gollum into the lava rather than him bumbling backwards as in the books.<BR>Seriously, this movie ought to be called "Sam: How he Kicked *** and Did Everything."<BR>Not that I didn't love it all, of course. I just thought that was interesting.