Dumbing it down

[The Saucepan Man]

The current discusion seems to be premised on the assumption that Jackson and co set out deliberately to shock fans of the books. As far as I am aware there is no evidence for this, and I do not believe that it played any part in the changes that were made.

As far as the quote from Boyens that Fordim referred to earlier is concerned, and as I said earlier:

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

Boyens didn't say that this was the reason for the change. She said that this was one of the reasons why she liked it (ie after the event). I suspect, in any event, that the comment was provoked by the more extreme reactions of some of the fans to the films. A kind of retaliation, if you like. But I seriously doubt that they set out with the intention of deliberately winding up the book fans.