Zaentz countersues the Estate

[Nerwen]

It may or may not be pretense but if the Estate is genuinely concerned about the legacy of Professor Tolkien's work I think their concern is understandable. We are always told that "the books are still there" but when marketing, merchandise and spin have obliterated the majority of discourse on the subject I can't complain if WB and Zaentz are taken to task. On Facebook the other day people who had Liked the "The Fellowship of the Ring" page (for the book, not the film) were requested for a favourite quote. Half must have been from the film. There may have been a time before the films when Tolkien enthusiasm had receded and our conversations might be more isolated, but surely that is preferable to having it drowned beneath a sea of fatuous nonsense.

Elrond told the Council "It would be better if the Three had never been." I believe the same of the films.

If you mean the "Lord of the Rings" films only, I can't really agree, as with all their faults I think they're pretty decent films of their kind. Still- the main counter-argument to what you've said here is usually something along the lines of "hey, publicity, wider audience, yay" and I think there are some real problems with that- I mean, what couldn't you justify that way?