Will The Hobbit do damage to the books? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Zigûr · 09-02-2016, 02:17 AM

Frustrated to see a post from the "J.R.R. Tolkien" official Facebook page come up today on my Facebook news feed. I don't follow the page myself because it's essentially just a promotional/marketing page for the publishers. A Facebook friend had liked this post so it came up.

It was Gandalf's quote to Pippin from the films, "The Return of the King" specifically, about death; the one that repurposes Frodo's arrival in Valinor, with "all is turned to silver glass" and so forth, and misleadingly uses it to describe some kind of pleasant "afterlife" (as opposed to quiet contemplation in the halls of Mandos).

This was posted with "-J.R.R. Tolkien" below it, as if this film quotation, which repurposes some language from the books, was an exact quote from the man himself.

Absolutely pathetic on the part of the publishers and another piece of evidence for how the films actually do distort the public perception of the author, even if they don't "damage" it.

Some comments pointed this out, fortunately, but it turned into the usual useless "book vs film" argument of the calibre typical of Facebook comments sections.

The palimpsest is in full effect, it would seem.

09-02-2016, 02:17 AM	#35
Zigûr Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 785	Frustrated to see a post from the "J.R.R. Tolkien" official Facebook page come up today on my Facebook news feed. I don't follow the page myself because it's essentially just a promotional/marketing page for the publishers. A Facebook friend had liked this post so it came up. It was Gandalf's quote to Pippin from the films, "The Return of the King" specifically, about death; the one that repurposes Frodo's arrival in Valinor, with "all is turned to silver glass" and so forth, and misleadingly uses it to describe some kind of pleasant "afterlife" (as opposed to quiet contemplation in the halls of Mandos). This was posted with "-J.R.R. Tolkien" below it, as if this film quotation, which repurposes some language from the books, was an exact quote from the man himself. Absolutely pathetic on the part of the publishers and another piece of evidence for how the films actually do distort the public perception of the author, even if they don't "damage" it. Some comments pointed this out, fortunately, but it turned into the usual useless "book vs film" argument of the calibre typical of Facebook comments sections. The palimpsest is in full effect, it would seem. __________________ "Since the evening of that day we have journeyed from the shadow of Tol Brandir." "On foot?" cried Éomer.