We Are the Last True Tolkien Fans
Jeff C.

I remember when I was younger, much younger, and a movie came out called "Star Wars."  After the next two movies came out "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return Of The Jedi," I was very interested in the story, and I began reading the books.

Funny thing was, I could not get the picture of Luke Skywalker out of my head while reading the books.  I still pictured him as the actor on the screen.  I also pictured the Death Star, Darth Vader, and Tie Fighters the same way they looked on the screen.  50% of my imagination had already been decimated by the video I saw before the words.

I fear this will happen to those who watch these movies first, then read the books.   To top it off, after seeing the movie, how could one appreciate reading the book and seeing the beauty in Tom Bombadil, or the humor of Farmer Maggot?

What worries me more, is the fact that I already have images of Middle Earth in my mind that I do not want changed.  The beauty of Arwen is supposed to surpass any that are on Middle Earth, yet how will that be portrayed in this movie?  I never pictured Tyler as "my" Arwen.

Most of us read these books long ago from curiosity brought on by either friends comments, or just by stumbling across them.  Now the next generation of fans will be those who saw the movie and decided to read the books.

I cannot help feel that the movie will spoil the books for those who have not read them.  

Also, I myself did not fully understand the LOTR until I read the other texts by Tolkien.   The Silmarillion filled in a huge amount of gaps in the LOTR story.  How can this be done in these three movies?

I fear, that those of us here, this day and age before the LOTRM, will be the last generation for some time to get the full picture of the trilogy. 

It is a shame that such a work is not required reading in every school in the world.

It contains elements in all three books, that 20 Shakespeare books couldn't even come close to.

I find it hard to read any other fantasy books anymore because they just don't compare to Tokien.  It is like having chocolate cake compared to eating plain white bread.

Oh well...  I think I will read the trilogy and other related text, a few times this year so I can savor all my imaginations before they are stamped out by pictures.

Just my two cents...