March 3, 2003

Opinion of a Newcomer
Therese

Opinion of a newcomer:

I had never read The Lord of the Rings. I’m not sure why, as I have read many other great literary classics. I suppose as a young girl I thought this series was more of a “boys” thing so I didn’t bother. I had no intention of seeing the first movie when it came out, because I’m not a “Fantasy” reader per say, and since I had never read the book, I felt I would never “get” the story. My nephew insisted that I see FOTR and gave me his theatrical cut DVD. I finally got around to viewing it in September of 2002 and it was love at first sight not to mention a new obsession. What a wonderful world Tolkien created. I waited with great anticipation to see TTT (which I’ve seen 4 times) and I am quite impatient for ROTK in December 2003.

Just seeing the first two movies made me run out to buy the books and I am currently most of the way through FOTR. I will admit that I have also cheated and read most of ROTK and bit’s of TTT. I had to know what happened near the end. They are enchanting. J

Since I had no preconceptions before viewing the movie, I was totally delighted. I had nothing to compare it too, therefore I could watch with a totally open mind. I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job than Peter Jackson and Company. Even now, reading FOTR, I feel the same. I realize, after reading this board that there has been great turmoil amongst the fans regarding changes to the story, the elimination of characters and such, but watching the movie with fresh eyes and now reading the book, I can understand why some characters and key scenes in the book have been left out. The movie, if it had been done exactly like the book would have gone on forever and frankly, even if it was a labor of love by the producers, the reality is it still has to make money.

I feel that Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boynes caught so much of the spirit that I am experiencing as I read the book. Imagine if the “real” Hollywood had gotten their hands all over this movie! We would have had Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt starring as Aragorn, Julia Roberts or Drew Barrymore as Arwen, Michael J. Fox as Frodo, with Steve Buscemi as Sam and God knows who as Gandalf. Can you imagine! None of those people are bad actors, but frankly, as a movie viewer, my suspension of disbelief would have been put into overdrive, simply because these people are so over exposed in our media and in our culture. I don’t “believe” them anymore. What a true delight to have fairly unknown working actors bringing this magical world to life.

The “Man” in Hollywood still had to be paid in some way, but to my eye, the debt was small, which allowed this wonderful group of New Zealanders and others from around the world to create something very magical, at least to this normally practical and pragmatic person.

Everyone reads a book or sees a movie through their personal veil or view finder. All of us have different value systems; different core beliefs and they shape how we filter the world around us. What means something to one individual means something completely different to others. Even the purists who say, “but this isn’t what Tolkien wanted” are viewing that information through their veil. I just know the movies and now the books have been pure magic for me. Thanks for allowing me to participate in the debate.