April 6, 2003

What Have We Been Given?
Andrew

Alright, enough is enough. To say that we haven been given anything by Peter Jackson, is to say that the chance to see a wonderful story, which has never before been successful on screen, be succesful on screen, and have the entertainment and enjoyment to have these movies to watch and see a different format from the books that we have had for fifty years.

If you believe that Peter Jackson hasn't GIVEN us anything, then what do you believe he has done? This trilogy cost over 360 million dollars to make (if you count the currency enchange for American to New Zealand) and we only have to pay like 7 dollars to see it. And twenty-five dollars to own it. Seems to me like we've been given quite a bit.

And to say "If you can do it better, then, and only then, can you criticize" is an important topic. Think about it. If someone is horrible at playing a certain sport, and he sees someone else playing it bad, does he have the right to make fun of and criticize that person? No. So the same matter applies here. If you can't write a workable script adapted from the writing of Tolkien, and have it be as large a commercial success as Peter Jackson's movies have been, then YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO CRITICIZE. I have never said that you can't give input on the movie, that's fine. But to say things like, "Peter Jackson has RUINED the story that Tolkien wrote" or "Shame on you, PJ" or "These changes were TOTALLY UNJUSTIFIED AND UNNESSICARY"
are totally unjustified and unnessicary themselves. You can't say things like that.
In no way has PJ ruined the story, and the changes are in no way unnessicary. Just because PJ happened to be more faithful in Fellowship, doesn't mean he deserves all this attack for Two Towers. He warned us ahead of time that Two Towers was going to be the least faithful movie. It is the middle chapter, and it required some meddling with. I don't understand why it came as such a big shock that all these changes were in Two Towers.

If you truly believe we haven't been given anything from PJ, then you are the most ingrateful group of people I've ever known of. Peter Jackson didn't have to make this trilogy, he didn't have to spend almost eight years of this live on it, and he didn't have to let you see it and allow you to enjoy it.

We have been given these wonderful movies that we didn't even have to do anything to get.
We've been given alot.