April 28, 2003

On Faramir
Paths_of_the_dead

Okay, I'm not claiming to be a Tolkien extremist, or radical, or anything else. And I MOST CERTAINLY do not approve of Peter Jackson's treatment of Faramir in The Two Towers. But this is just a thought.

In the Extended Fellowship, with the scene upon the Anduin at night, Aragorn and Boromir have their interaction on the Gondor-opposed-to-Mordor subject. Aragorn sends a clear message that he doesn't think much of the Men of Gondor (makes you wonder, considering he's a descendent...). And even before that, in Imladris, Elrond says flat-out, "There is no strength left in Men." To which Gandalf replies, "There is still one who could unite them." Then the camera cuts to Aragorn, telling the audience that he is the one Gandalf had spoken of.

Now my theory. Perhaps PJ was twisting Faramir's character to show that Men are weak, and Aragorn is the only one amongst them who cannot be tempted by the Ring. This could have been a Hollywood ploy to send Aragorn across as the definite hero and strongest among Men. In a book, you can have two characters that can be noble, but if you did that in a movie, the fans of the movie (and the movie only) would want to see Aragorn and Faramir go at it for kingship of Gondor. Don't get me wrong, I was just as ticked as anyone seeing Faramir depicted as even lower than Boromir in TTT, but that's my theory why.

Thoughts, anyone?
PS-Sorry for the length!