The New Hobbit Hole

[RMDupree]

OIL SPAM

[Lil'freeper]

It is always interesting to me how these actors are reflexively so far to the left and not fence sitters. They make it their work, at least the method actors do and Vigs is one, to get inside the head of their character and really try to understand what motivates the character. It becomes easy to sympathize with the character and not judge him too harshly because he's human and has flaws. If they were consistent and true to their craft, they'd be sitting on the fence, snapping their gum, and babbling about not rushing to judgement, being able to see the merit of both sides, Republicans love their children, too, etc...

But I'm with you. I try not to let the idots spoil too much of my fun- and I'm pretty good at it. I love U2's music, but Bono is such a dufuss!

[Overtaxed]

Here's something to go with the SPAM:

[SuziQ]

I don't watch the Today show, but I reckon he'll say some of the same things he said last night. One thing he said was that if TTT is nominated for any Oscars, he's NOT going to go around stumping for the movie like he had to do last year. He didn't like that notion of having to campaign for the movie; he thought it should win on its own merits.

[Sam Cree]

Well, even if the dumb actors are leftists, I am pretty sure they are as big of LOTR fans as we are. But I find it very comforting to know that JRRT, the creator of it all, was closer to our point of view, he did not like or approve of leftist philosophy.

I wonder if any of them understands that, or if, like the 60's hippies, they think Tolkien is on their page.

[HairOfTheDog]

It was a short interview... no new clips were shown! Heh.

[Sam Cree]

"he thought it should win on its own merits."

He's right, sure, but that's just like disarming, and taking it on faith that the rest of the world will follow suit. They won't.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think there is room in Tolkien's philosophy for lots of people to feel at home in his ideal.

I dunno... I don't particularly claim Tolkien as a conservative of today. I think to try to fit him in a party platform trivializes a great fantasy. His world is not bound by our reality, our motives, or our problems.

I think Tolkien would hate today and not necessarily be conservative. He was English, after all, and even English conservatives are not like US... He was mourning industry and its impact on the world, so I hardly think he would be on the capitalist bandwagon. I think he would hate big business and big cities full of skyscrapers as much as he hated the industrial age.

He painted an ideal that was beautiful, but can no longer be. An ideal that I share with him. The Shire as a system of governance does not work in modern society with millions of people. That doesn't make it any less attractive as a place to escape to in our hearts.

[Argh]

Miss Hair, here are 3 items you might be interested in from National Review Online re TTT:

(From an NRO reader): I happened to catch part of Charlie Rose's show last night when his guests were Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, and Viggo Mortensen. Check out Rose's website for a picture of Rose and the 3 members from the LotR crew. They wasted at least 15 minutes of the interview discussing Mortensen's homemade "No More Blood For Oil" shirt that he wore on the program and which is shown in the photo on the site. Mortensen stated he was tired of hearing people make comparisons between the events in the film and the current world political situation. (He actually may be the first person I've heard make this comparison.) He went on to say that if a comparison is to be made, the US would definitely not be the good guys. Also raised the tired line that there has been no discussion about why we are going to war. Went on ad naseum. Almost enough to make me not want to see the film.

"THE TWO TOWERS" [Rod Dreher]
Saw it tonight. I give it a B, but if I hadn't read the book first, I'd probably give it a strong A. It's three hours long, but that time flies by. The film barely stops, which you can understand inasmuch as they've got a hell of a lot of plot to get through. "The Two Towers" was my favorite of the trilogy, in part because I absolutely loved the Ents, and their world. There are Ents here, of course, but they get very short shrift. I realized while watching the movie that my favorite parts of the book were the poetic moments, when I was able to relax and take in the wondrously imaginative world Tolkien had created. In the film, it's all go, go, go -- which still makes for a pretty impressive film, but I could have used less action and more thought. If it sounds like I'm having trouble criticizing the movie, well, I am; I'm knocked flat by the fact that a movie version of "The Two Towers" that looks as good as this one got made. I think it only disappoints when compared to the book, a comparison as unfair as it is inevitable.
Posted at 02:32 AM

P.S. TTT [Rod Dreher]
The fate of Saruman is far too hastily executed, if you ask me. But Gollum is pretty great. He looks like Steve Buscemi crossed with an elderly komodo dragon.
Posted at 02:37 AM

I'll see you later, TONS of work...

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks Argh.... someone posted a thread about the Viggo stuff... and a B from a hard critic sounds good to me!

[Argh]

You're welcome, Miss Hair. It sounds like an extended version of TTT would solve that critic's problems. See you later.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

I had the distinct impression (which could very well be wrong) that of the two brothers Faramir was by far the more capable leader and would be the better Steward. This resentment is why Denethor sends him out on dangerous errands and such and why Boromir is so eager to do something to eclipse his brother. Hence the lure of the ring to Boromir.

I don't think Boromir wanted to eclipse his brother. Boromir was always thrust into the forefront by Denethor, and I think Boromir was the "favorite son" of the two boys. Faramir, I agree, was a better and more natural leader, but I attribute it to the fact that he always had to play second fiddle to his older brother.

Here's a tasty bit from The Encyclopedia of Arda that attempts to explain this, and the meaning of the brother's names:

The -mir ending of Faramir's name is almost certainly 'jewel' or 'precious thing', but Fara- is much more difficult to translate. The Elvish root far- means 'sufficient' or 'adequate', so it may be that the brothers Boromir and Faramir have names related to their father's attitude toward them. As Denethor's favourite son, Boromir was perhaps the 'faithful jewel', while the less favoured Faramir was merely the 'sufficient jewel'. These speculations, of course, belong to the realm of guesswork, since Tolkien makes no definitive statement about the names' origins.

[Overtaxed]

What a bunch of wusses! They're closing down at 3:00 and it hasn't even started precipitating yet!

Now back to your normal discussion....

[RMDupree]

Thanks for the tidbit of info re: the names. The things we learn every day!! :)

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Something different for the board:

The question is:

"What is the worst/crappiest/thoughtless thing or event that your workplace has done to celebrate the holidays? A bad gift? A low-budget party?"

Discuss...

Mine happened a few years ago. The company I was working for (an international firm with over 100 offices worldwide) didn't allow us to hold any kind of Christmas party or holiday party. Instead, our "Christmas Bonus" was an autographed copy of the book the company president had written 3 years earlier. Total retail value - $11.95

23 of the 30 people that worked in my office immediately put the book in their trashbins. LOL

[ItsOurTimeNow]

You're very welcome!

Can you imagine the emotional trauma that you would experience if your name meant "adequate jewel"? LOL

[RMDupree]

Can you imagine the emotional trauma that you would experience if your name meant "adequate jewel"?

Very true. That could create quite a low self-esteem in anyone.

I'm fortunate that my name's meaning has a Samwise Gamgee flair. Ruth means "faithful friend". :)

[Lil'freeper]

Oooh, good stuff! Thanks! Perhaps eclipse was not the best way to express what I meant. I think Boromir was struggling with feelings of inadequacy, doubts that he would live up to his father's- and his people's- expectations, and resentment that for his brother things came so easily and that the men naturally looked to Faramir. Bringing home a weapon such as the One Ring would raise him in the eyes of his people and soothe his self-doubt.

I haven't started my latest re-read just yet and may be off the mark, but I think the Noble fella from the article is really missing out on an important dimension of Boromir. There was more to that guy than "bitterness" that the Stewards weren't really the King.

[HairOfTheDog]

Heh... A company I worked for was in hard times and laying off a lot of people. Morale was very low.

The Christmas gift was a canvas duffle bag with the company Logo on it. The joke was that they were sending us packing and giving us luggage! HA!

I left mine in a drawer there just in case... if I had been laid off, I thought it would be appropriate to put my stuff in when I left!

[Sam Cree]

"I think there is room in Tolkien's philosophy for lots of people to feel at home in his ideal."

I do too, except for leftists, it's pretty clear that there's not room in it for them, many of them even realize it.

I don't think it's even possible to pin down a definition of what a conservative is today, as FR clearly demonstrates, the views that fall within "conservatism" are extremely varied. A Leftist can, though, be easily defined, as the Left follows specific philosophies.

I do believe that Tolkien's views would fall somewhere within the conservative pantheon, but would undoubtedly be at odds with much of today's conservatism, especially the aspects of it that you point out.

Come to think of it, lots of folks on FR make me mad, too.

"He painted an ideal that was beautiful, but can no longer be"

I usually think that the "Shire" is in the same Anglo Saxon tradition of individual liberty that our founding fathers drew from. Perhaps you are right that it can no longer work...I like to think we should retain as much of it as we can, without our traditions, I believe we will eventually fail.