Posted on 11/21/2002 10:02:34 AM PST by JameRetief
Although I love the movie, I do still wish they had not expanded Arwens part. I hear they are expanding the parts of Arwen and Eowyn more in TT. They were just fine the way they were in the book!
I know I know, it's to get the peeps in to see the movie who have never read the book.
And what's up with the poster that shows Aragorn with Arwen and Eowyn behind him? What does that have to do with the actual story, anyway? If you didn't know the books you would think Aragorn is the main hero and those are his 2 babes. Sheesh!!!
True, but not comprehensive.
The book is about an epic quest and medieval style warfare. Females are utterly outclassed in this type of combat.
Some argue that women of today can function effectively in combat. And they are probably perfectly capable of competing equally as pilots and in other combat roles. But few will claim that women could serve effectively in the Special Forces or paratroopers.
Muscle-powered combat, as in LOTR, puts an enormously greater empasis on physical prowess than any form of modern combat. Putting women into a pike formation or a heavy cavalry unit would be like putting them into the defensive line of an NFL team. They just could not compete, and as a result would be quickly slaughtered.
One of the most irritating aspects of much modern fantasy is its predilection to just ignore the basic facts of human biology.
That's not all that far off.
Aragorn is one of the four main heroes of LOTR, the other three being, IMHO, Gandalf, Frodo and Sam.
The book made it obvious that Eowyn had a serious crush on Aragorn, although in a somewhat immature way.
Like you, I'm not crazy about the tampering with the canonical story to get the broads into the action more, since I think the heroics of Eowyn stand out better in isolation. But I think most of us recognize that PJ has accomplished something I would have have not believed possible.
BTW, I wonder what will happen when ROTK premieres and people realize that all the Bad Men have dark skins? If he stays true to The Book.
BTW, I wonder what will happen when ROTK premieres and people realize that all the Bad Men have dark skins? If he stays true to The Book.
Not actually true; they are allies of Sauron, but as you recall from the Oliphaunt scene, Sam speculates whether they were forced to come and fight for Sauron. It's not clear at all that these people are evil.
Also, there are plenty of "whites" who are on the wrong side...Dunlendings fighting for Sauruman (although I hear no mention of them in TTT coming soon? Has Peter Jackson elminated them?)....the wraiths who Aragorn calls to fulfill their oaths...the "black" Numenoreans who go over to the service of Sauron, etc.
Democrats are from Angmar.
You're right. Except there are several other places in Tolkien where the Southern peoples are portrayed as being peculiarly prone to Sauron's influence. Couldn't give you chapter and verse, but it's in there.
He makes a big thing about how (for the most part) only the Edain and their relatives (the Northern peoples) are resistant to evil. That's over the entire 6000 years or so covered in his history, so it starts to look a lot like a genetic type of thing.
Only about half the Men in Sauron's army are Southerners. The rest are from the East. The only thing I remember about them is they tend to fight with axes and wear beards. Nothing about skin color.
BTW. From what I hear, they are going to portray Saruman's attack on Rohan as a genocidal war to exterminate humans. If Dunlendings make up a big chunk of his army, it kind of puts a crimp in this storyline.
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