Disdain for Lord of the Rings

I was in high school when the first Lord of the Rings movie came out. I had read the books in high school (it was required reading in English) and was entranced by the movie. The special effects were amazing: the black riders were genuinely scary, and the hobbits looked realistic when standing beside taller beings. When the other two movies came out I loved the battle scenes. They were exciting, and well choreographed. The action was intense. The book came to life before my eyes and things that I could previously only imagine became clear to me. Things like the sounds Gollum makes with his throat, or what it feels like to be invisible. At the time I heard rumours about Peter Jackson possible making The Hobbit into a movie, and the prospect thrilled me. Now, not so much.

This past Christmas I re-read the Lord of the Rings. It was like reading them for the first time again, because the movies left out so many parts of the journey I'd forgotten. In reading the books I gained a greater appreciation for Tolkien's attention to detail, not just in the the creation of Middle Earth, but in the creation and development of his characters. This is when I began to view the movie with such disgust.

Tolkien's characters are deep and intricate. They are well-intentioned, but still flawed. They are realistic. Jackson's characters are nothing more than stereotypes. For example, consider my favorite character from the novels: Gimli the Dwarf.

Jackson reduced Gimli to nothing more than a comedic side-kick. He is the brunt of many jokes, and appears at the council as nothing more than an ignorant racist redneck. He tries to break the ring with an axe (something that never happens in the novel), and mutters "I'll be dead before I see that ring in the hands of an elf!" (he never says that in the novel either). He convinces the fellowship to go to Moria, despite Gandalf's reservations (doesn't happen that way in the novel), and breathes so loud Wood Elves could shoot him in the dark (in the novels it's actually Merry and Pippin who breath too loud).

Tolkien's Gimli is too honorable to act in such a way. He has too much dignity, and is too smart. The Gimli of the novels is proud of being a dwarf, but not too proud to overlook the contributions of other races. He is not at the council, but his father Gloin is, and Gloin is there to seek the wisdom of the elves, not to take ethnic cheap shots. Tolkien's Gimli, when faced with the choice of death, or being led through Lothlorien like an enemy (blindfolded while all others walk free) grips his axe and prepares to fight. I could never see Jackson's Gimli behaving that way. All he would do is make a bad joke and then submit. To put it bluntly, dishonour is worse than death for Tolkien's Gimli. Not so for Jacksons.

It is this complexity that makes Jackson's work look so bad. When you compare the two different versions of the same character you end up with two completely different fellowships.

Jackson's Gandalf is dang near infallible. Tolkien's Gandalf actually makes some mistakes. Jackson's Boromir is a fool. Tolkien's Boromir is a proud and noble man who accepts correction, and will do anything to protect his city (and that is his fatal flaw). Jackson's Aragorn is a super-hero cliche: he's an overpowering super-fighter who doubts himself. Tolkien's Aragorn is a stealthy, street-smart Ranger, who knows what he wants and is confident without being proud. Jackson's Merry and Pippin are nothing more than village idiots, who accidentally run into Fordo as he leaves the Shire. Tolkien's Merry and Pippin are youthful and naive, but not foolish. Their allegiance to Frodo is no accident. Jackson's Elrond is a pompous, self-righteous ass, as are all elves in his movies (except for Legolas and Arwen). Tolkien's Elrond is wise, but also has a bit of humility. He is not so important that he can't be associated with other, lesser, folk.

It was inevitable that Jackson would have to cut some material to make it fit into a movie. Not everything could be included because of time constraints. However, I find his choices have turned a magnificent work into a gross oversimplification, and have dishonored the novels. Because all the characters are stereotyped we never see the true affects the ring has on anyone except Frodo. You don't have to read the books to know that Jackson's Boromir is going to try and take the ring. It's apparent right from the first council meaning. You didn't have to read the book to know Aragorn was not going to try to take the ring either. That was apparent too. I know because I watched the movies with my dad (who has never read the books) and he basically sat back and correctly predicted the movies major plot points before they happened.

There are numerous other events Jackson butchers, but I won't go into them. All I will say is this: I sure hope he doesn't get to make a movie about the Hobbit.