sistermagpie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sistermagpie) wrote2003-12-20 12:26 pm
sistermagpie) wrote2003-12-20 12:26 pm
The King has returned!!!
I saw it last night. I feel many posts coming on. I did a long babbling one about my basic impressions which may just be too much for anybody to read through, but I might post it here anyway. Usually I prefer to focus on different aspects in different posts. I'll probably have to do one at least for all the hobbit stories. So I'll start with this little thing I posted on TORC today and throw it out to everybody in case they have opinions.
I've noticed that not only is Gollum one of the most popular characters with audiences, but also with critics. It seems more than once I've seen him referred to as the most interesting, complex or sophisticated in the Trilogy. The impression I get is that many critics are saying he's the "real" character, the one who seems like a true human being, more than the others. These are mostly critics who don't like the style of movie in general, I'd say, though.
It made me wonder if the reason Gollum seems so much more sophisticated is simply because he is more modern in that he is the only completely selfish character? Gollum is at all times governed by self-interest alone. He wants the ring, he wants a friend. He feels badly about wanting the ring. He's angry at having to choose. He feels sorry for himself. He's angry at being cast out of his society. Gollum's life is purely about his own survival.
By design other characters act out of a sense of what is right before what they want. The movie gives them more personal motivations that I think you can see acted everywhere, but it remains true to the text in that these personal motivations are background. It's interesting to think of Pippin trying to make good on being responsible for Gandalf's death, for Eowyn to get out of her cage, for Merry to prove himself, for Frodo and Sam to overcome their personal vulnerabilities that the ring preys on, but ultimately everyone's goal is the same. Their personal problems come second to destroying the ring for the good of all. Even Arwen, who was handled pretty well over all, ultimately becomes a non-issue. Aragorn's closest to Legolas and Gimli until the ring is destroyed. Arwen respects this, Aragorn knows this.
Does this sound on-track to anyone? I just find it interesting that Gollum's selfishness and complete disregard of the greater good seems associated with reality or sophistication, while the other characters' priorities are somehow associated with simplicity and perhaps even childishness. To me it seems the other way around. An adult knows his place in things, can recognize right from wrong and can overcome his personal desires for the greater reward.
Oh, and I loved it. Was too overwhelmed to be coherent afterwards, but yeah, I loved it. There were a couple of things I didn't love I can throw out quickly right away:
1. Gandalf bopping Denethor. It was like Bugs Bunny sneaking up and bopping Hitler. Gandalf could have found a more dignified way to take control. Ditto on Denethor's amazing final flaming sprint to the sea.
2. The endless shot of Frodo wobbling after being stung. It reminded me of my most hated shot in FOTR, the endless Frodo wobbling after being skewered. Hated it then, hated it now. The two moments on either side of this, however, were incredible.
3. Bilbo's old age make-up was too much. He looked like a gnome wearing age make-up and it distracted me from that wonderful conversation in the cart.
I've noticed that not only is Gollum one of the most popular characters with audiences, but also with critics. It seems more than once I've seen him referred to as the most interesting, complex or sophisticated in the Trilogy. The impression I get is that many critics are saying he's the "real" character, the one who seems like a true human being, more than the others. These are mostly critics who don't like the style of movie in general, I'd say, though.
It made me wonder if the reason Gollum seems so much more sophisticated is simply because he is more modern in that he is the only completely selfish character? Gollum is at all times governed by self-interest alone. He wants the ring, he wants a friend. He feels badly about wanting the ring. He's angry at having to choose. He feels sorry for himself. He's angry at being cast out of his society. Gollum's life is purely about his own survival.
By design other characters act out of a sense of what is right before what they want. The movie gives them more personal motivations that I think you can see acted everywhere, but it remains true to the text in that these personal motivations are background. It's interesting to think of Pippin trying to make good on being responsible for Gandalf's death, for Eowyn to get out of her cage, for Merry to prove himself, for Frodo and Sam to overcome their personal vulnerabilities that the ring preys on, but ultimately everyone's goal is the same. Their personal problems come second to destroying the ring for the good of all. Even Arwen, who was handled pretty well over all, ultimately becomes a non-issue. Aragorn's closest to Legolas and Gimli until the ring is destroyed. Arwen respects this, Aragorn knows this.
Does this sound on-track to anyone? I just find it interesting that Gollum's selfishness and complete disregard of the greater good seems associated with reality or sophistication, while the other characters' priorities are somehow associated with simplicity and perhaps even childishness. To me it seems the other way around. An adult knows his place in things, can recognize right from wrong and can overcome his personal desires for the greater reward.
Oh, and I loved it. Was too overwhelmed to be coherent afterwards, but yeah, I loved it. There were a couple of things I didn't love I can throw out quickly right away:
1. Gandalf bopping Denethor. It was like Bugs Bunny sneaking up and bopping Hitler. Gandalf could have found a more dignified way to take control. Ditto on Denethor's amazing final flaming sprint to the sea.
2. The endless shot of Frodo wobbling after being stung. It reminded me of my most hated shot in FOTR, the endless Frodo wobbling after being skewered. Hated it then, hated it now. The two moments on either side of this, however, were incredible.
3. Bilbo's old age make-up was too much. He looked like a gnome wearing age make-up and it distracted me from that wonderful conversation in the cart.
Gollum
Re: Gollum
Re: Gollum
In the end, Jackson left the scene out for fear of confusing the audience (Frodo as Gollum-type thing), but it hints at another reason for the liberties he took with the story: It may be that he finds evil more fascinating than good.
If this is the case, he’s hardly alone. Our culture is sadly unused to fully realized portrayals of good characters. So was Tolkien’s, in fact; when he created his hobbit hero, literary anti-heroes were very much in vogue (which may help explain why his own books were so popular). As he put it, “Goodness is . . . bereft of its proper beauty.” Now we’ve gone so far down that road that, for the most part, we seem to have run out of the resources we need to portray a really heroic hero. We find our heroes much more palatable — or so the entertainment industry assumes, anyway — with a few major flaws thrown in, perhaps to make us more comfortable with our own.
http://nationalreview.com/comment/dalfonzo200312220001.asp
Re: Gollum
I was very afraid of the changes made to Frodo and Sam's story in reading about them, but I was happy to see they didn't bother as much as I thought they would upon seeing them. Also, I always come back to the fact that many people I've encountered already elevate Sam over Frodo in exactly the way she describes because he's so difficult to understand. It's one of the most frustrating things about LOTR fandom, and seeing it all over again with the movie is even more frustrating. But ironically, I recently was talking to someone who seemed very young who didn't like Frodo in the books or the first two movies because she completely misunderstood him...and yet somehow the third movie made her finally get him. For some reason this last film made her understand that Frodo was not self-centered as she had originally seen him (how anyone could consider this character self-centered is beyond me) and they he did care about others. So I can forgive Jackson for wanting to play out the drama of Frodo fighting off the ring in an external way because I think it's in part due to him trying to show that there is a battle going on there when a lot of people don't see it.