The Hobbit

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by wilas101

replacing glorfindel with arwen burned my ass.

Why? Look, I really like Glorfindel. He's a very cool character. In fact, for years I've had this idea that in the far recesses of his mind, during the Council of Elrond, when Gandalf is saying "even if you were to give us an Elf Lord of your house, he could not open the road by the power that is in him", Frodo was over there thinking "shut up Gandalf -- I love Merry and Pippin, but I'll take Glorfindel thanksallthesame."

But the plot is already complicated enough to squeeze it into the timeframe he had, letting Arwen do it reduces the number of characters in the series and also introduces a strong female character to help connect with the women in the audience. Let's face it, women do NOTHING in Lord of the Rings. Nothing on-stage anyway.

What Arwen does is also consistent with Tolkien's other works, so it's not absurd in the context of his world either. Luthien faced off Sauron (with Huan doing the grunt work) and then Morgoth himself in the Lay of Lethian. Frankly, all she really does is help partially heal Frodo (very consistent with Luthian and Arwen's own father (Elrond) and grandmother (Galadriel)'s abilities, and then steal a bit of Gandalf's thunder with the horses.

Would I personally have preferred to just stay true to the books? Yes. But I get why he made the changes and frankly, they're just not that big a deal to me.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Would I personally have preferred to just stay true to the books? Yes. But I get why he made the changes and frankly, they're just not that big a deal to me.

I have a friend that absolutely loathes the LOTR trilogy simply because they cut out the Tom Bombadil section of FOTR. I love the books too but I'm not that big of a purist.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Frosty

I have a friend that absolutely loathes the LOTR trilogy simply because they cut out the Tom Bombadil section of FOTR. I love the books too but I'm not that big of a purist.

Ditto, though my friend doesn't "loathe" the trilogy, he's just really upset about leaving out Tom Bombadil.

As if he's integral to the story or would be worth the extra half-hour they'd need (at least) to cover all that stuff. Seriously, what was Jackson supposed to do? Be completely faithful and make three five hour movies??

[otherstar]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

But the plot is already complicated enough to squeeze it into the timeframe he had, letting Arwen do it reduces the number of characters in the series and also introduces a strong female character to help connect with the women in the audience. Let's face it, women do NOTHING in Lord of the Rings. Nothing on-stage anyway.

I hope your being sarcastic here. Did you NOT see who killed the Witch-King of Angmar during the Battle of Pelennor Fields? Um, Eowyn...Shieldmaiden of Rohan. The movie-adaptation did not use the books dialogue, but the spirit of the scene is the same: no MAN can kill the Witch King, but a WOMAN did (with help from a Hobbit).

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by otherstar

I hope your being sarcastic here. Did you NOT see who killed the Witch-King of Angmar during the Battle of Pelennor Fields? Um, Eowyn...Shieldmaiden of Rohan. The movie-adaptation did not use the books dialogue, but the spirit of the scene is the same: no MAN can kill the Witch King, but a WOMAN did (with help from a Hobbit).

Meh, they sort of left the part out about the special abilities of the "hobbit's" sword. But whatevs. (I still see your point, though.)

/fanboi

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by otherstar

I hope your being sarcastic here. Did you NOT see who killed the Witch-King of Angmar during the Battle of Pelennor Fields? Um, Eowyn...Shieldmaiden of Rohan. The movie-adaptation did not use the books dialogue, but the spirit of the scene is the same: no MAN can kill the Witch King, but a WOMAN did (with help from a Hobbit).

You're absolutely right -- Eowyn gets one shining moment in the book, and in the movie.

But aside from that, there's very little that women do in the book that is particularly active. Galadriel's contributions are absolutely invaluable, but they're indirect and/or off-screen. He wanted a stronger female character. He ditched Glorfindel to give Arwen more screen time. Hardly worth going bananas over.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by otherstar

I hope your being sarcastic here. Did you NOT see who killed the Witch-King of Angmar during the Battle of Pelennor Fields? Um, Eowyn...Shieldmaiden of Rohan. The movie-adaptation did not use the books dialogue, but the spirit of the scene is the same: no MAN can kill the Witch King, but a WOMAN did (with help from a Hobbit).

that part was super gay

[otherstar]

Originally Posted by loochy

that part was super gay

It wouldn't have been so gay had they used the dialogue from the book, or even come close to it.