Posted: April 04, 2000 at 20:28:48: by Tauron
I see I'm going to have to refine and defend tiny parts of my argument before I give up! I never said that no-one named their kids after Tolkien characters. I said that in twenty years of observation, I never saw any indication of Tolkien's impact whatsoever on MASS pop culture. I also don't deny that Tolkien has had an INDIRECT influence on many things. My point, once more before I call it quits, is that for millions and millions of "average Joes", the name Tolkien to this day means absolutely nothing. All this will change soon. Are we prepared? I for one will not be delighted by the "dumbing down" of Tolkien. And this is an important point: The dumbing down has absolutely no relationship to the quality of the movie. There will be a profit imperative behind Tolkiana starting next year that will REQUIRE a dumbing down in order to push as much product as possible to as many people as possible. I agree with someone else who said that some good can come out of this, but remember: the fans, purists, or whatever we want to call ourselves, do not matter a whit in this commercial onslaught to come.: Actually a lot of people have taken Tolkien names. My parents once knew someone who insisted upon being called Aragorn. As for Tolkien posters, media, etc., I have one thing to say to you: : "Frodo lives!" : Sound familiar?
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