In other words, assuming for these purposes that Tolkien's elves have normal ears, should PJ honor that? I personally don't think so. While I'm against any changes to the story line, I support PJ's use of visual cues, even non-doctrinal ones (e.g., pointed ears, floppy feet, etc.) to let the viewer tell the races apart. Maybe the people of Middle Earth could tell the Elves by the "twinkle in their eyes," but we movie viewers sure as hell won't be able to. In short, making a movie is different than writing a book. While it was enough for Tolkien to just TELL us who was an elf and who was not, PJ doesn't have that luxury.