The White Council

Re: "Hey you with the pointy ears!..." [warning: long rant about purists]

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: [BIG SNIP]

: Well, I guess the first cue on whether your message is offensive to ME, at least, is how long it stays on the board. :)

: Frankly, I saw nothing inflammatory about it. Yes, I'm a purist. I also happen to be a big booster of the movies. Sometimes that gets lost in the shuffle. The things about which I complain are stylistic issues. Jackson's people consulted me on swords and rather obscure things, not on how the hobbits should appear, whether Elves have pointed ears, etc. Perhaps I should have spoken up. Perhaps not.

: The Bible says a spring cannot send forth both bitter water and sweet, so perhaps all the bitterness people see in my messages is spoiling the sweetness, and if so then it serves me right for trying to play both sides at once.

: I welcome the movies. I applaud Jackson for taking on a very ambitious project, not only in the scope of the story he must bring to the big screen, but also in the daunting prospect of dealing with many fans who doubtless would like to see the movies done differently. He knew he would be criticized from all corners when he began this. I think he has weathered the storm well.

: But these movies, much though I believe I will appreciate them (and for me the thrill of anticipating things which might show up because I suggested them is a very special feeling I cannot hold with other movies), are not movies which will even come close to representing Tolkien's Middle-earth. By pointing that out now, I will be able to say -- when the inevitable torrent of complaints emerges after the first movie is shown -- that I knew all along it would not be Tolkien's Middle-earth, and that I did not burden Jackson with the expectation of what I wanted to see.

: I do hope that someone else, somewhere down the road, will do a better job in terms of faithfulness to the look and feel of Tolkien's world. That is easily doable with the resources Jackson has available to him, and indeed with considerably fewer resources. Some of the things he has done demonstrate a real lack of understanding (the big feet, for example) and people are going to hang him for that. That's part of the business. It's not like better advice could not be had, but we cannot assume that the advice was easily to be found or had.

Yes, the movie will reflect Jackson's vision and not Tolkien's, which is why I'm not going to set my expectations too high. The only way Tolkien's vision will ever be brought to the screen is if a purist with the clout and financial support to do things HIS way takes on the project as a labor of love. Before I heard that they were making the movie with Jackson I was hoping that Spielberg was a secret Tolkien fanatic.