Troy - sigh

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_FVYg3QWXBwwcLcOn3jYhlhxYDL-2EiMF0CP6qg4DZfwRsvZ7y9fCuwUCJ21lHsWuwZV>
Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 19:35:04 +1200

David Cake:

[transferred from the Heroquest-RPG list because of nil gloranthan content]

> >I wouldn't wish that on the poor Achaeans - the Trojans would end up being
> >lead by a warrior Helen, who steals all the good scenes.

> If you are objecting to Peter Jackson not lovingly recreating
>Tolkiens authentic '40s sexism and relegating all but one of the
>female characters actions to the appendix, you might be the sort of
>Tolkien fan that, well, really objects to Tolkien being made into
>GOOD films.

I have to wonder at the GOOD films being referred to because I was surprised at the large number of innovations in the Rings trilogy that were either hamfisted or cackhanded. I could see the point of omitting the scouring of the shire because it would look heinleinesque to a modern audience. I was even prepared to forgive a number of goofs such as the sewer under a river (at Osgilitath in the extended TTT), Agincourt longbow worship and affiliated military stupidity. There is a lot of good points in it such as Gollum, the appearance of the Pirates of the Black Pearl, the Oiliphaunts etc. But quite a lot of the changes made me wonder if the loser of all plots had run amok in the adaptations department.

• What type of dark lord is it that makes his nazgul wear petrol-soaked rags?
• What was the point of replacing the scene where Gandulf confronts the Witchking at the Gates of Minas Tirith with three trolls?
• What do the massive character changes such as turning Elrond into a snivelling appeaser and Denethor into a nasty little thing with a whiff of pederasty actually give us in terms of the story? Speaking of which, what was the point of demonstrating that Denethor can run a hundred metres in 6.3 seconds while being burned alive?
• The defeatism is almost gobsmacking. If Legolas can defeat an oiliphaunt without breaking a sweat then why is he worried about being outnumbered earlier in an impregnable fortress to the extent that he's arguing about it in a public place in front of a crowd of civilians in a language that they can understand? Odysseus beat up Thersites for far less.
• The military decisions that King Theoden takes in the Two Towers are a lot sillier than the decisions made for him while he's suffering from Saruman's spell for some odd reason.

Rory:

>A) Almost gives the ring to the Nazgul (whether as an offering, or by putting
>it on)

A freudian would make something of the fact that Frodo was submissively offering his ring to a dark rider...

--Peter Metcalfe