I was traumatized by the character changes of Faramir and I think that the
reactions you are getting are the main breaking point between the fans.
ON the one hand you have the book devotee's who worship the text and are being
forced (in some cases) to make concessions about the translation of their
beloved LOTR onto the screen, and on the other you have the movie fans who only
really know the story from what the film shows them (with perhaps the fact that
they might be investigating the book now that the movies have come out).
The book fans "get" the book Faramir and are offended and in some cases
disgusted by Fararmir's apparent "betrayal". The movie fans think the
book fans are stupid and childish with their adherence to a badly written, long
and boring book that is now made fun and interesting by it's translation to the
screen.
I find it most interesting to see the rift that is growing between the fans of
this tale. As a long time book devotee myself (I've read it at least once
per year for 25 years) I have been able to embrace, eventually, all the
differences between Tolkien's vision and Jackson's realization, but I still
have found several faults. I won't digress into a diatribe, I have done
this in an essay that I am about to publish on my own website entitled "When
Good Directors Do Bad Things" and an answer to my own essay entitled "Peter
Jackson: The Ultimate Fan Fiction Writer", but I do feel that this issue
could eventually hurt both the book sales and the movie ticket sales. As
more and more book fans are turned off the film interpretation, more and more
film fans will throw out and deride the book. It's a shame to see such a
thing happen when in my humble opinion, the film and the book are two seperate
entities that mirror each other. I am able to love both book and film for
completely different reasons. And let us remember the disclaimer that
appears at the end of the final credit roll that states "Based on the book by
J.R.R. Tolkien" or some such thing. It clearly says "based on" meaning
that Peter Jackson and team have put their own spin on it, much as the LOTR fan
fiction writers do the same. He is not different and I don't condemn him
for it. I will say that I disagree with some of his views, but on the
whole I am grateful for his ability to keep the story fresh and enjoyable to
all, if they let themselves enjoy it.
Sincerely
Hobbit Lass
(Janet
Elizabeth)
Hobbit Lass
(Janet Elizabeth)
http://home.golden.net/~ishtar
The Green Dragon Inn
