How Peter Jackson Sold Out Every Character in The Lord of the Rings:  A Tolkien Rant

Please leave a comment, especially if you get through this whole thing!

Yes, I am stepping fully out of the geek closet to state that I'm a lifelong Tolkien fan, to a fairly (but not totally) unreasonable degree.    Middle Earth was my happy place growing up, even before I discovered the much larger world outside of the Lord of the Rings that Tolkien created with The Silmarillion, the Lost Tales, and the many studies that his son Christopher Tolkien has created.

To put a limiter on this Tolkien geekery, I will say that there is a level (or perhaps many levels) beyond me - the truly hard core scholars of the Tolkien Society for example.   I do not profess to be a scholar.    If we get to vote on our next world of choice, there's a fairly good chance I'll be some kind of hobbit, elf, or Balrog in my next existence.   That's assuming I'm not an inchworm because the Buddhists are correct.

As these two paragraphs have already shown, not everyone will be interested in this particular blog post.    It's been a rant I've needed to get out ever since seeing the Lord of the Rings however.    Most people that watched the LOTR in the theater were perfectly happy with it because they are the great Tolkien unwashed, never having read even the LOTR once (much less 100 times), and never gone beyond to the greater world of Arda.    Jackson's movies were entertaining - but ultimately very untrue to the core characters, especially the Nine Walkers.

There is no doubt in my mind that one day these stores will be told fully and I hope in a way that is true to the stories, the grandeur, and the unbelievable depth that JRR Tolkien spent his whole life (literally) creating. 

I understand why Peter Jackson did what he did; even with three long movies he could not get into the depth of the story and the characters.    Still, I do not feel it was necessary to cheapen and dumb down the characters as much as he did - to what I call "Sell them out".    Without further adieu, her's my list of the characters and how they were hamstrung for the sake of shortening the films or dumbing down the story for the uninitiated audience

Let's start at the top.

Frodo

Frodo was one of the many characters impacted by some (to my mind) foolish manipulation of the timeline of the events in the Lord of the Rings.   The biggest example is the fact that between B ilbo's Farewell Party and Frodo's flight from the Shire, 20 years have passed...but in the movies, Jackson shortened this to practically days.    Among many other impactful effects is this:  This Ring is like crack - anyone possessing and particularly using the One Ring would become attached or addicted to it, and would be unable to let it go.   Frodo  would not become so addicted in matter of days (or hours) as the Jackson story represents.    Over 20 years in the actual story Frodo used the ring on several occasions, and certainly possessed it for a long time.   IN the movie, he only used therein twice for very short periods.

In the movie, Frodo sends Sam away at the Pass of Cirith Ungol and went through Shelob's Lair alone.    Frodo would NEVER have sent Sam away, and Sam was with him through Shelob's Lair.   While Jackson's exploration of the empathy/sympathy Frodo had for Smeagol/Gollum, this was taking it too far.

By skipping both the adventure with Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Downs, as well as the death of Saruman in the Shire, Jackson left out important elements showing Frodo's courage, character, and the elements of fate that he was subject to.  I dearly hope the future remake of the LOTR will not omit these elements.

Samwise Gamgee

in Tolkien's LOTR, Sam defines loyalty and dedication in service to Frodo, and ultimately is shown to be a shrewd (if not overly quick on the draw) and critical element of the success of the Quest.     While Samwise as created was not hesitant to speak his mind (and was usually right), he was not what I'd call a whiner as he was portrayed in the movie - and eh was absolutely no quitter, and would NEVER have left Frodo whether ordered to or not.    His epic struggle at the Pass of Cirith Ungol and in the Tower was absolutely defining, and was almost fully skipped in the movie. 

As will be seen with Merry and Pippin as well, Sam did not stumble into his role as a member of Frodo's quest in the matter of the few hours between Bilbo's party and Frodo's departure; he was the member of a conspiracy that was committed to helping Frodo that cooked up their plans over a long period of time.    It was very shallow make it appear otherwise.

Aragorn

As the heir of Isildur and the rightful king of both Gondor and Arnor, Aragorn's ENTIRE LIFE was dedicated to the long foretold final confrontation with Sauron and regaining his crown, saving Middle Earth.    He was intimately familiar with and aware of all of the history and lore of the Elder Days and knew the ties between the current struggle and that history - and as a Nemenorean, he knew also the atonement that was due from his people.

In the movie, many references are made to Aragorn's "Turning from that path long ago" as if he had walked away from that commitment, which would never have happened,.  Aragorn also continually received help from Arwen and Elrond (in events that never occurred in the books) that were in themselves major transgressions against the tenets of the story.  Aragorn was a noble but not flashy character; his actions were not rash.   He certainly did not nearly die and disappear from the action before Helm's Deep.    What he DID do was confront Sauron directly through the use of the palantir of Orthanc AND DEFEATED HIM - an event completely left out of the movie theatrical release and mischaracterized in the extended release -     which would have been fascinating to include in toto.    What he DID do was encounter his own people the Dunedain  after the victory at Isengard, who then accompanied him on the Paths of the Dead (rather than just Legolas and Gimli). 

Aragorn was also a Numenorean and built like a Numenorean, "tall as the Sea-Kings of old".   Viggo didn't cut the mustard for me.      Aragorn has a lineage and a nobility that was not come through in the movies.

Boromir


In the small context of his time with the Fellowship, Boromir was not a major character and there were not enough events to really flesh him out - and thus he wasn't sold down the river too much.  However, his doubts about Aragorn should have been portrayed more than they were.   The funeral of Boromir was omitted from the movie (and the subsequent sightings of Boromir by his brother, a key part of the story.      As I also felt Boromir was underdeveloped in the context of the LOTR by Tolkien I'm not grousing too much here.

Merry and Pippin


I'm committing a bit of Jackson's sin by lumping these two important characters together. 

I truly objected to the way they were treated; they were only a part of Frodo's party because they happened to run into them stealing vegetables from Farmer Maggot.    While they might have done this as Hobbit teens (and in fact Frodo had don so earlier in life), at the time of the story and their ages in the story they would never have don so.    They were a part of the conspiracy to help Frodo and the team that was helping him move from Hobbiton to Crickhollow, an event again completely omitted from the movies. 

They were portrayed as completely lightweight characters throughout the story.   While Pippin was not quite the contributor Merry was, they both played key roles at key times.   Merry was instrumental in the omitted trek through the Old Forest where Bombadil was encountered; and he  was instrumental in the killing of  the Witch King of Angmar for gosh sake

Perhaps the most serious wrongdoing against these characters involved Treebeard and the Ents.    The coming of Meriadoc and Peregrin to Fangorm Forest catalyzed the outrage of the Ents, and Treebeard in his slow way had nurtured a strategy against Saruman.    The movie made it seems like all involved just bumbled into this absolutely critical battle, with Pippin "tricking" Treebeard (one of the oldest living beings in Middle Earth into a casual walk with all the Ents into a field of destroyed trees.   Nothing could be further from the spirit of the story or the characters.

At the death of Boromir, in the movie Merry and Pippin were picked up like toddlers by the Orcs and carried off.    IN the actual battle, Merry relived several Orcs of their hands and arms before being overcome - again, under-serving the valor and character of these to young hobbits.

Finally, the omission of the final battles in the shire with Saruman robbed Merry and Pippin of their showing as trained, wizened leaders capable of mustering their folk and defending their land,.   They simply came across as lightweight truants.

Gimli

Gimli the Dwarf of Erebor was a significant character in the story, representing one of the Free Peoples of Middle Earth - and it was important to the story that all the free peoples tark part in the destruction of Sauron and earning the right to Middle Earth.   Aside from being cast as comic relief and not otherwise fleshed out, there was not a lot of serious dirt that could be done to GImli -

Except that a major aspect of the story line related to Gimli was this request of Galadriel at her gift-giving ceremony at the end of the stay in Lothlorien (unfortunately omitted in the theatrical release) for a lock of her hair, for him to treasure.  This completely forward address was extraordinary, all the more because she agreed.   I learned years later that Feanor himself (a character of the Elder Days and the First Age) had requested of his cousin Galadriel many times a lock of her hair, and she had refused him.    An extraordinary centuries-long "F* you" to dead Feanor!

Legolas

Ok, so now I have to admit that there is one of the Nine Walkers not seriously dissed by Jackson, at least not in the LOTR.    The Hobbit series is another matter for another day.

Legoals was abused as a kind of "catch all" of knowledge and information he did not possess in the books, and would have had no way to possess about things like the Rohirrim and Gondor.    He was also cast as a kind of superhero vastly beyond the capabilities of any actual Elf short of Feanor or Fingolfin.    They did ned to expand his role from the books (which was not very prominent), so this can be forgiven - especially since Legolas was a fairly big hit to the moviegoers.

Gandalf

Gandalf was the bringer of hope and endurance to Elves and Men, sent to Middle Earth to combat Sauron but forbidden to do so with power.    He was the Gods' cleaner, tasked with ridding Middle Earth of the remnants of the old evil of Melkor and his servants - Sauron, Dragons, Balrogs, Orces etc.

Gandalf would never have (and did not) "lose hope" as portrayed in the Return of the King at the Council of Captains, where Aragorn has to pull him back from depressions.  .

The beginning of the tale being characterized as happening in days instead of 20 years also affects Gandalf and makes his actions seem questionable - deliberately sending the hobbits off without guidance or planning, for example. 

The re-tooled confrontation with Saruman and breaking of his staff was not included in the theatrical release, and is the moment that truly defined Gandalf as "the White". 

Overall, Gandalf received reasonable treatment consistent withe the story and his place in it overall.  IN particular the battle with the Balrog was awesome.

Other Characters and Peoples of Note


The Elves - 

When an elven army showed up at Helms Deep I was seriously bummed out.    The joining of the forces of Gil-Galad and Elendil at the end of the Second Age was called "THe Last Alliance of Elves and Men" for a reason.     The Elves did not and would not directly help Men fight Sauron again.

The Ents

I'm really chapped that the Ents were portrayed basically as idiots that had to be tricked into fighting Saruman.  The whole "When I walk South I always feel I'm walking downhill" was flat ridiculous.   Not a way to treat one of the Free Peoples, creatures thousands of years old.


The Hobbits

As a people, the Hobbits were dissed of their role and suffering during the War, and their ultimate victory over evil men and Suruman.   It just wasn't included.

Elrond

Never journeyed to visit Theoden and deliver Anduril to Aragorn.   Anduril, the Sord REforged, was with Aragorn always and was reforged before the Company left Rivendell.   Elrond would not have said that "Aragorn turned from the path of kingship long ago".

Arwen

Arwen Undomiel was a great lady of high lineage and prestige, and also several hundred years old.    Aragorn had to work his butt off to win her and deserve her.   In the movie, she is treated like a teenage warrior princess, on the road fighting the Nazgul.    This is a part of th missing nobility of the story and many of its characters.   Also, Arwen never set off for The Grey Havens to sail to Valinor.

Eomer

A key and noble character in the story, Eomer came across as a lout and a bully, even making fun of Merry (whom he highly honored in the book).    Many of his key interactions were removed altogether.

Faramir

Big time objection here.   Again, Faramir is a very noble chracter who used wisdom in his judgement in dealing with Frodo in Ithilien - he did not and would not have taken him prisoner at all, much less march him back to Osgiliath.    There did not seem to be any purpose served by this major alteration of the story, and the timeline was casually altered by the quick jaunts back and forth from Ithilien to Osgiliath and back, territory crawling with Orcs.

The Ringbearers

Frodo and Sam were accorded no congrats or honors for their incredible sacrifices, at least in the theatrical release of the movies.   Merry and Sam were accorded as much honor and while it is not a contest there's not much comparison of efforts.

You'll notices one name not on my shitlist:   Smeagol/Gollum.   I thought that this chracter was absolutely spot on, and even in the areas that Jackson expanded over the book were amazing.   The scene with Faramir was a great example.    I never expected to see Gollum in all his glory; I don't know how this character could be better done.

******

Well, there you have it.    While many might think I'm picking nits, many of these issues are at the heart of these characters, their histories, and their motivations.  How esactly I would have "fixed" these issues would be a longer discussions and probably a fourth movie.

Some of these issues would have been easily solved, some not so much.

I hope there's at least one Tolkien fan that got this far, and if so please leave a comment!

Namarie!