Watkins, p.

Kate
Ms. Lara
Rhetoric
4/4/2022
Why People Should Read The Lord of the Rings books Before They Watch the Movies

Too many people just watch the films of The Lord of the Rings and are choosing not to
read the original novels. J.R.R. Tolkien’s imaginative writing takes you on a wonderful journey
of good versus evil through his world of Middle-Earth. Peter Jackson (director of The Lord of
the Rings and The Hobbit movies) changed many things in his films and this is understandable.
Tolkien’s stories are long and complicated. While most of Jackson’s changes turn out badly,
some of his changes made the movie more enjoyable. The mischievous fireworks scene that
introduces Merry and Pippin is lighthearted and humorous. Scenes like this may be more
appealing to younger audiences but other changes appeal to more selective audiences. The
addition of the romantic elvin warrior, Tauriel, in The Hobbit films and Arwen’s introduction as
a warrior princess in The Fellowship of the Ring may appeal to people who enjoy more female
action and romance. One of the producers of The Lord of the Rings admits that the filmmakers
were going to change things in the film: “I always got the impression that, as far as studios go,
New Line definitely has a tradition of allowing the filmmaker to run with it” (Porras 17).
Therefore, when the films change Tolkien’s ideas and themes, people tend to miss out on the
bigger messages of Tolkien’s full story. The Lord of the Rings movies should be read before
watching an adaptation of Tolkien’s works.
The Lord of the Rings movies tend to veer towards one part of the plot. For example, The
Return of the King focuses too much on the Sam-Gollum grudge match by drawing extra
material from the previous movie, The Two Towers. If people watch the movie first, this may
cause them to think that the theme is about a competition between two minor characters just to
win the heart of Frodo and the powerful message of overcoming good and evil might be lost.
While the movie does show Sam’s tussle with Gollum and instant dislike of the creature as it is
in the book, they resolve the tension much more easily than on the screen. After a few small
arguments in the book, Sam tells Gollum,“It’s alright. No hard feelings.” (The Two Towers 700).
Gollum replies, “Nice Sam” (The Two Towers 700). The two characters are mostly forgiven after
that. In the film, though, Frodo has to break up many large arguments between the two foes.
When chastised by his master about his dislike of Gollum, Jackson’s Sam tells Frodo, “He’s a
villain” (The Two Towers). Jackson’s Gollum, whenever Frodo’s back is turned, calls Sam,
“Nasty fat hobbit!” repeatedly throughout the film (The Two Towers). The tension between the
two is never resolved in the Peter Jackson films. One scholar says this about the topic: “Sam’s
fidelity and devotion to Frodo masks a heavy-handedness which cuts Gollum’s repentance before
it can express itself and take hold” (Elison 28). Jackson’s changes to Tolkien’s theme takes away
from the message of good and evil that we could learn from and makes it into a simple story of
good and evil that does not focus on the depth and complexity of the characters’ personalities.
Another flaw in The Lord of the Rings movies is that they tend to flatten out interesting
characters. For example, in The Lord of the Rings movies, Frodo’s character is changed into
someone who is easily seduced by villains instead of the strong protagonist in the books that
struggles but overcomes through perseverance. Tolkien’s Frodo decides to take the Ring because
he knows in his heart that it is the right thing to do and is willing to brave many perils (The
Fellowship of the Ring 61). However, in the third film, The Return of the King, Jackson’s Frodo
believes Gollum when he tells Frodo that Sam wants the Ring and will take it for his own. When
Sam proposes the idea of sharing the Ring to help give Frodo a lighter burden, Frodo only sees
this as a treachery. “The Ring is mine! My own!” he tells Sam. “You can’t help me anymore. Go
home, Sam.” Sam, crushed by sadness, obeys and leaves in tears. Although Sam does propose
sharing the ring in the book as well, Tolkien’s Frodo lightly refuses and knows that Gollum will
try to betray them and is not as trustworthy towards the hobbits as he pretends to be (The Two
Towers 691, 698). One movie critic comments on Jackson’s characters:“Most of the characters in
the films are mere shadows of those in the books, weak and diminished (notably Frodo) or
insulting caricatures (Pippin, Merry, and Gimli)” (Croft).
Jackson also makes Merry and Pippin into the awkward comic relief, instead of the
unsung heroes of Tolkien’s book The Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien’s Merry and Pippin, when
finding out that their cousin Frodo is leaving, tell him a powerful speech of friendship and love
(The Fellowship of the Ring 101-103). Jackson’s Merry and Pippin are placed instead in the
Council of Elrond and make a serious scene too comedic. After hearing that Sam was not in
trouble for spying on the Council and is instantly granted permission to go with Frodo, the duo
steps out and comedically proclaim that they should be sent along as well. “Anyway, you need
people of intelligence on this sort of mission… quest…thing.” Pippin tells Elrond in the film.
“Well, that rules you out, Pip.” replies Merry sarcastically. Pippin foolishly nods his head to
agree, and then gets the point and frowns at Merry. Pippin’s line about intelligence is in
Tolkien’s book, but is portrayed as an insult towards Pippin instead of a silly remark. At the end
of the film version of the Council, Elrond announces the formation of the Fellowship of the Ring
and Pippin is first to react. “Great!” he exclaims. “Where are we going?” This suggests that
Pippin has no clue what was going on, even after spying on the entire Council. Tolkien’s Pippin
pleaded to follow the Fellowship out of loyalty for his friends and family and is not as clueless as
he is in The Fellowship of the Ring film.Tolkien’s Elrond is eventually moved by the power of
the hobbits’ friendship, and allows the duo to accompany the rest of the Fellowship. This scene
took place after the Council in the book, and Pippin and Merry never spied on the council like
they did in the film. One critic comments on the negativity of Jackson’s characters with the
quote: “Tolkien's books are not without their humorous moments, but the kind of crude comedy
Jackson adds works against the tension of highly serious scenes… There is a type of comic
fantasy… that can sometimes shade into high fantasy; but pure high fantasy takes itself seriously
and cannot shade back into the comic without serious damage to its themes… Jackson
unfortunately does show a tin ear for tone,... and inserts some banal dialogue based on nothing in
the books” (Croft). When Jackson overuses the comedy in this scene, Tolkien’s message of
friendship is lost, and people will probably think that these two characters are just there to be the
cheesy comic relief instead of the strong but overlooked sidekicks.
Peter Jackson also adds in completely new storylines to The Hobbit and The Lord of the
Rings that Tolkien never had.One example is the addition of the Kili-Tauriel romance. Tolkien’s
book, The Hobbit, never had a character named Tauriel. Peter Jackson invented her to add a
strong female warrior into his films. Jackson’s second Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug,
focuses on Tauriel meeting with Kili in the Mirkwood dungeons and the two fall in love. After
later finding out that Kili is in danger of dying from orc poison, Tauriel sets off on a journey to
rescue him that takes up the second half of the film with Legolas hot on her heels to prove his
love for her (Jackson, The Desolation of Smaug). This plotline was never in Tolkien’s book and
will take away from the message of good versus evil by making the movie about an elf-dwarf
love triangle. In Jackson’s third Hobbit movie, The Battle of the Five Armies, Tauriel joins the
battle to help the elves and dwarves. Kili jumps in to save her from dying, but tragically dies
himself (Jackson, The Battle of the Five Armies). At the end of the movie, Jackson shows a
heartbreaking scene of Tauriel sobbing over Kili’s dead body (The Battle of the Five Armies).
Tolkien’s Kili wasn’t a major character in The Hobbit and his death is mourned by Bilbo, but the
way he died was not as graphic as Jackson chose to make it. One critic comments on Jackson’s
films with the quote:
There are moments close to perfection in the Jackson films, but they are unfortunately

outweighed by moments where those familiar with the books can see no compelling

cinematic reason for Jackson’s egregious changes to the original text. It often seems that

two completely separate crews worked on this film, one caring deeply about Tolkien's

vision, on the sets, costumes, and locations, and another, interested only in entertaining a

mass audience, on the script (Croft).

When Jackson added a love triangle to his movies that was never in Tolkien’s book, the theme of
good versus evil was pushed aside. People that watch the movie will probably think that The
Hobbit is just a romantic tragedy and Bilbo’s story will be forgotten.
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy also exaggerates Aragorn’s love triangle. One
movie critic writes on this topic: “The only drag on the proceedings of The Two Towers is
Aragorn’s love triangle, which feels like something of a distraction and a placeholder” (Minnow
Common Sense Media The Two Towers). In The Two Towers, we are introduced to the character
of Eowyn. After meeting Aragorn, she begins to fall in love with him. While these two did have
a relationship in the book, Jackson’s Aragorn, remembers a series of sexy flashbacks of himself
and Arwen professing their love for each other in Rivendell before the story of The Lord of the
Rings (The Two Towers). In The Return of the King, the Ring causes Arwen to become ill. Soon
after, Aragorn has a dream about Arwen becoming ill and she eventually dies. Overcome with
shock, Aragorn drops the Evenstar pendant (which was an engagement gift from Arwen) and it
shatters. Aragorn is heartbroken and becomes moody and sullen. After being crowned king of
Gondor at the end of the film, he is shocked to see Arwen coming towards him with a hand-
woven banner. The two share a storybook-like kiss and are not shown for the rest of the film
(Jackson, The Return of the King). Tolkien’s Arwen is only mentioned on a couple of pages
throughout The Lord of the Rings as the Lady of Rivendell in The Fellowship of the Ring and
then as Aragorn’s bride in The Return of the King as they settle into their new life together at the
end of the book. Overdoing this love triangle diminishes Aragorn’s complexity, and makes him
into a starstruck, fairy tale prince instead of a strong leader who works through the high
expectations of the leaders around him to help overcome evil.
The Lord of the Rings books should be read before watching the movies so that the tale’s
message of good versus evil might be comprehended more deeply. The Lord of the Rings movies
tend to veer towards one part of the plot which causes people to focus on certain heroes and
added storylines that take away from the story’s message of good and evil in everyone’s lives.
The Lord of the Rings movies also flatten out interesting characters and reduce the theme of
struggling to overcome evil by taking away the characters’ depth and complexity. Finally, The
Lord of the Rings movies add in and exaggerate certain parts of the story which will cause people
to think the movies are all about a flashy hero and forbidden, star-crossed love instead of the true
message of overcoming evil through strength, courage, perseverance, and bravery. J.R.R
Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, was presented with a screenplay for an animated
adaptation of his films many years ago. “They may think that they know more about Balrogs
than I do, but they can’t expect me to agree with them” (Croft). Personally, I agree with Tolkien.

Works Cited Page

Croft, Jannet Brennan “The Mines of Moria: Anticipating and Flattening in Peter Jackson’s The
Fellowship of the Ring” 2003
Elison, John “Images of Evil in Tolkien’s World” 2001
Jackson, Peter “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2001
Jackson, Peter “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” 2002
Jackson, Peter “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” 2003
Minnow, Nell “Common Sense Media Movie Reviews: The Two Towers”
Thompson, Kristin “The Frodo Franchise: Lord of the Rings and Modern Hollywood” 2007
Tolkien, J.R.R. “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” 1954
Tolkien, J.R.R. “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.” 1965
Tolkien, J.R.R. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” 1966