Lord of the Rings

In #wordpress_migration

I have a backlog of blog posts that I wanted to get caught up on. This blog has been pretty academic lately, so I figured a change of pace would be nice. I figured I'd post some of my thoughts on the Lord of the Rings. To set the record straight, I really like the books and the movies, but I noticed something about the movies which disturbs me somewhat: in nearly every case where the movie deviates from the books, it is in the direction of weakening the characters. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the pattern is held. Here I give a summary list of the changes to the characters. Perhaps there are more examples. Are there any counter examples?

**Character** **Comment ([M]=movie, [B]=book)**
Gandalf 1. hits his head in Bilbo's home [M] 2. staff is broken by the Nazgul [M]
Frodo 1. falls down, defenseless, when approached on Weathertop [M] 2. strikes back bravely (although ineffectually) at Weathertop [B] 3. ditches Sam in the middle of Mordor! [M]
Aragorn 1. nearly gets killed by an orc, and needs to be revived [M] 2. is not strong enough when looking in the Palantir, to counter Sauron (drops it) [M]
Sauron! 1. information about the attack on Minas Tirith is leaked to Pippin's mind during the contact with the Palantir [M] 2. Everyone knew where the next attack would be, and the attack is rushed due to Aragorn's confrontation in the Palantir [B]
Eowyn 1. Eowyn is clearly afraid up to and including the battle [M]
Faramir 1. Faramir is seduced by the ring, and takes Frodo to Osgiliath [M] 2. Faramir is only momentarily seduced by the ring, but quickly comes to his senses and lets Frodo go [B]
Eomer + Minas Tirith 1. Rohan and Minas Tirith are not enough to combat the first army of Sauron, and need the dead (called by Aragorn) to clear them out. [M] 2. Only the back-up armies and navies of Sauron are cleared out by the dead called by Aragorn, and the Rohan is enough to fend off the armies at Minas Tirith itself. [B]
King Theoden 1. Theoden needs Aragorn's prompting to help Minas Tirith. [M]

Any more?

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