Lord of The Rings...Final thought...

As I began to analyze Harry Potter a little more, I too began to wonder as to why Lord Of The Rings didn't catch on as much. In my personal belief, I absolutely love Lord Of The Rings. I love reading the books and watching the movies and seeing how intense they got. They certainly made the movies so well and remember first reading them and getting so hyped to read them! I even remember how Legolas was and still certainly is my favorite character. Legolas is just so badass and makes any situation seem that much more hardcore and diehard. However, when I was analyzing I did of course forget to realize the obvious, Lord Of The Rings books and movies were not made necessarily with the intention of having readers and viewers as young as the Harry Potter stories. But believe it or not, I found that Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter share a lot of the same qualities.....in the sense that they both have "underdogs" or small characters that end up doing great things and taking on big, they are written in a fictional work that is easy to tap into and understand, and there is huge and apparent theme of good versus evil- with good always triumphing in the end. Yay or nay, thoughts on this one guys?

This may be a little late, but finals week is coming, so give me a break.

Lord of the Rings is not what I expected it to be. I actually enjoyed reading it and discussing it in class, which was a very big shock to me. I am usually not really into science fiction and fantasy things, but Lord of the Rings kind of made me change my mind.

My favorite discussion we had in class was about why a ring was chose as the object of magic rather than a person. The theory I agree with most is that a ring is a very generic object, and it is easy to view it as encompassing all temptation rather than just one. If the story depicted a person as possessing all the magic, first of all, the name of the story would make no sense, but that character would also most likely have one fatal flaw, and that one fatal flaw would correspond with one specific temptation. Having a ring be the magical object makes it easy to align it with any temptation, and not just have it focus on one temptation in general.

I think the use of the ring also plays an important role in human decency as well. People do not want to believe that another person can be inherently evil like the ring it, and giving someone the powers the ring has would make that a true case. Instead, the story has someone who is meant to destroy the ring. Giving someone the mission of destroying something evil paints humanity in a better light than having the person be the thing that is so evil.

I also like that the story has a very clear cut view of good and evil. It is so easy to see who is good and who is bad, and I think that is one of the reasons the story is so popular. People like having someone to root for, an underdog that they hope will be the victor at the end of the story. This concept of good and evil can also translate to the real world because people want to believe that if they do the right thing and make the right decisions, good things will happen to them and they will live a happy life. I think these concepts are what have kept this story going for so long and why it is so popular. At least, they are what won me over.

side note about Harry Potter

I always liked Harry Potter. The movies attract all generations. There is lust, magic, good vs. evil, and anticipation. I loved how there where times the audience knew more than the characters. Unlike other famous works like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter provides an alternate world that every person daydreamed about when they were children.

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The books are so detailed to the point where you feel as if you are standing next to Harry Potter. You get to know enough about each character, which keeps the readers hooked and the audience starts to pick favorites.

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Lord of the Rings is focuses more on the current situation and the ring. Twilight mainly became popular because readers got to learn about the characters which allowed them to connect and become attached. I believe Harry Potter is very popular because it is based off fantasies this century has created. This movie brings child's make-believe stories alive and brings out our inner child. Lord of the Rings was very popular because the books came out right after a war and this good vs. evil plot is exactly what the people of that decade wanted. The pasted few decades the audiences interest have changed and this is one reason why Harry Potter was able to be this successful.








blog post #6

Facts you didn’t know about Lord of the Rings and J. R. R. Tolkien:

1) Tolkien fought in WWII but only enlisted because his family pressured him. In fact, he applied for a program that allowed him to complete his degree. He only made it out of the war alive because he contracted Trench Fever, which is a disease that is carried by lice. It isn’t serious, just pretty unpleasant and was pretty common during WWI. He was deemed “unfit for general services.”

2) Tolkien was friend with C. S. Lewis (he wrote Chronicles of Narnia if anyone has been under a rock for the last few decades.

3) The Special Editions of all three of the movies are 158 minutes longer than the Theatrical releases.

4) WHAT EVERYONE COMPLAINS ABOUT. Tolkien did not have the eagles fly the crew to Mount Doom because he did not want to give the impression that they were “Middle-Earth taxis.” They are their own race. Also, he found them one-dimensional and did not like them.

5) The first Portuguese version of The Hobbit was changed into O Gnomo (the Gnome).

6) Christopher Lee (Saruman) is the only actor in the Lord of the Rings films to have met Tolkien. In fact, Tolkein’s dying wish was to have Lee play Gandalf if there was ever a Lord of the Rings film. Adding to his badassory, Lee formed a metal band, holds the Guinness Book world record for being the tallest leading actor in Hollywood (6 foot 5), and he was related to Emperor Charlemagne.

7) When Tolkein’s son Michael went into the army, he had to fill in paper work. Under his father’s profession, he wrote ‘Wizard.’

8) In the 1960s the Beatles approached Stanley Kubrick with an idea: they wanted to make a live action version of the Lord of the Rings.  It would have featured John Lennon as Gollum, Ringo Starr as Sam, George Harrison as Gandalf, and Paul McCartney as Frodo. But Kubrick wasn't interested.

9) Sean Connery turned down the role of Gandalf because he didn't understand the story.

10) Tolkien would often start lectures off in an energetic way. Sometimes he would put on full chain mail armor or come in reciting the first lines from Beowulf at the top of his lungs.

11) Tolkien did not see Frodo as the hero of The Lord of the Rings he said that the true hero was Sam. From that perspective, it would change the opinion of any first time reader.

4 of 5

Harry Potter, my life in a nutshell

Harry Potter was introduced to me by simply hearing it every night my mom would read it to me. I was just getting the concept of reading at that time. Because I couldn't read, the entire time I sat there and listened I created my own world in my head. Once I got to reading, the world only got more and more vivid and an escape. The very same can be said about Lord of the Rings. Out of the two, Lord of the Rings is usually my favorite, but it depends on the day because I really love Harry Potter too.

However, the real emphasis I want to make on this post is what both of these books/movies did for me. Every kid has something they like barbies, cars, guns, sports, you name it. Well my hobbies were drawing, writing, movies and books. The thing that all of those have in common is that they all had to deal with different types of people, places, and creatures. I loved the idea of living in a world far from ours.

The moment I read the books, even more watching the movies, I became obsessed. I was taken away, quite literally. The pure magic, no pun intended, that was created on the pages and screen were beyond my comprehension at the time. Ever since I ever heard the words Harry Potter or Frodo Baggins, I’ve always wanted to make my own story. It’s definitely one of my life time goals that is definitely in the making.