Me and The Lord of the Rings

I have officially watched The Lord of the Rings. Yes, all three movies, The Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers and The Return of the King.

It was quite the experience.

What really made LOTR interesting for me was the massive (and at times conflicting) amounts of information I heard about it before actually viewing the movies or reading the books.

Pictures, music, movie posters, interviews, books, snatches of silly conversations discussing who of my friends were biggest fans, and lengthy discussions on whether or not LOTR was a Christian allegory, or even supportive of the Christian faith at all.

I’ll never forget the first time LOTR was “explained” to me. I came upon two teenage male friends of mine discussing Eomer’s cry (or should I say roar?) of anguish when he thinks his sister is dead. Concerned for the poor boys' sanity, I asked what on earth they were talking about. I was then treated to twenty minutes of both boys explaining all three movies, all the characters (by their various names) and all the plot lines in no particular order while interrupting each other to debate which battle was the bloodiest. From this crash course I understood that LOTR contained the following: LOTS of bloody battles, no girls, a ring,the main character reminded me of a dog, and there was a really creepy deformed obsessed ... um, thing that said " MY Preeeecious!!!" constantly.

I would have continued in this misconception if Debi had not succumbed to the ranks of LOTR fandom about a year ago. It didn't take long for her to set me straight on my misgivings. For instance I though the Ring was good.

Debi was appalled, and that's putting it mildly.

I reasoned that anyone could make that mistake, after all they are called "The Lord of the RINGS"! Debi also informed me that there were girls, THREE in fact. I had always thought there were two girls, a blond and a brunette, somehow to me Miranda Ott and Cate Blanchett looked alike, don't ask how.

Also, it was Frodo, not Frofro, thank Goodness.

I do have to admit, my one big bone to pick with J.R.R. Tolkin is is names. What on earth did he mean by naming two out of the only three girls almost the EXACT SAME SOUNDING NAME??? Really! To be honest I'm still not sure which is which... and don't even get me started on Sauron and Saruman.

My favorite part? Hobbits. Hands-down, Merry, Pippin, and Sam will always be my heroes. If I could chose another life, I would be a hobbit. Minus the big feet of course, but plus the adorable houses with the round doors.

Oh and Aragorn is awesome, Gimli maked me laugh until my sides ached, and I think the Rohan horses are beautiful!

When asked, I will say that I like Lord Of the Rings. Decent movies.

But do I LOVE them? Do I think they are most awesome movies ever made? Do I think they are good christian allegories?

I dunno.

Right now, I really have no idea. I'll never really be able to answer that last question. After all it's a lot to take in all at once, after all, all together I probably watched over 20 hours of Middle Earth by watching both the Regular and Extended additions. But I thought by writing all my LOTR-ian thoughts down I might end up somewhere. As long as that somewhere isn't Mount Doom, I'll be happy.


P.S. If you were wondering, no I am not going to read the books, my main reasons being:

a) I really don't have the time.

b) I really don't have the necessary interest.

c) Why bother when I have a walking, talking All-Things-Middle-Earthian

dictionary (a.k.a. Debi) available 24-7?