Peter Jackson Doesn’t Get the Hobbit
21st December 2012
He makes a good case.
Sigh. Tolkien’s Bilbo doesn’t win by being lost in a warrior’s fury. He’s plucky and creative, tough and strong enough to execute his plans. But crazy-violent? Not hardly.
And even in the magical unreality of Middle-earth where wizards and elves are part of the background, Bilbo successfully taking on the warg seemed unbelievable. Or at least inconsistent. Tolkien’s Bilbo is a hero, never a superhero.
And that’s central to The Hobbit, a story that was initially and principally about and seen through eyes of, well, a hobbit.
But Jackson has that additional six hours of so of movie to fill. He’s already said that Bilbo’s tale is only a fraction of the story he wants to tell. Maybe it will all make eventual sense and his Bilbo will become a mini-barbarian who spears Smaug. And maybe Radagast and Jar Jar Binks will show up in a grand alliance.
But whatever it becomes, it’s already pretty clear that Jackson’s Hobbit will never be Tolkien’s.
December 22nd, 2012 at 06:17
Sometimes I wonder if anyone can write without taking cheap pot-shots. In that article, which on Jackson and Tolkien is essentially correct, there there is cheap shot at Mormons. I hope the article’s author does a similar analysis on the Potter movies, which similarly omit from and alter the books.