{se·man·tics n. The meaning or the interpretation of a word, sentence, or other language form}
"Semantics" isn't necessarily a bad word, as many disagreements hinge on how we define our terms.
Here, we'll talk semantics, movies, technology, politics, and just about everything else under the sun.
Welcome.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Am I the only #$!@^# @#^# who can't stand THE LORD OF THE RINGS movies?
First, to really dig the movies you need to read the book. J.R.R. Tolkein wrote in alot of allusions to the way that Industry was taking over the respect for Nature during that time period. Hence, the whole fixation with Steel,raising an army and Nature (the tree lords) fighting back....the whole book was like one big allegory for how distrustful Tolkein was of Industry and the beginning dependancy on machines to do things that men (and women) did for centuries. This is the part of the story that almost no one ever gets.
Of course, there's also the story of how a person no matter how small or frail or insignificant they must feel, this person can still make a difference that affects the lives of many. Just about everyone gets this part, but the deeper, more political aspects of the book are the ones that are most interesting to understand. Now back to the movie....
A lot of people got caught up in the HYPE of LOTR without really understanding what LOTR was all about. People were only going to see the flick because it was touted as the most expensive movie ever made...plus the special effects were hyped as well. Now the people that were hyping the movie are the same ones who used to clown cats like me for reading the book back day. Damn shame. Anyway, I'm not sure why you didn't like the movie, but I can only guess that all of the hype surrounding the movie made it feel like someone was trying to sell you some futuristic car that no one else owned or drove only to find out after buying it that it's really no different than the car you're driving now. Basically, a let down. And I know how much you enjoy movies and not just for the pretty lights and effects, so I'm sure that you feel thoroughly disgusted with the whole series. But what I would emplore you to do is to go out and purchase the book. Don't get the movie adaptation books, get the real joint (you don't have to get the one with the Expanded Appendix...unless of course, you're interested in learning Elvish); It's 1,216 pages long so you'll want to take maybe a weekend and do nothing but read. No TV, no movies, no phone...just read. And if you really want the full understanding of the book get its' precursor, The Hobbit. I guarantee that after really reading these two books, you'll come to appreciate the movie a little bit more. The movie was pretty faithful to the concepts and action of the book, but there's still somethings here and there that got left out in the interest of time. Trust me on this one aight?
That is the tightest LotR explanation/dissection I've ever read, vipe! Thanks!
I said, waybackwhen, that this movie (people say it's just one big movie) wasn't about being a great movie that tells a great story. It was more about being a great adaptation for people who already believe the story's great. Your write-up confirms that.
Too bad, really, because I walked in there with an open mind. Someone should've been handing out disclaimers that say, "If you're a newbie, this ain't your mewbie...err, movie." I would've saved my money.
The movie seemed to take a lot for granted; it assumed the audience was familiar with certain characters and story elements that were completely new to me. I never read or saw a single Hobbit story. Hell, there was a restaurant around here called "Hobbit Hoagies," some years, ago. I had no idea what the hell that meant and didn't put it together until after the movie'd been out a looong time (and the restaurant was gone).
Like with Harry Potter, LotR's characters' names were difficult enough to pronounce, let alone remember (and I'm already pretty terrible with names). So, when one group was walking around talking about people from another group that was walking around, I didn't know who the hell they were talking about.
Kevin Smith called it a movie about people walking around. Heh. I think that's how I felt, watching it.
I totally understand where you're coming from. My personal take on the matter is that the trilogy was a financial triumph, but was a personal disaster. Let me explain:
Aside from the political/religious turmoil that engulfs our world at present, the reason that a lot of things get FUBAR'ed boils down to two groups of people: The Geek and The Marketer. The Geek is the brain. He/She is smart, accomplished and understands a wide variety of things on a level that most cannot/will not understand. But therein lies the problem with the Geek: He/She sometimes is a little too smart for their own good. When the Geek comes up with something new and inventive only other Geeks understand the benefits of the new product. When the Geek finds something of interest and paradigm shifting, only other Geeks understand the significance of the discovery. Geeks rarely take into account The Normal Person. When The Normal Person tries to understand and learn how to use the new discovery the information that is available can only be comprehended by fellow Geeks. Thus a divide forms with The Geek on one side and The Normal Person on the other. The Normal Person begins to belittle the Geek because The Normal Person can't understand certain ideals in the same manner as The Geek. When something that The Geek loves and understands reaches Critical Mass (adoption and acceptance by the general public), The Geek then chides The Normal Person for still not being able to understand the subject at hand fully. Hence, part of the problem with the LOTR trilogy.
You are absolutely right West in that this was not a movie for people new to the material. There was a backstory given in the movie: How the Ring came to be created. But there was no backstory given on The Story: Why and how the book became so popular that it warrented a movie adaptation. And when The Normal Person left the movie theater confused, all The Geek would say is: "You should've read the book!" without explaining to The Normal Person why they should be reading the book. Total arrogance on the part of The Geek.
Now The Marketer is to blame because all they are concerned with is making a fast dollar. They convinced The Normal Person to come out to the movie theaters in droves with promises of great special effects and thrilling action. They totally missed by a mile what the story of the book was about and hence what the movie was about. Thus, when The Normal Person goes to see the movie, they leave feeling deflated and cheated. Sure, action and special effects can help move a movie along on it's trajectory, but the most important aspect of a movie is the story that it's trying to get across to it's audience. You can't have a movie and not have a story (although that's becoming more and more debateable with each horrible movie that gets released). The Marketer depends on cheap parlor tricks and sleight of hand to sell a movie. If the Marketer truly wanted a movie to win, they would concentrate on the story and leave it up to The Normal Person to form the correct opinion.
Now this is a hard to put down because I'm a Geek. And I know I'm gonna catch flack for the generalizations, but I feel this is what was keeping a large majority of people from enjoying a great story. I'm glad that the trilogy became as popular as it did, but I'm saddened by the fact that as many more people became exposed to the material, the same people still left without experiencing the story the way that Tolkien meant. I hope that the same thing doesn't happen to The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy......
I know that when the credits started rolling, I was looking around wondering if anybody shared my confusion.
"How could it be OVER?! Is this a TRICK?! It it going to start, again, any second, now?! No. It's really over. That's the story they wanted to tell and they told it... Hmp. Damn. Caught me slippin'."
Now, some folks told me, soon after, that there was an entire trilogy that was intended to tell the whole story and that what I saw was only an episode. I told them that I wished someone had told me that, ahead of time, because I didn't go there to see an episode... and if they MUST present an episode, it would be great if it were more self-contained - like tv episodes.
Then, by the time the next installment was released, I didn't remember half the stuff I didn't understand from the FIRST.
It just wasn't for me, but again, I'm glad that a bunch of other folks dug it.
I loved 'em. I didn't see the first one in the theater but after my son forced me to watch the DVD I saw the rest of them in theaters and I was hooked.
13 comments:
LOL!!! No you are not, I'm sure. But I'm not one of them man. I LOVE 'em!
My girlfriend all but dragged me to the first two LotR and Harry Potter movies.
That's like ten hours of my life I'll never get back and I hardly got any enjoyment out of them, at all.
I think I finally watched some of the final LotR installment, but I didn't regret skipping it in the theater.
Anyway, after watching those four movies, I figured that I'd given them a chance to impress me and they failed.
More power to the folks who love'em, though. With all the money they've made, I'm sure they love you right back!
*begin geek rant*
First, to really dig the movies you need to read the book. J.R.R. Tolkein wrote in alot of allusions to the way that Industry was taking over the respect for Nature during that time period. Hence, the whole fixation with Steel,raising an army and Nature (the tree lords) fighting back....the whole book was like one big allegory for how distrustful Tolkein was of Industry and the beginning dependancy on machines to do things that men (and women) did for centuries. This is the part of the story that almost no one ever gets.
Of course, there's also the story of how a person no matter how small or frail or insignificant they must feel, this person can still make a difference that affects the lives of many. Just about everyone gets this part, but the deeper, more political aspects of the book are the ones that are most interesting to understand. Now back to the movie....
A lot of people got caught up in the HYPE of LOTR without really understanding what LOTR was all about. People were only going to see the flick because it was touted as the most expensive movie ever made...plus the special effects were hyped as well. Now the people that were hyping the movie are the same ones who used to clown cats like me for reading the book back day. Damn shame. Anyway, I'm not sure why you didn't like the movie, but I can only guess that all of the hype surrounding the movie made it feel like someone was trying to sell you some futuristic car that no one else owned or drove only to find out after buying it that it's really no different than the car you're driving now. Basically, a let down. And I know how much you enjoy movies and not just for the pretty lights and effects, so I'm sure that you feel thoroughly disgusted with the whole series. But what I would emplore you to do is to go out and purchase the book. Don't get the movie adaptation books, get the real joint (you don't have to get the one with the Expanded Appendix...unless of course, you're interested in learning Elvish); It's 1,216 pages long so you'll want to take maybe a weekend and do nothing but read. No TV, no movies, no phone...just read. And if you really want the full understanding of the book get its' precursor, The Hobbit. I guarantee that after really reading these two books, you'll come to appreciate the movie a little bit more. The movie was pretty faithful to the concepts and action of the book, but there's still somethings here and there that got left out in the interest of time. Trust me on this one aight?
*end geek rant*
That is the tightest LotR explanation/dissection I've ever read, vipe! Thanks!
I said, waybackwhen, that this movie (people say it's just one big movie) wasn't about being a great movie that tells a great story. It was more about being a great adaptation for people who already believe the story's great. Your write-up confirms that.
Too bad, really, because I walked in there with an open mind. Someone should've been handing out disclaimers that say, "If you're a newbie, this ain't your mewbie...err, movie." I would've saved my money.
The movie seemed to take a lot for granted; it assumed the audience was familiar with certain characters and story elements that were completely new to me. I never read or saw a single Hobbit story. Hell, there was a restaurant around here called "Hobbit Hoagies," some years, ago. I had no idea what the hell that meant and didn't put it together until after the movie'd been out a looong time (and the restaurant was gone).
Like with Harry Potter, LotR's characters' names were difficult enough to pronounce, let alone remember (and I'm already pretty terrible with names). So, when one group was walking around talking about people from another group that was walking around, I didn't know who the hell they were talking about.
Kevin Smith called it a movie about people walking around. Heh. I think that's how I felt, watching it.
I totally understand where you're coming from. My personal take on the matter is that the trilogy was a financial triumph, but was a personal disaster. Let me explain:
Aside from the political/religious turmoil that engulfs our world at present, the reason that a lot of things get FUBAR'ed boils down to two groups of people: The Geek and The Marketer. The Geek is the brain. He/She is smart, accomplished and understands a wide variety of things on a level that most cannot/will not understand. But therein lies the problem with the Geek: He/She sometimes is a little too smart for their own good. When the Geek comes up with something new and inventive only other Geeks understand the benefits of the new product. When the Geek finds something of interest and paradigm shifting, only other Geeks understand the significance of the discovery. Geeks rarely take into account The Normal Person. When The Normal Person tries to understand and learn how to use the new discovery the information that is available can only be comprehended by fellow Geeks. Thus a divide forms with The Geek on one side and The Normal Person on the other. The Normal Person begins to belittle the Geek because The Normal Person can't understand certain ideals in the same manner as The Geek. When something that The Geek loves and understands reaches Critical Mass (adoption and acceptance by the general public), The Geek then chides The Normal Person for still not being able to understand the subject at hand fully. Hence, part of the problem with the LOTR trilogy.
You are absolutely right West in that this was not a movie for people new to the material. There was a backstory given in the movie: How the Ring came to be created. But there was no backstory given on The Story: Why and how the book became so popular that it warrented a movie adaptation. And when The Normal Person left the movie theater confused, all The Geek would say is: "You should've read the book!" without explaining to The Normal Person why they should be reading the book. Total arrogance on the part of The Geek.
Now The Marketer is to blame because all they are concerned with is making a fast dollar. They convinced The Normal Person to come out to the movie theaters in droves with promises of great special effects and thrilling action. They totally missed by a mile what the story of the book was about and hence what the movie was about. Thus, when The Normal Person goes to see the movie, they leave feeling deflated and cheated. Sure, action and special effects can help move a movie along on it's trajectory, but the most important aspect of a movie is the story that it's trying to get across to it's audience. You can't have a movie and not have a story (although that's becoming more and more debateable with each horrible movie that gets released). The Marketer depends on cheap parlor tricks and sleight of hand to sell a movie. If the Marketer truly wanted a movie to win, they would concentrate on the story and leave it up to The Normal Person to form the correct opinion.
Now this is a hard to put down because I'm a Geek. And I know I'm gonna catch flack for the generalizations, but I feel this is what was keeping a large majority of people from enjoying a great story. I'm glad that the trilogy became as popular as it did, but I'm saddened by the fact that as many more people became exposed to the material, the same people still left without experiencing the story the way that Tolkien meant. I hope that the same thing doesn't happen to The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy......
I think I feel you.
I know that when the credits started rolling, I was looking around wondering if anybody shared my confusion.
"How could it be OVER?! Is this a TRICK?! It it going to start, again, any second, now?! No. It's really over. That's the story they wanted to tell and they told it... Hmp. Damn. Caught me slippin'."
Now, some folks told me, soon after, that there was an entire trilogy that was intended to tell the whole story and that what I saw was only an episode. I told them that I wished someone had told me that, ahead of time, because I didn't go there to see an episode... and if they MUST present an episode, it would be great if it were more self-contained - like tv episodes.
Then, by the time the next installment was released, I didn't remember half the stuff I didn't understand from the FIRST.
It just wasn't for me, but again, I'm glad that a bunch of other folks dug it.
I loved 'em. I didn't see the first one in the theater but after my son forced me to watch the DVD I saw the rest of them in theaters and I was hooked.
chele, what did you like about'em?
doug: "Have you watched them all? Because I saw the first one, hated it, then saw the final two and as a whole, I ended up loving them.
I don't rewatch them though. Too damn long."
...and then...
doug: "I hate them."
Please explain.
uh. i loved them. why? i have no earthly idea. i just did. LOL
sorry West, I liked them.
But only to watch once, no collector edition DVD's here.
--rC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
Hehe. Don't be sorry, rC.
What'd you like about'em?
-West
Ahh. Thanks.
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