Comments on: Why I don't like Jackson's "The Two Towers" (I) http://www.stormtiger.com/collie/bestiary/2008/10/why-i-dont-like-jacksons-the-two-towers-i-2/ Another mythologizing animal sharing a spark of intellectual passion! Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:23:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Collie http://www.stormtiger.com/collie/bestiary/2008/10/why-i-dont-like-jacksons-the-two-towers-i-2/comment-page-1/#comment-16391 Collie Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:36:29 +0000 http://www.stormtiger.com/collie/bestiary/?p=52#comment-16391 Actually, Jackson emphatically did <i>not</i> relate the Helm's Deep situation as it is in Tolkien's works. In the <i>book</i>, the entire battle with the orcs at Helm's Deep was to hold a fortress from which the women and children had <i>already departed</i>. There were only warriors left in the fortress; the women and children had <i>already</i> been sent away to safety -- not tucked into the dungeons below, the way Jackson portrayed them, as a sort of "game prize" to the winners. That's what I object to most: Jackson's reduction of women to the status of helpless, hopeless children, in order to get a rise out of his audience. As I note above: more tomorrow. ;) Actually, Jackson emphatically did not relate the Helm's Deep situation as it is in Tolkien's works. In the book, the entire battle with the orcs at Helm's Deep was to hold a fortress from which the women and children had already departed. There were only warriors left in the fortress; the women and children had already been sent away to safety — not tucked into the dungeons below, the way Jackson portrayed them, as a sort of "game prize" to the winners.

That's what I object to most: Jackson's reduction of women to the status of helpless, hopeless children, in order to get a rise out of his audience.

As I note above: more tomorrow. ;)

]]> By: Wihtgar http://www.stormtiger.com/collie/bestiary/2008/10/why-i-dont-like-jacksons-the-two-towers-i-2/comment-page-1/#comment-16371 Wihtgar Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:50:10 +0000 http://www.stormtiger.com/collie/bestiary/?p=52#comment-16371 Of course, the obvious answer is that it is written thusly in the books, but as you pointed out The Two Towers contains the most, and most egregious, deviations from the original text. We're supposed to give Jackson credit for greatly expanding Arwyn's part, and in his defense the female characters in the books are few and far between, but even then she's given a 'traditional' role as the long lost love, pining hopelessly for her man. Eowyn is the only woman in the cast who's role was not significantly altered, but even in her courage and fortitude Tolkien had to have her fall in love with Aragorn while no other character fell in love with anybody.(well, except Gimli for Galadriel, and that was a very different dynamic) It is a conundrum, since misogyny and indifference toward women was/is commonplace in Europe and elsewhere, and Jackson related the Helm's Deep situation much as it is in the book, but I agree it would have been nice to see a bit of a more equitable distribution of the sexes. Of course, the obvious answer is that it is written thusly in the books, but as you pointed out The Two Towers contains the most, and most egregious, deviations from the original text. We're supposed to give Jackson credit for greatly expanding Arwyn's part, and in his defense the female characters in the books are few and far between, but even then she's given a 'traditional' role as the long lost love, pining hopelessly for her man. Eowyn is the only woman in the cast who's role was not significantly altered, but even in her courage and fortitude Tolkien had to have her fall in love with Aragorn while no other character fell in love with anybody.(well, except Gimli for Galadriel, and that was a very different dynamic) It is a conundrum, since misogyny and indifference toward women was/is commonplace in Europe and elsewhere, and Jackson related the Helm's Deep situation much as it is in the book, but I agree it would have been nice to see a bit of a more equitable distribution of the sexes.

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