Greetings,
I am going to get a little philosophical during this one, and I ask the reader to bear with me. I hope to identify something which has been rattling around in my mind for a little while that I think needs to be said. It identifies a problem in our fast-food, instant-solution, must have it now, culture which has developed over the more recent decades. People simply do not appreciate the benefits of simple things such as good long walks or drives to no particular destination. Nor do they appreciate stories which could have been solved with quick fixes.
Let me present a meme which I found using Google Image search, there is a link attached to the image for those of you who are interested, and in part the page to which it is linked demonstrates a lot of what I am discussing here. I could argue the point with many of their 25, but I will pick one that will cover much of it:
There are many memes and videos on YouTube and other places showing how the Lord of the Rings trilogy could have been shortened through the use of the eagles. Gandalf the Grey could have simply called one, allowed Frodo to mount the eagle, they could have flown over Mount Doom, tossed the ring in and presto, doom of the world averted. The life of Boromir would have been saved as a result, along with a long cast of other characters.
Now the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and I am not including the Hobbit, for those who want to pick at that point is some 481,103 words long. It is a rather long read, and it does have its points where there is slow going and a little hard to read. The movies by Peter Jackson, 3 hours plus, depending on which version you watch, are an epic watch in themselves, and they miss parts of the story out. So maybe a shortened version would be nice, but who would be the person to pick which bits you would take out, and then stand against all the complaints that would inevitably follow.
But, would the crisis have truly totally been averted? Sauron may have given agency and instruction to Saurman to build his army of Uruk-hai, but the threat was still present, threatening Rohan. What about the attacks that were already occurring here? What about the threat of the hill tribes? What about the jealousy that already existed between Rohan and Gondor? We have seen in our world how jealousy leads to war, why should we think that the Men of the West would be any different?
What about the development of characters along the way? Gandalf would have remained "the Grey" never having slain the Balrog. Aragorn would not become King, the world of men would remain disunited, separate, squabbling among one another, prime victims for any other crisis that may come along to threaten Middle Earth, and there is always a next crisis. If history has told us anything, there is always another crisis just below the horizon.
I mean, there is also the development of other characters to consider. Frodo had the hardest journey of all, and the prime focus is always on him and his resistance to the One Ring. There is also the split personality of Gollum which is contended with, these often overshadow the development of other characters. The growing friendship between two individuals who formerly would not have considered each other friends at all in Legolas and Gimli. Then there is the growing courage, or the realisation of his true courage in Samwise Gamgee, who follows Frodo to the bitter end, who realises his love for the simple life, and courage in all things. There is also the development of Pippin Took, who starts as a fool and develops courage and responsibility by the end, and his friend Merriadoc Brandibuck who discovers courage in the end fighting for those he loves. All of these things would not have happened if the journey had not taken place, if each event in their lives had not taken place.
What about the development of characters along the way? Gandalf would have remained "the Grey" never having slain the Balrog. Aragorn would not become King, the world of men would remain disunited, separate, squabbling among one another, prime victims for any other crisis that may come along to threaten Middle Earth, and there is always a next crisis. If history has told us anything, there is always another crisis just below the horizon.
I mean, there is also the development of other characters to consider. Frodo had the hardest journey of all, and the prime focus is always on him and his resistance to the One Ring. There is also the split personality of Gollum which is contended with, these often overshadow the development of other characters. The growing friendship between two individuals who formerly would not have considered each other friends at all in Legolas and Gimli. Then there is the growing courage, or the realisation of his true courage in Samwise Gamgee, who follows Frodo to the bitter end, who realises his love for the simple life, and courage in all things. There is also the development of Pippin Took, who starts as a fool and develops courage and responsibility by the end, and his friend Merriadoc Brandibuck who discovers courage in the end fighting for those he loves. All of these things would not have happened if the journey had not taken place, if each event in their lives had not taken place.
In the immortal words of the band Tism, "Its the horse not the horseshit." The horseshit in this case truly is the destination, the result. It may be good for fertiliser, again another journey, but I think more people are interested in the horse. We must look at stories, like Lord of the Rings, and the Hobbit, and others as taking us on a journey. We follow the characters through their trials and tribulations, watching them develop and grow. If we were only interested in the destination, we would only read the last chapter of each novel that we pick up, but we don't we take the book in hand and read each chapter in turn.
It bothers me a little that there are so many of the memes and YouTube clips showing how the Lord of the Rings could have been ended more quickly. I think that the people who present these memes and videos have missed the point of the story, they do not understand the greater qualities of the story that has been presented before them. The greater depth of character that is shown in the characters within the story and how they develop along the way. I think that they are too addicted in seeing the result as soon as possible missing the point of the journey.
Appreciate the journey that the author or director takes you on, watch as the characters go through different circumstances and develop. Think about the journeys that you have been on and how they have changed you. Take time to enjoy the journey that you are on, every journey that you participate in, each one is a chance to develop your character and to learn something about yourself. Don't be too eager for the destination, you may miss something special in between.
Cheers,
Henry.
Appreciate the journey that the author or director takes you on, watch as the characters go through different circumstances and develop. Think about the journeys that you have been on and how they have changed you. Take time to enjoy the journey that you are on, every journey that you participate in, each one is a chance to develop your character and to learn something about yourself. Don't be too eager for the destination, you may miss something special in between.
Cheers,
Henry.
