lalala RotK
Jul. 16th, 2004 04:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
koncupiscenceas much as i enjoy sharing the lord of the rings love with those around me, it's rather difficult watching these films with casual fans. a few weeks back, i brought my newly acquired rotk dvd to my friend's apartment and four of us settled in for a night of take-out chinese and middle earth. i was the only lotr geek of the bunch (although my roommate has endured multiple viewings and far too many stories and factoids from me, that she is quite schooled in all things lotr, whether she wanted to be or not).
i knew they would be lost without a quick refresher course of what came before since, thankfully, the film doesn't begin with, "previously, on the two towers..." they had seen ttt on dvd last november - just the once - and this was their first rotk viewing. so i filled them in on where we last left our fellowship - sam and frodo were still trying to get to mount doom, the ents had just destroyed isengard, aragorn and crew had just defeated the orcs at helm's deep, etc.
then i launched into explaining the two different camps, rohan and gondor, and who belonged to each one, and tried my best to fill them in on aragorn's past, and how he is actually isildur's heir (insert "shards of narsil" mention here) and therefore heir to the thrown of gondor. and brought up the family dynamic between the current steward of gondor, denethor and his sons faramir and boromir - who, remember, had died trying to protect merry and pippin.
it was at this point that i noticed the glazed look in their eyes. clearly, i had said too much. without actually saying anything comprehensible. but i didn't want to have to stop the movie every 10 minutes to explain what was going on, you know? what's that glowy ball thing? why does he want to touch it? what the heck is that crazy man talking about? why does he want to burn his son alive? what's the big deal with the sword? why is arwen dying? uh, actually i'm kinda unclear on that one myself. :/
so we launched into the film and only needed to pause here and there for further clarification. but mind you, this is the first time i was seeing it, since the theater, so i'm trying desperately to keep my shit together - because if i lose it, they will just not understand. and as it turned out, i had avoided sobbing, only giving in to the occasional tear or two trickling down my cheek, by the time we made it to the grey havens. almost there, i kept telling myself, clinging to my last ounce of composure.
so my friend turns to me, just after frodo climbed aboard and smiled goodbye, clearly not affected by what just happened, and says to me, tears welling up in my eyes:
friend: so wait. why did all that just happen? why are they upset?
me: *sniff* because frodo's leaving and they're never going to see him again.
friend: right. but why did he have to leave? couldn't he just stay in the shire?
me: *where do i begin?* because. he's not well. for starters, there's his wound from their battle with the ringwraiths at weathertop. you know, from fellowship, when the main nazgul--
friend: *blank stare*
me: right. remember in the first movie when one of those bad guys in black stabbed him with his sword? well, it was an "evil" sword, so his shoulder will never fully heal. also, the journey itself... the ring... it all changed him. and he can't just go back to the way things were. there's nothing for him in the shire anymore.
friend: *blank stare*
me: *too emotionally drained for further dissection of frodo's motives and tolkien's intentions* he just has to leave.
friend: where's he going?
me: *sigh* to the undying lands.
friend: *blink*
me: it's supposed to equal death, essentially. he's leaving middle earth for good, along with the elves.
friend: right. and why did the elves have to leave?
me: because their time in middle earth is over. now it's the time of men.
friend: why?
me: oh my god, i don't know why, that's just the way it is!!!!!
lesson learned: it really kills the emotional journey one takes when viewing this movie when one has to continually remain composed and explain each scene and the motives behind them and use references from two other movies and explain those events in detail using foreign names and places and creatures and still not feeling like you're getting anywhere 'cause 1) they have no idea what you're talking about and 2) they are starting to think you are insane because you do know what you are talking about and you clearly know too much about it and oh my god it's just exhausting.
imma go watch the movie all by my lonesome now and really enjoy it. *sigh* peacefully.
i knew they would be lost without a quick refresher course of what came before since, thankfully, the film doesn't begin with, "previously, on the two towers..." they had seen ttt on dvd last november - just the once - and this was their first rotk viewing. so i filled them in on where we last left our fellowship - sam and frodo were still trying to get to mount doom, the ents had just destroyed isengard, aragorn and crew had just defeated the orcs at helm's deep, etc.
then i launched into explaining the two different camps, rohan and gondor, and who belonged to each one, and tried my best to fill them in on aragorn's past, and how he is actually isildur's heir (insert "shards of narsil" mention here) and therefore heir to the thrown of gondor. and brought up the family dynamic between the current steward of gondor, denethor and his sons faramir and boromir - who, remember, had died trying to protect merry and pippin.
it was at this point that i noticed the glazed look in their eyes. clearly, i had said too much. without actually saying anything comprehensible. but i didn't want to have to stop the movie every 10 minutes to explain what was going on, you know? what's that glowy ball thing? why does he want to touch it? what the heck is that crazy man talking about? why does he want to burn his son alive? what's the big deal with the sword? why is arwen dying? uh, actually i'm kinda unclear on that one myself. :/
so we launched into the film and only needed to pause here and there for further clarification. but mind you, this is the first time i was seeing it, since the theater, so i'm trying desperately to keep my shit together - because if i lose it, they will just not understand. and as it turned out, i had avoided sobbing, only giving in to the occasional tear or two trickling down my cheek, by the time we made it to the grey havens. almost there, i kept telling myself, clinging to my last ounce of composure.
so my friend turns to me, just after frodo climbed aboard and smiled goodbye, clearly not affected by what just happened, and says to me, tears welling up in my eyes:
friend: so wait. why did all that just happen? why are they upset?
me: *sniff* because frodo's leaving and they're never going to see him again.
friend: right. but why did he have to leave? couldn't he just stay in the shire?
me: *where do i begin?* because. he's not well. for starters, there's his wound from their battle with the ringwraiths at weathertop. you know, from fellowship, when the main nazgul--
friend: *blank stare*
me: right. remember in the first movie when one of those bad guys in black stabbed him with his sword? well, it was an "evil" sword, so his shoulder will never fully heal. also, the journey itself... the ring... it all changed him. and he can't just go back to the way things were. there's nothing for him in the shire anymore.
friend: *blank stare*
me: *too emotionally drained for further dissection of frodo's motives and tolkien's intentions* he just has to leave.
friend: where's he going?
me: *sigh* to the undying lands.
friend: *blink*
me: it's supposed to equal death, essentially. he's leaving middle earth for good, along with the elves.
friend: right. and why did the elves have to leave?
me: because their time in middle earth is over. now it's the time of men.
friend: why?
me: oh my god, i don't know why, that's just the way it is!!!!!
lesson learned: it really kills the emotional journey one takes when viewing this movie when one has to continually remain composed and explain each scene and the motives behind them and use references from two other movies and explain those events in detail using foreign names and places and creatures and still not feeling like you're getting anywhere 'cause 1) they have no idea what you're talking about and 2) they are starting to think you are insane because you do know what you are talking about and you clearly know too much about it and oh my god it's just exhausting.
imma go watch the movie all by my lonesome now and really enjoy it. *sigh* peacefully.