Oh, the things we do for the things we love... - Page 7
© Michael Martinez
Of course, the highlight of the convention for Tolkien and Middle-earth fans so far has been getting to meet with Brad Dourif and Karl Urban. They are both real troupers, and I want to thank them as publicly as possible for taking up the mantle of "Lord of the Rings" movie actor in front of the fans. I think we are a little intimidating, but I was greatly encouraged by Brad's response to a question I posed to him in his Saturday session (and, btw, he stayed an extra 12 minutes to keep talking to the fans, who were interested in his other movies as well -- he's a great guest and if you run a convention and have an opportunity to bring him in, DO IT!)
What was my question to Brad? I asked him if the actors and crew felt intimidated by the prospect of releasing movies which are obviously directed toward an audience with high expectations and which seemed likely to say they were wrong no matter what they did. Brad was ready for the challenge. He immediately asked the audience if any of them would feel that way about the movies. NO one raised their hands. No one. I was very, very impressed.
All through the weekend I, the panelists, and our guests have tried to emphasize just how important it is to accept that a story can be told by more than one person, and that the movies are not a threat to the books in any way. We may not be able to convince everyone on the Internet, but based on what I've seen at DragonCon, all the people who have met the actors and seen our presentations have only been heartened and encouraged. That is not to say that people have lost their disappointment about some issues, or that they have dropped all their objections.
Rather, they all seem to agree that it's now Peter Jackson's turn to tell a great story, and maybe one day someone else will get a chance to retell the same story, too. And why can't that person be any one of us? After all, we're fans, too.
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