Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Purists? - Page 7
© Michael Martinez
Peter, you nailed that scene. And even if you didn't have Ian McKellen and Ian Holm's fantastic performances to lay down what is virtually the backbone of this first movie, I think most audiences will come out of the theater with the Viggo/Sean scene so strongly impressed in their thoughts they will feel they have been well-served.
And finally, I have to reiterate my complaint about the smoking. It was completely uncalled-for. There is no justification for depicting characters using tobacco in the movies. The affectation was something that Tolkien had no idea was so deadly and dangerous. It is not fair to his audience to endanger future lives by portraying tobacco use as a harmless passtime.
The movie is enjoyable, but if the tobacco use is in there to placate people's puristic desires, it was not necessary. It adds nothing to the storyline and the characterizations are not dependent upon it. People die from using tobacco products. People suffer greivous harm from using tobacco products. Hollywood needs to understand that it has a responsibility to its audience not to glorify behaviors which are now known to be deadly.
We didn't see any Hobbits drinking rat-poison or standing in front of freight-trains. No Hobbits put guns to their heads and blew themselves away. We don't need to see Hobbits, Wizards, and Rangers smoking. I know that I will be attacked and criticized for taking this stand. But I'm just someone who regards human life to be more important than a misguided attempt to be faithful to a book when making a movie.
So, I hope people enjoy the movie. I look forward to seeing it again. But I am saddened to see that such an irresponsible decision was made on a very important issue. For the movie overall, Peter, you get a "Well done". For the tobacco, you get a "shame on you".
Cancer is no laughing matter. I hope you never lose any relatives to it. I've lost way too many.
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