'Safe'
Frodo: Please, what does it always mean, this... this "Aragorn"? Elrond: That's his name. Aragorn, son of Arathorn. Aragorn: I like "Strider." Elrond: We named the *dog* "Strider".
A discussion of Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King. If you're a pervy hobbit fancier, this is the place for you.
Not to be bringin' up old stuff, but discussing Thorongil just made me cranky about wussy-pants Movie!Aragorn again. If they'd just left out Elrond's line "He turned from that path long ago." Grr! Aragorn went to Gondor, served in their military, in large part on the advice of Elrond (and Gandalf) that it would help prepare him for the day he claimed his destiny.
Better now.
I dreamt last night that I was watching the ROTK EE. Eddie Lizard was in it.
But if he has decided where he's going before the movie even starts, where's the choice for him? Where's the struggle? No choice=nothing at stake for the guy and no unanswered questions for the audence, which makes for a stately epic where events change but people don't, rather than the intensely personal story Jackson was trying to tell.
I'm with Scrappy on this. Aragorn in the novel was a cypher, and ceased to be actually interesting round about the middle of The Two Towers. Aragorn in the movie is far more conflicted, and makes me care about him (Viggo's hotness aside) because of the humanity and indecision he shows.
Eddie Lizard was in it.
Eddie Izzard?
because of the humanity and indecision he shows.
And the sheer reluctance. I think what makes movie!Aragorn for me is in TTT, first where he and Legolas are arguing in the arms room about the fate of the Rohirrim, and second where he picks up where Theoden loses hope and demands that they not give up, even in the face of insurmountable odds. To me, that is kingly. That is Aragorn accepting a fate he did not want. And I can see the echoes of book!Aragorn in movie!Aragorn, only with more hotness.
Aragorn in the novel was a cypher, and ceased to be actually interesting round about the middle of The Two Towers.
I think this is why I was so desperately in love with book-Eomer when I first read TTT. Aragorn had gotten boring, but we're introduced to this ferocious fighter who's funny, develops a great relationship with Gimli, and is very protective of his sister. I'm so looking forward to more Eomer scenes in RotKEE.
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The odd thing is, I totally support the changes PJ made to Faramir, but the same changes made to Aragorn just bugged me, especially in RotK. After Helm's Deep, I thought he'd moved past the whole "No, I cannot be King, for I am so weak!" phase, and then it turned out he hadn't. RotK felt like a huge step backwards in character development without any reason for it.
RotK felt like a huge step backwards in character development without any reason for it.
The only time it bugged me was when he actually received the crown, where he looks kind of miserable and befuddled and anxious. By then at least, he should be ready to be King.
Aww, the scene with the crown I really liked. No matter how ready he is to be king, actually being crowned is going to be a freaky moment.