I wasn't supposed to write an entire post about my obsession with Middle-earth but then just like how junkies of whatever sorts undergo closure to treat their obsessions, I've to put a dot on my month long The Hobbit - LOTR movies and books marathon by quickly gushing over them here.
Top: Zara | Necklace: from Bangkok | Shoes: Skechers | Skirt: Zara | Sunglasses: Ray-ban
These photos were taken last 8 December. Almost all classes all over the country were suspended then leaving the streets bereft of the usual Manila traffic, which my Dad and I took opportunity of. We drove all the way to Clark to oversee some of his pressing projects there. I tagged along because I'm an opportunistic little daughter who saw this chance as a way to sweet-talk my Dad into buying me all the stuff I believe I need (but really do not. As he said, "I'm not working so hard just to buy you your fur vest when it's not practical in the kind of climate we have" but as always, I got what I wanted.) hahahahaha
It emotionally drains me just thinking of seeing the end of The Hobbit. (Come on, admit it. We all probably have a fanclub we've sworn allegiance to.) Long before I became a fan of the Harry Potter series, I was already obsessing heavily on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. All my brothers, my uncles, and my boy-cousins dragged me to the cinemas to watch the first three instalments and successfully turned me into another Middle-earth geek. When the great Peter Jackson translated The Hobbit into movies two years ago, the fans club in my family was resurrected. For purposes of this post, I'm focusing on the films over the books. I've read all 3 of the LOTR and The Hobbit but when I saw Jackson's idea of them, I was completely won over. The books were great, what with all of Tolkien's lovely words and ideas that are difficult to translate into action, but Jackson's was legendary on its own as well.
As if hearing Pippin's song in the Return of the King played as the background music for the trailer of The Battle of the Five Armies wasn't enough to get me emotionally invested, the movie used Pippin's voice once more to sing the final farewell song played at the end credits of the last movie. By then, I was already sobbing in the movie house, to my brother's dismay.
On a scale of 1 to Stephen Colbert, I'm not really sure where I stand as a fan. But I can lengthily explain why the wise Gandalf couldn't do the missions (... quest... thing) in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings or why the eagles only showed up at the last minute. Or the name of Gandalf's horse and sword. Or the riddle behind Gandalf's famous "Fly, you fools" line. Or other not so obvious occurrences and objects concerning not only Gandalf but the other characters as well. I'll gladly discuss themes in the books and films with anyone, seriously. There are plenty of conventions where fans gather in the US and UK and I'm very positive that if I ever get the chance to be there, I'll proudly wear a costume. No, really.
I understand why there was an uproar amongst the Tolkien fans when the character of Tauriel was introduced in The Desolation of Smaug (which, by the way, is my favorite among the Hobbit trilogy). She didn't spring forth from Tolkien's mind, instead she came from Jackson's interpretation of Tolkien's Middle-earth world. Nonetheless, I like her and how substantial the films made her character out to be. Seeing a female persona in an otherwise male-dominated world is empowering. Not to mention, her existence provided a romantic plot to the story. Besides, I believe the main plot wasn't altered substantially and some of the poignant scenes and lines in the books of all the Middle-earth stories were included. Every battle with the Orcs and the Goblins were theatrically orchestrated injected with Legolas and Gimli's humorous competition against each other (in LOTR), that instead of my usual recoiling response to war scenes, I enjoy every death on the battle field (The battle of Helm's Deep or The Battle of Hornburg is my favorite sequence from the 6 movies but I used a photo from The Battle of Pelennor Fields as emphasis).
Knowing that the character you've rooted for from the start will eventually get killed doesn't lessen the impact once you actually see it. Although the circumstances of the characters' death were different from what happened in the book, the end-result was the same so cut Jackson some slack, you high and mighty Tolkien fanatics. I wasn't so invested in Kili in the book but who wouldn't like Tolkien's version of Kili?
images from Iconic Fictional Characters
The thing with epic adventures is that, they leave a mark. Sometimes it completely intertwines with the rest of our lives, other times it becomes a constant reminder in a form of a scar, tattoo, or deformity of what we've underwent at a certain time. Very seldom does it leave us. And very seldom does it not make us evaluate where we currently stand.
I'm not yet ready to bid Middle-earth farewell. For now, let me go back to doing my LOTR marathon then cap everything off with Billy Boyd's The Last Goodbye to shed some more tears. Peace out!
Top: Zara | Necklace: from Bangkok | Shoes: Skechers | Skirt: Zara | Sunglasses: Ray-ban
These photos were taken last 8 December. Almost all classes all over the country were suspended then leaving the streets bereft of the usual Manila traffic, which my Dad and I took opportunity of. We drove all the way to Clark to oversee some of his pressing projects there. I tagged along because I'm an opportunistic little daughter who saw this chance as a way to sweet-talk my Dad into buying me all the stuff I believe I need (but really do not. As he said, "I'm not working so hard just to buy you your fur vest when it's not practical in the kind of climate we have" but as always, I got what I wanted.) hahahahaha
It emotionally drains me just thinking of seeing the end of The Hobbit. (Come on, admit it. We all probably have a fanclub we've sworn allegiance to.) Long before I became a fan of the Harry Potter series, I was already obsessing heavily on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. All my brothers, my uncles, and my boy-cousins dragged me to the cinemas to watch the first three instalments and successfully turned me into another Middle-earth geek. When the great Peter Jackson translated The Hobbit into movies two years ago, the fans club in my family was resurrected. For purposes of this post, I'm focusing on the films over the books. I've read all 3 of the LOTR and The Hobbit but when I saw Jackson's idea of them, I was completely won over. The books were great, what with all of Tolkien's lovely words and ideas that are difficult to translate into action, but Jackson's was legendary on its own as well.
As if hearing Pippin's song in the Return of the King played as the background music for the trailer of The Battle of the Five Armies wasn't enough to get me emotionally invested, the movie used Pippin's voice once more to sing the final farewell song played at the end credits of the last movie. By then, I was already sobbing in the movie house, to my brother's dismay.
On a scale of 1 to Stephen Colbert, I'm not really sure where I stand as a fan. But I can lengthily explain why the wise Gandalf couldn't do the missions (... quest... thing) in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings or why the eagles only showed up at the last minute. Or the name of Gandalf's horse and sword. Or the riddle behind Gandalf's famous "Fly, you fools" line. Or other not so obvious occurrences and objects concerning not only Gandalf but the other characters as well. I'll gladly discuss themes in the books and films with anyone, seriously. There are plenty of conventions where fans gather in the US and UK and I'm very positive that if I ever get the chance to be there, I'll proudly wear a costume. No, really.
I understand why there was an uproar amongst the Tolkien fans when the character of Tauriel was introduced in The Desolation of Smaug (which, by the way, is my favorite among the Hobbit trilogy). She didn't spring forth from Tolkien's mind, instead she came from Jackson's interpretation of Tolkien's Middle-earth world. Nonetheless, I like her and how substantial the films made her character out to be. Seeing a female persona in an otherwise male-dominated world is empowering. Not to mention, her existence provided a romantic plot to the story. Besides, I believe the main plot wasn't altered substantially and some of the poignant scenes and lines in the books of all the Middle-earth stories were included. Every battle with the Orcs and the Goblins were theatrically orchestrated injected with Legolas and Gimli's humorous competition against each other (in LOTR), that instead of my usual recoiling response to war scenes, I enjoy every death on the battle field (The battle of Helm's Deep or The Battle of Hornburg is my favorite sequence from the 6 movies but I used a photo from The Battle of Pelennor Fields as emphasis).
Knowing that the character you've rooted for from the start will eventually get killed doesn't lessen the impact once you actually see it. Although the circumstances of the characters' death were different from what happened in the book, the end-result was the same so cut Jackson some slack, you high and mighty Tolkien fanatics. I wasn't so invested in Kili in the book but who wouldn't like Tolkien's version of Kili?
images from Iconic Fictional Characters
The thing with epic adventures is that, they leave a mark. Sometimes it completely intertwines with the rest of our lives, other times it becomes a constant reminder in a form of a scar, tattoo, or deformity of what we've underwent at a certain time. Very seldom does it leave us. And very seldom does it not make us evaluate where we currently stand.
I'm not yet ready to bid Middle-earth farewell. For now, let me go back to doing my LOTR marathon then cap everything off with Billy Boyd's The Last Goodbye to shed some more tears. Peace out!
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