Hollow masterpieces?
Sep. 27th, 2008 10:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sawylHaving queued up the recent broadcasts of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I've finally got around to watching them and I'm seriously unimpressed. Not by the visuals, which remain stunning, but by just about everything else.
Firstly, the films are staggeringly dull. Yes, there are action scenes but they drag on for far too long and, besides, no-one ever seems to get injured no matter how absurd the odds so they're not really terribly involving. Secondly, none of the character are particularly interesting. With the honourable exception of Boromir, who comes closest to being tempted, none of the characters seem to express much in the way of doubt — or, in fact, anything that could be mistaken for a genuine emotional feeling — making it almost impossible to really care about them.
Then there's the whole problem about the external nature of evil. Rather than treat evil as an internal and personal thing — a genuine human failing — we're simply reminded that all evil is due to the ring and through it Sauron, and that if only the ring could be destroyed, evil would be banished forever. So all the humans who covet or fear the ring have a get out: they can simply blame the corrupting power of Sauron. So much for moral dilemmas.
All things considered, I think I'm going to stick with Wagner and Der Ring des Nibelungen. Yes, he was an anti-semitic adulterer with a penchant for Schopenhauer and silk undies, but at least his Ring Operas are interesting...
Firstly, the films are staggeringly dull. Yes, there are action scenes but they drag on for far too long and, besides, no-one ever seems to get injured no matter how absurd the odds so they're not really terribly involving. Secondly, none of the character are particularly interesting. With the honourable exception of Boromir, who comes closest to being tempted, none of the characters seem to express much in the way of doubt — or, in fact, anything that could be mistaken for a genuine emotional feeling — making it almost impossible to really care about them.
Then there's the whole problem about the external nature of evil. Rather than treat evil as an internal and personal thing — a genuine human failing — we're simply reminded that all evil is due to the ring and through it Sauron, and that if only the ring could be destroyed, evil would be banished forever. So all the humans who covet or fear the ring have a get out: they can simply blame the corrupting power of Sauron. So much for moral dilemmas.
All things considered, I think I'm going to stick with Wagner and Der Ring des Nibelungen. Yes, he was an anti-semitic adulterer with a penchant for Schopenhauer and silk undies, but at least his Ring Operas are interesting...
