THE PUBLIC ON THE MOVIE
"The only
fear I had ever had about the movie was actually that those who
were not familiar with the story and those who are and are also
homophobic,is that any kind of kinship/brothership Frodo and Sam
portray betweenthemselves would be considered as gay. I have
never once thought that theywere gay. They are simply two good
friends on the journey of their lives."---An Internet
Tolkien fan
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Years before
"queer theory" on college campuses, readers speculated
about
Sam's fierce loyalty to Frodo suggested feelings not entirely
platonic. Now weekend movie
viewers will be closely examining every exchange between the
characters for
orientation-defining clues. As it happens, the Frodo-Sam dynamic
remains
undefined until the film's final moments. Their gentle
epiphany in this
scene is the closest Peter Jackson comes to slowing the viewer
anything other
than passive, distanced awe. Nut, just as the movie finally
promises
to transcend mere spectacle, the screen fades to black. See
you in a year!
From an online review--December 2001
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
> > i have to say that i was pretty dissapointed the first time, but maybe my high expectations were to blame. The second time i liked it a lot better. The two things annoying me, though, were frodo and sam. I somehow fail to like either of them. >> Might that be a problem with the book, do you think? i didn't like them in the book, either.<<
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Granted, Frodo is too "static". Suprisingly, i really liked the role of Sam. He's the kind of support in a group that turns to be *extremely* valuable indepressive situations. Some people referred to him as a dog pet, but, no,he's kind of a magnifier for other people's moral and hidden strength. Theactor is quite funny with his everlasting smile too =) No casting error on Sam.
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
>>The movie was
astonishingly and affectingly direct about the love between Sam
and Frodo. No, don't snicker; it's agape, not eros, but I
don't know what else to call it.
>>. Not as much as the animated Return of the King.
That movie made it looklike they were in the middle of a
homo-erotic relationship. I'm not the only one who noticed
this am I? Those two spend half of the movie half naked
embracing each other saying how much they love one another.
Throw in Sam constantly calling Frodo his
"master" and a song about a whip, it'll be hard not to
think there was more going on between those two than met the eye.
;-)
>>I
dunno. Someone could walk into the last 5 minutes of LOTR:
FOTR and think itwas a gay adventure film. Not just Sam and
Frodo, but Aragorn and Boromir hada farewell scene more loving
(and physically intimate) than you get in some straight romances.
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
THE PUBLIC ON THE ACTORS
"I've carried Frodo in my heart
since I was 14 years old...... To see him made flesh in
Elijah Wood is almost more than I can bear at times. It's such a
mystery to me. How did he
do this? How did he take what was in my heart and show it to me?
I mean, for God's sake,
the little twit didn't even read the book!" ----An Internet
Tolkien Fan
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
> > and IMHO elijah wood is a really bad actor.
>> Is that Frodo? i agree. But by the Brides of Legbiter I think he is GREAT, at least his eyes. They also like Legolas who i think makes an INCREDIBLE job of the rather thin material provided by the book. The bit at the Council of Elrond where he grimaces ever-so-slightly as Gimli plonks himself beside him is MASTERLY.
Yes Legolas is
cool. But he had to be cool =) some poeple complained abouthis
dark eyebrows and not-so-gracious looking. I liked him. I admit
also that Elijah Wood has a strange face that suits a
hobbit very well. But please, somebody pay him acting lessons for
the sequel.
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
No, the film has them quite right. They are all, bar Merry and Sam, darkhaired. Merry has blonde hair and Sam somewhat reddish (Sean Astin's real hair,I presume, since he has red-brown hair in RL). Frodo is very fair of skin, but then again Elijah Wood is in all other respects the most hobbit-like human being on this planet, so casting a very tanned person for the role would have sacrificed a remarkable characterization for a relatively minor physical detail. I think Peter Jackson erred on the side of a well-made movie by casting Wood,who is dark-haired but fair-skinned himself.
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ummm... Correct
me if I'm wrong here, boys, but aren't *all* Elves supposed to
bemore beautiful than any mortal - male Elves included?The tone
of this thread really bothers me. Can we give it a rest
with the dumbbimbo arguments, the "my wife is hotter than
Liv Tyler" threads and the nasty sexual objectification?
I know its all meant in a spirit of fun, but try and
thinkabout the assumptions behind what you are saying. I
don't see anyone arguing that Orlando Bloom is a dumb piece of
meat or that however slow Sean Astin might be, none of us
are ever going to get him in bed.
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"My
question is...did he have any *clue* about what
kind of energy he was projecting?"
He *has* to have! He's practically screaming
"Do illegal things to me!"
---Internet exchange regarding 14-year-old Elijah Wood's
performance in
The Cranberries video 'Ridiculous Thoughts"
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
THE ACTORS ON THE ACTORS
"My older
brother told me, 'Stay away from women', and I'm taking it to
heart. I'm staying clear. It's kind of like a museum where they
have those
really cool paintings. They're behind the glass and you can look
at them,
but you can't touch them. That's what it's like with girls. I can
get myself
into trouble. And also it's hard because I'm an actor and girls
might not
like me for who I am. That's hard to deal with."---Elijah
Wood on Women (1995)
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I think
it's one thing to declare your sexuality, if you care about what
that is. It's another thing to start talking in public about what
you do in privateand who you do it with. It's not that they
[mysignificant others] don't want to be identified as gay, but
that they don't want to be identified as ...with
me."--British gay actor Sir Ian McKellen to thePhiladelphia
Gay News, May 4 2001
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
NY POST/LIZ
SMITH...."You tango-ed with my mother, but did you kiss her?
Was she a good kisser?"Actor Sean Astin put this
unusual question to his fellow actor Joe Spano. Sean was
speaking of his famous mother Patty Duke. He knew that Joey and
Patty starred together on the 1995 TV series "Amazing
Grace."
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I was told
I had to gain a lot of weight because Hobbits are very portly.
Peter Jackson is forever suggesting I have more food. 'A little
more shepherd's pie for Mr. Astin.'" --Sean Astin on
getting and maintaining his role in Lord of the Rings
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Survivors
drop into the Big D
'Africa' cast descends on city for Brandon's charity fund-raiser
01/25/2002 By MANUEL MENDOZA / The Dallas Morning News
Brandon says Kelly was trying to pick up Sean Astin
backstage at alate-night talk show.
" 'Cause he was hitting on Sean Astin's publicist
doesn't mean I was hitting on Sean Astin,"
Kelly replies. "It's a boldfaced lie. If I wanted him, I
could've had him. Oh, no, maybe not."
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You can
look into Elijah's eyes and see through into his heart," ---
Peter Jackson about Elijah Wood 'Frodo Baggins' in
"LOTR:Fellowship of the Ring"
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
THE ACTORS ON THE MOVIE
"Being
immersed in such a stunning location, you couldn't not be
swept away by the romance of it all. On our days off we would
hang
about on set and soak up the atmosphere. Nobody kept themselves
to
themselves." ----Dominic Monaghan
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"The party
scene for Bilbo's birthday plays very fast, but it is during this
sequence that you really notice how much you like Elijah Wood. It
was strange, it was kind of painful watching him here because
he's just so innocent. Those eyes of his, so happy and filled
with the simple joys of Hobbit life. I know where this is going
so I just empathize with him very profoundly."---Joseph
White giving his impression from a very early viewing the first
of the LOTR trilogy -"Fellowship of the Ring"
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"To me there
is nothing so admirable as a passionate love-bond between two
human beings." Sean Astin on the relationship between best
friends Frodo and Sam.
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"It is a deep
relationship, and difficult to describe. In one way it is a
master/servant relationship, because Sam comes from a diffferent
class and wants to serve Frodo and be there for him because he is
very, very loyal. But more than anything, they are best friends.
Despite all of the efforts of wizards and warriors, it is this
one friendship that eventually enables Frodo to carry out his
quest. Quite simply it is love. it is that unconditional love
that says, regardless of what you do or where you go, I will
always be there for you" Elijah Wood about Sam and Frodo.
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"...they don't need to talk about what they are to each other, they just *are*" Sean Astin on Frodo & Sam
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Movie Review
by Mike D'Angelo
The Lord of
the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson): B-
>> Of the many questions rabid Tolkien fanatics harbor
about Peter Jackson's
> much-anticipated three-part adaptation of The Lord of the
Rings, perhaps
> the most pressing involves the director's treatment of the
relationship
> between Frodo (Elijah Wood), the tale's reluctant
protagonist, and
> Sam (Sean Astin), Frodo's boon companion. Years before the
advent
> of queer theory on college campuses, readers began
speculating about
> whether Sam's preternaturally fierce loyalty to Frodo
suggests feelings
> not entirely platonic. Now that the debate has invaded the
Internet -- a
> search for the word "gay" in the alt.fan.tolkien
archive turns up 1,270
> references -- there's little doubt that many opening-weekend
viewers
> will be closely examining every exchange between the
characters for
> orientation-defining clues. As it happens, the Frodo-Sam
dynamic remains
> undefined until the film's final moments...which is a bit of
a problem,
> since the gentle epiphany of that scene is the closest
Jackson ever comes
> to inspiring a sensation other than passive, distanced awe.
Just as the
> movie finally promises to transcend mere spectacle, the
screen fades to
> black. See you in a year!>>
Neither a triumph nor a disaster, The Fellowship of the Ring will
please
> those looking for a scrupulously faithful, visually
spectacular
> representation of Tolkien's singular universe, but it's
likely to prove a
> mild disappointment to those of us who consider Jackson
(Heavenly
> Creatures, The Frighteners) one of the medium's most
underrated auteurs.
> Mistaking submission for respect, he's politely refrained
from injecting his
> own vigorous personality into the material (apart from his
usual
> Hitchcockian cameo); his work here may be more muscular and
evocative
> than Chris Columbus's in Harry Potter and the Mass-
> Campaign, but it's every bit as anonymous. And while only
the grossest
> ineptitude could make Tolkien's elemental battle between
good and evil
> less than consistently engrossing, there's no denying that
the picture plods
> haphazardly from incident to incident with little sense of
narrative rhythm,
> or that the nine stalwart warriors who make up the ring's
fellowship
> possess roughly one personality (Gandalf's) among them.
Swords clang,
> hooves thunder, goblins shriek -- but all the sound and fury
on Middle
> Earth ultimately signifies less than does Sam's
(anti)climactic profession
> of undying devotion. Is he in love, or just an embodiment of
the Greek
> concept of agape? It scarcely matters. He's got a pulse, and
that bodes
> well for The Two Towers and The Return of the King. If we're
lucky, this
> one is merely an appetizer.
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