Books, Films, Adaptations, & Reader Responses 1/8
these are a few of my favorite things!
This is the first of what will be (at least, sigh) a trilogy of posts on the topic! I was not intending to make these posts (I had others in draft!), but I read the two authors’ Newsletters and, in both cases, their posts grabbed me so hard, I had to subscribe to their Substack. And then when I tried to reply to them, I started slipping into “autism monologue” mode (which I have learned does not play well in comments to posts online, usually bringing the conversation to a screeching halt). So that’s how we got here!
This post links to the two posts which I highly recommend you read: the first is Jokien with Tolkien’s post on “Why Peter Jackson’s ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ is My Favorite of his LOTR Trilogy” which is a fantastic discussion about the film which draws on adaptation theory as well as his personal responses to and evaluation of the film adaptation.
The second is Mercury Natis’s Rings of Power's Celebrimbor Problem: S1 EDITION which is a fantastic discussion about the de-queering of Sauron and Celebrimor’s relationship in Season of, yeah, ROP. This piece is a detailed comparative analysis of the changes in the adaptation, with close readings both of ROP and Tolkien’s story/stories about the creation of the Rings of Power in the Second Age.
And hey! Apparently Substack how has an automatic function to let you download a quote into an image and then upload it your post—as you see below!
So, go read, enjoy, and check back tomorrow (or Sunday) for my first attempt to corral ALL the ideas that these two brilliant essays inspired!
Plus some film adaptation theory (which arguably applies to ROP thought it’s a television series not a film).
And either here or in my later posts, feel free to share your ideas about the adaptations, any adaptation, of Tolkien’s legendarium.