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Strange things keep tripping me up. I saw a commercial last weekend, I think, for the Lord of the Rings movies airing on TBS. The ads went out of their way to poke fun at the "Men of Middle Earth" and how perfectly tousled they always were, etc. I remember watching them and feeling vaguely offended, because these movies shouldn't be treated so lightly, given how they were about loss and ....
And then my brain stopped itself.
While loss does figure in, I don't think anyone else has ever described them that way. Certainly the books aren't reviewed that way. It's about saving the world from an evil beyond imagining and the costs that journey encurs. You could say it's about sacrifice, it's about folly, it's about beating up big things with swords, it's about the journey from childhood, it's about war.... the list of possible comparisons go on and on. "Loss" isn't one most people focus on, generally. There's too much going on.
For me, of course, it's a different story. These movies came out and were seen against the backdrop of my crumbling life/marriage (don't think they weren't intertwined for me back in the day). I wept for nearly an hour each coming out of parts two and three. There were scenes so painful to me that I nearly left the theater at least once. Despite my fondness for them, I have not viewed them since they were in the theater... it's too painful. All I could see was my own loss echoed in those the characters endure, blown up life size and twice as bright. After suffering through them, they've become imbued with all the pain I felt during that time, rendering them nearly unwatchable for me. I feel this is a great shame. I would very much like to watch them again some day, to disassociate them from that period and those emotions and just enjoy them as the stories they are. One of these days I'll get around to it. At present, though, I think I may let sleeping dogs lie a bit longer. Just realizing that I've made that association is a good amount of progress for now. :)
And then my brain stopped itself.
While loss does figure in, I don't think anyone else has ever described them that way. Certainly the books aren't reviewed that way. It's about saving the world from an evil beyond imagining and the costs that journey encurs. You could say it's about sacrifice, it's about folly, it's about beating up big things with swords, it's about the journey from childhood, it's about war.... the list of possible comparisons go on and on. "Loss" isn't one most people focus on, generally. There's too much going on.
For me, of course, it's a different story. These movies came out and were seen against the backdrop of my crumbling life/marriage (don't think they weren't intertwined for me back in the day). I wept for nearly an hour each coming out of parts two and three. There were scenes so painful to me that I nearly left the theater at least once. Despite my fondness for them, I have not viewed them since they were in the theater... it's too painful. All I could see was my own loss echoed in those the characters endure, blown up life size and twice as bright. After suffering through them, they've become imbued with all the pain I felt during that time, rendering them nearly unwatchable for me. I feel this is a great shame. I would very much like to watch them again some day, to disassociate them from that period and those emotions and just enjoy them as the stories they are. One of these days I'll get around to it. At present, though, I think I may let sleeping dogs lie a bit longer. Just realizing that I've made that association is a good amount of progress for now. :)
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Date: 2006-04-23 04:37 pm (UTC)From:I felt somewhat uncomfortable, as I've considered moving to another country.