Author/video essayist Lindsay Ellis once amusingly coined the phrase “Forced Peej Conflict”, which describes a specific kind of plot contrivance Peter Jackson frequently relies on when adapting aspects of Tolkien’s work that (theoretically, at least) won’t translate smoothly on-screen. Cue the fraught confrontation, Sam’s ineffectual defense, and Frodo’s two harsh words that broke all our hearts: “Go home.”īut a cursory look at this scene unearths the strands fraying just below the surface. And poor Samwise, well-meaning to a fault, bumbles right into Gollum’s trap by offering to bear Frodo’s burdensome Ring himself. Gollum’s treachery compels him to chuck the last of their precious Lembas bread and frame Sam for the crime. The possessive and consuming nature of the Ring has almost completely overtaken Frodo, leaving him susceptible to manipulation and whispered suspicions. The entire affair between Frodo, Sam, and Gollum on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol seems straightforward at first glance. Again and again, bold swings of blockbuster filmmaking crash against Jackson’s B-movie storytelling quirks. The parting of Sam and Frodo, where the bond between our two lovable leads shatters due to irreconcilable differences (assisted by a third-wheeling Gollum), best represents the singular dichotomy at the heart of these cherished adaptations. It’s in this spirit that we take a microscope to one particular sequence I’ve obsessed over since I was an impressionable Hobbit-lad in 2003, bursting with anticipation in my theater seat as The Return of the King unfolded before me. Between effusive praise (nothing but respect for MY The Fellowship of the Ring prologue front-loaded with all that worldbuilding and historical lore) and head-scratching disbelief ( they did WHAT to Faramir in The Two Towers?), we can spin ourselves into knots trying to reconcile these two wolves within us - and within the films themselves, too. You can trust the most passionate (insufferable) among us, burdened with book-learned knowledge, to host annual trilogy marathons and debate ourselves in disturbingly Gollum-like fashion. So each Wednesday throughout the year, we'll go there and back again, examining how and why the films have endured as modern classics. 2021 marks The Lord of the Rings movies' 20th anniversary, and we couldn't imagine exploring the trilogy in just one story.
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