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Worldwide
box office receipts for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
have exceeded 300 million dollars. It's on its way to becoming the
highest grossing film of all time, exceeding "Titanic".
But that is only part of its success.
"The
Lord of the Rings" has been dubbed the best selling fictional
work of the 20th century. Since it was published in 1954, J.R.R.
Tolkien's trilogy has sold nearly 150 million copies in 25 languages.
The publisher anticipates 2003 to be the hottest year ever. Prior
to the release of "The Two Towers", the triology's second
installment, record numbers of fans logged onto the official Lord
of the Rings website in order to download behind the scenes promotional
footage. What is it about this epic tale that has entertained and
inspired four generations worldwide?
Tolkien
illustrates the seductive powers of evil through his use of the
dark lord Sauron's Ring of Power. In the "Two Towers"
this Ring has ended up around the neck of Frodo, a humble and homesick
hobbit. He struggles to resist its lure as he makes his way to cast
the Ring into the volcano Mount Doom. Sauron commands the powers
of oppression and hatred to find Frodo and reclaim the Ring just
as the Ring itself seduces Frodo away from his mission. The film's
brilliant depiction of the battle between the forces of good and
evil external to Frodo keeps the audience gripped to their armrests
with white knuckles. But it is Frodo's internal battle, as he fights
to resist the temptation of the Ring and the power it would give
him that the audience identifies with.
Just
as the Ring appears to take control of Frodo's will, his friends
help him fight its lure. For Tolkien it is not enough to understand
the nature of good and evil. He encourages us to make a stand. Tolkien
believed that literature should infuse people with hope. The most
powerful scene in the film doesn't take place on a battlefield or
during a highly choreographed action sequence. It is when Samwise,
Frodo's loyal companion, encourages Frodo to fight his discouragement.
Tired and frightened by the battle, Frodo begins to lose heart.
He tells Sam that he can't go on. Sam reminds him that as long as
there is good in the world it's worth fighting for and they must
do their part.
All
of us can relate to Frodo's struggle with the temptation of power.
We empathize with his discouragement as he struggles with life's
problems. What makes the book and film so encouraging is his decision
to promote the good.
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| "How
shall a man judge what to do in such times?" Aragorn replies:
"As he has ever judged. Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear,
not are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men.
It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as
in his own house." |
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Sitting in
the movie theater, watching Frodo and Samwise fight the forces of dark
lord Sauron, one can't help but think of the "real life hobbits"
J.R.R. Tolkien and his good friend C.S. Lewis. While teaching in Oxford
they formed a small writing group called the Inklings that met regularly
between 1930 and 1949 to share their stories for critique and encouragement.
From the
book: "The Two Towers"
"I
wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into?" asks Samwise.
"I
wonder," said Frodo, "But I don't know. And that's the way
of a real tale. Take any one that you're fond of. You may know, or guess,
what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people
in it don't know. And you don't want them to."
"Still
I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We're in one,
of course; but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside,
or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and
years afterwards. And people will say: 'Let's hear about Frodo and the
Ring!' And they'll say: 'Yes, that's one of my favourite stories, Frodo
was very brave, wasn't he dad?' 'Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits,
and that's saying a lot.' "
"It's saying a lot too much." said Frodo, and he laughed,
a long clear laugh from his heart.
"Why
Sam," he said, "to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if
the story was already written. But you've left out one of the chief
characters" ' Samwise the stouthearted, I want to hear more about
Sam, dad. Why didn't they put in more of his talk, dad? That's what
I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam,
would he, dad?' "
"Now,
Mr. Frodo," said Sam, "you shouldn't make fun. I was serious."
"So
was I," said Frodo, "and so I am."
As the Nazi
totalitarian forces rolled over Europe on their way to England we can
envision Tolkien and Lewis, two diminutive geniuses, struggling to find
a way to encourage their fellow patriots to stand against this formidable
evil. They decided they'd tell stories. Though Tolkien denied that "The
Lord of the Rings" is an allegory of World War II, it is hard not
to see the Nazi threat in the evil Nazgul and the hordes of warriors dehumanized
by totalitarian ideology.
Tolkien hits
closer to home when he warns against the excesses of an over commercialized
industrial society yielding its core principles to moral relativism. Characters
in their timeless tales encounter evil at the personal and societal level.
Indeed what is often at stake is not just their own well-being, but also
the existence of the entire world.
Faced with
near impossible odds, Frodo and Samwise do what they can. Thankfully for
us, the same can be said of Tolkien and Lewis.
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