[Dominus]

I know this subject will sicken some of you, but I must vent my frustration.

We all know how it works, something comes along (Pokemon, Star Wars, Harry Potter etc.) that creates a phenomenon, everyone watches it, talks about and buys it. The toy makers and book sellers saturate the market with items based on it. A fad is born.

If this happens (and if the movies are good and lots of people see them it will), I will scream!! People who don't read fantasy in general, much less the LotR books, will talk about it like they did and so "No you're wrong, that isn't how it happened in the movie", will be everywhere, even if it happened in the books, THE BASIS FOR THE MOVIES. AARRGGHH!!!! People who don't read fantasy will bash the movies for some reason, which will carry over to the books themselves and fantasy in general, and fantasy could get a bad rep.

Then next thing you know there will be "Gandalf" action figures and "Shire" puzzles. It sickens me to no end.

I however can still not wait till the movies come out, I could just do without all the hangups of popculture bringing negativity to release of the ORIGINAL Fantasy Epic.

[Gamlemshagen]

I dont think the Tolkien family will accept toys. ..? I think I read somewhere they were very protective about tolkiens work. But then agin, we should not underestimate the power of the dark side.

[This message has been edited by Gamlemshagen (edited November 05, 2001).]

[Alucard]

Never liked the lotr myself, so I can't say this would bother me.

But fantasy getting popular might not be all bad. It could open the market for fantasy books even wider, giving more authors a shot at being published, and giving the fans a lot more to read (and possibly, watch). This, of course, is a very ideal example of the situation, but you never know . . .

[Metosblat]

More Fantasy to meet a current fad means more BAD fantasy and god knows we already have enough of that!

[Dominus]

I agree that this movie could bring in a lot of new books, authors, and the attention it deserves(as long as they don't load up the market with lots of crap, which they will), but the flipside is pretty bad. If the movie does bad, it could greatly affect the potential for more fantasy movies in the future, though I doubt it will affect the book market very much, which is good.

[This message has been edited by Dominus (edited November 06, 2001).]

[Sojourn]

Gamlemshagen, apparently there will be LoTR action figures released. Saw some at a comics store in the city. Not to mention collectible figurines, t-shirts, miniatures and miniature wargames, among other things.

The gates shall open and all hell will be let loose. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif

[woody]

I'm sorry, but what do you expect? LotR is apparently the No.1 book of all time. Are you saying that it doesn't have, or deserves mass appeal. You have to give the people what they want and if that means cuddly Gandalfs then so be it.

Personally speaking I think Tolkein's family are being a tad snobbish in trying to instill an elitism into his work.

Be seeing ye.

[mundanemies]

You have to give the people what they want and if that means cuddly Gandalfs then so be it.
Personally speaking I think Tolkein's family are being a tad snobbish in trying to instill an elitism into his work.

No no no no... http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/frown.gif
"You have to give people what they want." Why? Why should everything be lamed down and commercialised? Dumbing down and going for the lowest common denominator PC has gone on long enough. But I digress...

And for crying out LOUD! It's TOLKIEN.
T-o-l-k-i-e-n.
It can't be that difficult to write "A" name right. Right?

(Sorry about venting out. I just need to write this down once. I'll try to restrain myself next time http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/biggrin.gif)

I can both understand and appreciate that Tolkien's children, especially Christopher, don't want to see their father's work mangled into commercial circus. They have however no rights to the movie, since that was sold by the big T. himself aeons ago. So Saul Zaentz can (and has already done so) sell characters into dolls and playcards and whatnots.

"Install elitism" and being "a tad snobbish"? Well, they have every right to be as snobbish and elitist as they please. I don't care about them, I care about their father's work and legacy (as I'm sure they do too http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif). Over-marketing and selling rights to wishy-washy crap is to be opposed to the last man/woman/hobbit. Not everything should be producted and marketed to the extreme.

So there. "Sammuttakaa valot!"

[Shehzad]

*Standing ovation for Mundanemies*

[Sammie]

Having said that, any publicity is good publicity, right?

I mean, the more 'cuddly Gandalfs' people are exposed to, the more likely they are to want to know what the hype is and to actualy read the book. After that, they'll form their own opinions anyway, so what's the big deal??

*checks spelling very carefully before posting*