Week 6, Heroic Jounrey

Remy Tost, September 26

I remember when The Hobbit movie was about to come out. James, a good friend of mine at the time invited me to his apartment with some more friends to watch the LotR trilogy in preparation for the movie’s release. But I asked him if he had ever read the book to which he replied he did and told me about it, with its songs/poems (which sounded strange to me at the time) and the adventurous plot. When we saw the first movie together he was appreciative about the two songs that got included but the film overall didn’t feel as “child-like” to him like the book was. I’m sure if we still talked he’d tell me all about his feelings towards the last two movies and how unhappy he was that they didn’t include any more of the songs/poems and how it got so serious and so focused on the war which didn’t even last that long in the book. And since the Hobbit by JRR Tolkien was the book I chose to read this week, I can honesty say if he had had this conversation with me I’d agree with him.

Another friend of mine from my hometown used to talk about JJR Tolkien’s writing as long, sometimes dragged. I used to love hearing him say how he had “over 100 ways to describe walking” since apparently that’s a thing they do a lot in the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. But in The Hobbit, The writing to me was not as grueling as say the LotR series. It felt like a children’s book although it wasn’t “dumbed down”. It still had some intense scenes…like that spider in the woods scene. I’m glad Bilbo broke the ice for me though and sang a song to one f the spider’s to trick him though. Made it easier to bear (I have arachnophobia). Also the scene with Gollum was a bit daunting seeing that if Bilbo didn’t answer the riddles correctly he’d get EATEN. But again, Tolkien manages to make the intense less so with riddles. I think that’s my favorite part about the book honestly. That and the part when Bilbo sings the final song before he goes back to his home…. It really set the mood and made me feel in the moment with him. Almost made me wish Tolkien wrote a musical; that would have been AMAZING.

While reading this I thought about all the other adventure books that have come after this. But not just adventure, the kind that involve a not-so-heroic character who kind of has the choice to go on a journey/quest and learns a lot about himself along the way. Harry Potter of course came to mind. Like Gandalf, Albus, Hermione and pretty much everyone helped figure out who and what he was and at the end of the journey Harry seemed complete, content and satisfied with himself, just like Bilbo. Another story I wanna mention that reminded me of this was Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan. Loved the series, hated the ending. But what made the connection was again Darren (the main character) and how he saved his friend, Steve from death by basically sacrificing his life to be a vampire’s apprentice. At first it doesn’t seem the same as The Hobbit or Harry Potter, but after Darren and the vampire, Larten get a long and the plot and world expands, Darren too sets on a quest and meets a lot of people who help change him and he too changes and finds out about himself.

Legend, one of my favorite movies in the fantasy realm was the one I chose to watch for this week. Such a lush world, and believable too; especially when it changes from beautiful and sunny to gloomy and snowy. Also loved the practical effects. Cant even begin to explain why….then again practical effects at during that time in cinema where such on point. The cast was amazing and the soundtrack by Tangerine was super magical. (Funny too though since around the time this movie was released Tom Cruise was in Risky Business and the soundtrack for that film was also done by Tangerine Dream. Long story short I’m a big Tangerine Dream fan).