What All Was Wrong with PJ's LOTR

[Curufin]

Again, I agree with DPR.

There were plenty of changes I was fine with:

1. Bombadil.
2. Cutting Gildor (I know this is minor, but I like the guy. ).
3. Arwen at the Ford (I know this is a big issue for some, and while I don't particularly like it, I understand why he replaced her with Glorfindel...)

I even understand why he felt he had to restage 'Window on the West' - it was all talking in the book and would have been dead boring on screen.

But none of these things changed essential themes. None of these things (with the possible exception of Arwen, which is debatable) changed any characters. They condensed, perhaps, but they didn't change Tolkien's ideas.

Faramir, on the other hand, and the inclusion of Elves at Helm's Deep, did.

There are also many I like, including many that involve personality changes to main characters that (in my purely subjective view) are overly idealized by Tolkien in the book (Faramir and Elrond are two characters along those lines for me).

Two things - First, I don't quite understand what you mean by 'over-idealized.' Faramir's just a noble guy, and Elrond is the son of Elwing and Eärendil, descendant of the House of Finwë and the race of the Maiar. He's not just Arwen's protective father, or some annoying elf. He's the culmination of all three races, and something of a special-case. I don't like how PJ portrayed him at all. Very badly done.

Secondly - if PJ starts changing the basic motivations and reactions of Tolkien's characters, that seems to me like it should be the literary version of libel! I mean, seriously, what if someone decided to make a historical movie based on, say, the American Civil War, and decided to change the motivation of the south to something. For instance: 'Oh, the South isn't going to secede because of States' Rights and Slavery Issues this time, but because they want to form the first Scientology Theocracy!' It might be an interesting film, but it's certainly not about the Civil War. And if someone called it 'The American Civil War' or something similar, people would be pretty upset. Because it's falsely potraying the reality. Just as PJ completely changing characters and their motivations has made it so that his world falsely portrays Tolkien's.