(FYI- There are spoilers so don’t read unless you’re okay with that! Thanks!)
On New Year’s Eve we finished the last movie, it was us kids first time seeing the whole series! We watched the extended versions because that is what we had on DVD. We watched the whole first movie in one night, then the next two we split in two parts.
Wow. It was really good.
We had seen the first movie before. It was okay but obviously out of context when you don’t watch the next two. I wasn’t super looking forward to watching these but as we went further in I loved it more and more!
I’m worried that there’s some impure desires, feelings and thoughts w/ Frodo, Sam and their friendship. I’m praying God will make pure my view of the movie.
I already knew that Frodo wouldn’t throw in the ring after hearing Father Mike Schmitz’s homily a few weeks ago and how he didn’t like that… he felt that it was incomplete.
After it happened I started to agree more and more. Frodo was not the ultimate hero. And it felt like if it were me in the situation, the friendship of Frodo and Sam would be a bit hindered. Frodo did not show up and do it, which Sam definitely deserved. I don’t think it hurt their friendship but I still struggled with that friendship for the rest of the movie.
As the movie kept going and as I kept thinking about it I had the thoughts: we can’t drop the ring on our own. For me at least, the main thing the ring represents is sin. It’s not possible. We certainly can’t destroy all sin but we often can’t even be the master over our own attachment to it, we are too little and weak. But God still allowed it to happen, He allowed it to get destroyed, the ring did drop and it was by the grace of God, not by what Frodo did. Frodo couldn’t do it.
He did, however, have another choice.
The choice of giving in to despair. He had the choice to give in to despair by letting go of the cliff. Maybe it was mainly coming from him wanting to let go to be with the ring or because living wasn’t worth it without the ring. But he still had the choice to not give in to despair. We all have that choice. That’s one that God helps us with but it’s still our choice. Frodo made the right decision.
There were so many beautiful moments. One of my favorite parts of the whole trilogy was when Sam was holding Frodo all sprawled out (which reminds me of the Pietà image, with Frodo as Jesus who’s going to destroy this darkness for the whole world) and then Sam says, “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you!” And then he literally puts him on his back and carries him up! Wow. What a beautiful scene.
“Come, Mr. Frodo!’ he cried. I can’t carry it for you,
-Sam, “The Return of the King”
but I can carry you.”
I also loved when Pippin found Merry on the battlefield- those two sweet cousins who are so close. Poor Merry, he was there under the Orc because of his bravery and how he wanted to help his friends. It was cool because they had been apart for some time. It was just a sweet interchange they had.
I could see many parallels to the Catholic faith in the movie. Frodo is like Jesus at times. He also represents us. I like how my Dad described it here, how we are like Frodo, we each have a cross to carry, we’re called to fight against the darkness, and we’ve each been given a task that only we can accomplish. Sam is kind of like John or Mary. He’s also kinda like us, the one to console Jesus’ suffering and thirst. Aragorn reminded me of Jesus too, I’m not sure if it was on purpose that he really looked like Jesus! But in the part where the good guys were literally surrounded by a circle of Orcs (at the end) and he said, “For Frodo!”, he was the first one willing to sacrifice himself. Then later he became king and was reunited with Arwen, which could represent Jesus and His bride, the Church.
“I would have gone with you to the end, into the very fires of Mordor.”
-Aragorn, “The Fellowship of the Ring”
I’m not sure about Gandalf. I can see him as the God figure, he’s kind of a fatherly character. I heard my brother mention how he saved Frodo and Sam at the end with the eagles. Our mom talked about how we still need saving and rescuing, even after we complete the job, which in their case they weren’t the ones to complete the job, it was by the grace of God. And there’s the neat comparison to the verse in the Bible about eagles wings. I can also see Jesus in Gandalf like when he sacrificed himself with that monster at the end of the first movie. When our mom was looking up Catholic parallels to the series, she mention how he fought the monster as he fell, all the way down, like when Jesus went to Hell after He died. Then it was almost like Gandalf was raised from the dead and he came back in white.
When Frodo went out to sea at the end, which I currently don’t really like, I thought that it’s almost like Heaven. He, or God, conquered the burden and then, although I think he stayed in the Shire for a while in between too, he went to a place to receive healing and power for the rest of his days, kind of like Heaven.
The scene where King Théoden is dying on the battlefield and his niece, Éowyn, is over him reminded me a little of Mary and Jesus, when Jesus was dying. Éowyn wants to save him and he says that she already did, then he tells her that his body is broken and says, “You have to let me go.” Then he says, “I go to my fathers. In whose mighty company I shall not now be ashamed.”. Obviously, not all of it applies to Mary and Jesus but it’s a little similar at parts.
My Dad made the connection of Galadriel like Mother Mary. The lady in white. There was the scene where she turned scary which made me feel like she shouldn’t represent Mary, at least in that scene. But Dad talked about how that was like Mary getting tempted. There was maybe even a line where she said something like how “she passed.”
Our mom was thinking about when Frodo would put the ring on, it was usually to “keep him safe” and help get him out of trouble. But in reality it was not good and it allowed Sauron to see him and to see right where he was. It’s like when we sin. We use it as an easy way out, to “escape” and it feels good but in reality it’s not good for us. It allows Satan to get closer to us, to see us.
Mom and I realized that the bread (which earlier she found somewhere that talked about how one bite would fill them up… like the Eucharist) was what Gollum used to divide Sam and Frodo and how he got rid of what they had left. It’s like what Satan tries to do. He divides Jesus’ followers on the Eucharist, tries to get us away from it. But it was also what Sam found later, he saw the truth and it’s probably what made him go back to Frodo.
Gollum is an interesting character. You can see the human in him at a certain point. You want him to turn good. At least I did. In “The Two Towers” when Gollum was with Sam and Frodo and more a part of the storyline, he was likable. This character who I had previously thought was gross, scary and creepy was actually likable. He was pretty funny, which may have been the main reason I liked him! But you could also see his humanness.
At a certain point I thought Gollum would turn out good, but no. He is the example of it done wrong. Sin and attachment take over you. I also realized he was kinda happy to die or at least not super upset, as he was falling and when he was in the lava, as long as he had his precious. That is an interesting parallel to those in hell. He was like someone not receiving and even rejecting God’s gifts, as our priest was talking about in his homily at the late Mass we went to on New Year’s Eve.
I’m praying that the Lord will give me a friend like Sam. And that He’ll help me be a friend like Sam. For the right, pure reasons. Sam is such a good friend. Frodo is so receptive, appreciative and grateful for it too which I love. And Sam just keeps freely giving, purely out of love.
I liked the transformation of Pippin and Merry. They started out kind of annoying and were the cause of several of their problems. But they got separated and it felt like while they were apart they each got a chance to show their true character. Merry connected with the niece, Éowyn, and was very brave to go into battle. He just wanted to help, especially to help his friends. Pippin, he was a bit more of a troublemaker but he really came around when helping Gandalf and saving the life of Faramir. They had their brave, independent moments. I think Sam’s brave, independent moment was fighting the big spider monster on his own.
“You need people of intelligence on this sort of … mission. Quest. Thing.”
–Pippin
“Well, that rules you out, Pip.”
–Merry, (The Fellowship of the Ring)
Kind of surprisingly to me, I don’t think I’d want to change much about all the gross creatures. My mom hated them and felt like there was way too much gross stuff in the movie. I kind of agree but I also kind of like it. It adds another level of thrill and realness to it. I do agree though that a few specific scenes could have been taken out or had less grossness.
I loved all the horses in this movie! Especially the scene where Pippin is singing for the King of Gondor and all the brave soldiers are in a line on their horses, galloping towards the Orcs, basically going to sacrifice themselves. That was beautiful scene. The ride of the Rohirrim was pretty epic too. But I just loved all the horses! And I respect all the time and effort that went in to having them. I know most of it was CGI but a lot of it wasn’t. After having been in the horse world a bit I appreciate and respect all the work of not only training but housing them, managing them, getting them ready and everything else involved in having those horses in the movie.
“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”
-Galadriel, “The Fellowship of the Ring”
This quote really fits with a lot of what I’ve been learning from St. Therese.
I look forward to watching the movies again! I’m not sure if I have a lot of desire to read the books. Maybe. Especially now that I know the story, I might be more interested. It just feels like a lot and I really enjoyed the movies.
In 1953 Tolkien wrote (while The Lord of the Rings was getting prepared for publishing):
“The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like “religion,” to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism. However that is very clumsily put, and sounds more self-important than I feel. For as a matter of fact, I have consciously planned very little; and should chiefly be grateful for having been brought up (since I was eight) in a Faith that has nourished me and taught me all the little that I know.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien
What’s something you liked about it (and why)? I love that there’s so many parallels to the faith, whether or not Tolkien intended there to be. I enjoyed comparing the characters and story to the faith on my own throughout us watching it and making those neat connections.
What’s something you disliked about it (and why)? I wish Aragorn and Legolas would have had a little more emotion and character development. I get that they are stoic. But they are some of the main characters so it would have been nice to have a little more emotion, especially Legolas. He had no character arc. They were both very hard to read.
I also had a hard time with the storyline between Arwen and Aragorn, which my mom and I were talking about because she felt the same way. Mainly I didn’t understand it, there was a lot of stuff I missed regarding the storyline of the immortality, their relationship, the elves in general, etc. Now to be fair, I wasn’t very observant, I kinda zoned out at those times so it was probably my own fault. But it was very confusing and my mom and I both agreed it wasn’t a super satisfying, great moment when they got together at the end. It was nice, but we just didn’t care that much. Considering that was the main romantic storyline in the whole movie, it felt like it could have been done better. I know it’s not a romantic movie or anything, but it’s still a fantasy story. It’s gotta have a good romance. For that many hours of movie, I just think it could have been better.
What was your biggest takeaway or lesson? I think there’s two big ones, one of which is seeing the friendship of Sam and Frodo. How Sam had this self-giving and pouring out of love, even when it caused him to make sacrifices. I would like to have a few friendships or relationships like this in my life.
The main takeaway though, is the metaphor of the ring. Recently, I had a situation where I realized that this sinful thing I was holding on to was like the ring. It was bad for me but I liked it. I didn’t want to get rid of it. I’m seeing other areas in my life that are like that too and even more recently I found a bigger area where’s it’s more of a burden, it’s oftentimes a sin, something keeping me from being my best but I don’t want to get rid of it.
What is something you’re curious to learn more about as a result of this experience? I’m a little curious to learn more about how the Catholic faith relates to the story. I guess it may partly be what others take out of it, it may not have been completely from Tolkien’s intent as the quote above says. I was interested to hear the ties between them at the beginning but as we went along in watching it I enjoyed coming up with the parallels on my own, so I kind of didn’t want to see what others had to say. I don’t know, I think I’m a little more curious about it now though.
Thank you so much for reading!
Lucy