Happy Hobbit Day!
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey premiered in New Zealand, home country of director Peter Jackson.
I read The Lord of the Rings and saw the movies. If you haven't, you should. While the book is long, and the movies take up hours of your time, they're both great cultural achievements. The book especially addresses so much of what goes on in the world today, even though it is, of course, about a world created by the author's imagination. I'd go so far as to say that if you read the book, you can gain a pretty solid education in politics and economics, and it would be a far more interesting way to get yourself up to speed in these two important areas than most academic books out there.
A good example of what I'm talking about is the major theme of "power corrupts." If you don't understand the awesome impact of power on people's minds and hearts, and how it dominates politics and most - is not all - politicians' decision-making, you could do worse than watching The Lord of the Rings. Even better, read the novel. Which brings me to another thought about the new film.
I haven't seen The Hobbit, and wasn't going to based on there being only so many hours in a day and an initial thought that there would be no way it could surpass The Lord of the Rings, but I'm reconsidering that. If these Hobbit films are anything close to the original Lord they'll be head and shoulders above most of the trash that the film industry dumps on us. The only thing holding me back might be the simple fact that there are only 24 hours in a day, and my allotment of time for movies is, of necessity, miniscule.
Which brings up the whole issue of how much time Americans spend watching what passes for "entertainment" these days. Many of us complain about how tough things are out there, then spend hours watching what can only be described as garbage for the mind - and soul. Wouldn't you think that people might spend time looking to improving their minds, even elevating their souls above the sludge that's pumped out by the entertainment industry? But, alas, the products the entertainment industry puts out seem to get worse by the year, and, sadly, the fascination with this junk on the part of our fellow countrymen seems endless.
Well, maybe I will go and see The Hobbit after all. And maybe it will be a smash hit like The Lord of the Rings. I just wish more people would see the difference between decent stuff and garbage and stick with what's decent.
You realize that a culture in decay won't be able to handle crisis all that well, don't you? And you do realize that most of what passes for entertainment demonstrates that our culture is not only in decay now, but decaying by the minute.
Well, maybe The Hobbit won't turn the tide, but every little bit helps I suppose.
Tens of thousands of people packed New Zealand's capital city, clambering on roofs and hanging onto lamp posts on Wednesday to get a glimpse of the stars at the red carpet world premiere of the film "The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey".This will be the first installment of three. It chronicles the goings-about of Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit, about 60 years prior to the events portrayed in The Lord of the Rings, Jackson's academy award-winning movies based on the novel by JRR Tolkein.
I read The Lord of the Rings and saw the movies. If you haven't, you should. While the book is long, and the movies take up hours of your time, they're both great cultural achievements. The book especially addresses so much of what goes on in the world today, even though it is, of course, about a world created by the author's imagination. I'd go so far as to say that if you read the book, you can gain a pretty solid education in politics and economics, and it would be a far more interesting way to get yourself up to speed in these two important areas than most academic books out there.
A good example of what I'm talking about is the major theme of "power corrupts." If you don't understand the awesome impact of power on people's minds and hearts, and how it dominates politics and most - is not all - politicians' decision-making, you could do worse than watching The Lord of the Rings. Even better, read the novel. Which brings me to another thought about the new film.
I haven't seen The Hobbit, and wasn't going to based on there being only so many hours in a day and an initial thought that there would be no way it could surpass The Lord of the Rings, but I'm reconsidering that. If these Hobbit films are anything close to the original Lord they'll be head and shoulders above most of the trash that the film industry dumps on us. The only thing holding me back might be the simple fact that there are only 24 hours in a day, and my allotment of time for movies is, of necessity, miniscule.
Which brings up the whole issue of how much time Americans spend watching what passes for "entertainment" these days. Many of us complain about how tough things are out there, then spend hours watching what can only be described as garbage for the mind - and soul. Wouldn't you think that people might spend time looking to improving their minds, even elevating their souls above the sludge that's pumped out by the entertainment industry? But, alas, the products the entertainment industry puts out seem to get worse by the year, and, sadly, the fascination with this junk on the part of our fellow countrymen seems endless.
Well, maybe I will go and see The Hobbit after all. And maybe it will be a smash hit like The Lord of the Rings. I just wish more people would see the difference between decent stuff and garbage and stick with what's decent.
You realize that a culture in decay won't be able to handle crisis all that well, don't you? And you do realize that most of what passes for entertainment demonstrates that our culture is not only in decay now, but decaying by the minute.
Well, maybe The Hobbit won't turn the tide, but every little bit helps I suppose.
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