It started with How the Hobbit should Happen...

[Fangorn]

Heril, thank you! It did not cause me any stress other than worrying that comments I make regarding the quote might cause others to be upset. As Andorinha can attest, I am an old hand at controversy, and can almost hold my own against my far more learned opponents. I have wide shoulders, and can handle criticism, even to the point of admitting that Andorinha's observations of my 'less than tolerating' behavior on the old TR forums was on point. I intend to correct that here in a new era of 'Forum Upgrading'.

I was honest in admitting I am tiring of debates, however, in the political arena, yet you can count on me to throw a punch in here and there when something I notice gets a rise out of me. Please let me state for the record, how pleased I am to have you, and many other members who frequent our forums, here to keep me stimulated, surprised and awed by your incisive thoughts. When you visit other Tolkien forums, then read our posts, the difference and quality is very clear!

Thank you my friend!

[Aeleorn]

Wow, this is a heated discussion!

I remember in the previous forums that we indeed had some rather simular discussions. I too voiced my opinion on those threads. I didn’t want to participate here, in this discussion, because I didn’t feel like having to explain my motivation again. So, this time, no talking about my views on ‘Tinseltown’ and ‘The United States of America’.
Quote: So long as the answering posts echoed yur sentiments you seemed not to mind “off topic” political commentary at TR, but I noted that when one or our European members expressed a variant opinion the line was stifled quickly.
Americans and European have a very simular culture, but it’s not quite the same. As an example I choose to talk about something that has got nothing to do with Tolkien, or with filming ‘The Hobbit’.
Here in Belgium nudity in films isn’t a problem. On the other hand, violence in films is less tolerated here than in the US. A lot of films that are distributed in America show less nudity and often more violence than those same films in Europe. The film ‘Wild Things’ was called ‘Sex Crimes’ here in Belgium. ‘Basic Instinct’ was shown in the (American) uncut version.
Although our cultures are very simular, opinions and ideas on a lot of subjects differ and this means on political views as well. I’ve expressed my opinion on American polictics once, and I’m not going to do it again, because I feel I have offended some people in doing so.

I would like ‘The Hobbit’ to be turned into a film, just as much as any other member here in TR, but indeed there are a few conditions.
- PJ has to direct ‘The Hobbit’. I don’t care if it’s going to be a series done by the BBC, or a two-part Hobbit, as long as it’s done well.
-The cast has to be the same one as in LotR. This means that the two Ians and our beloved Andy, with, of course, the support of Hugo have to be in it.
-We wants the same scenery in our precious film: New-Zealand.

I read that Tolkien intended to create a saga that could serve as England’s own. There are a lot of legends and sagas in Great Britain, but they are almost all borrowed from other European countries. The King Arthur legends originate from different sources and most of them French (from the province of Bretagne, which translates in English as Britain). Beowulf is a Scandinavian saga and brought to Britain by the Vikings when they raided the island.
If ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is meant to be a Brittish saga, then I believe it is understandable that there are no, or almost no persons of other races*. It is only recently that people of different colour are so numerous in all parts of the world.
Professor Tolkien was influenced a lot by Scandinavian and other Northern European sagas while writing his stories. Most Europeans or people of European origin recognize a lot of what is mentioned in the stories (elfs, dwarfs, trolls, dragons,...). So, this is a story that speaks to these people, and less to other people who aren’t so familiar with European fairy tales, legends and sagas. The readers tend to identify with characters that look and feel familiar. (Imagine Aragorn with dark skin and curly black hair, wearing a tulband, praying to the East five times a day and dislikes porc.). I wonder how many not-Western people have read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and found it an interesting story?

Oh, yes, and I can definatly live with more prominent female roles... ;-)

*races: Here I mean people with different skin-colour. There are many people with the same skin-colour, but with other different traits, like culture, belief, and even slight physical differences. They consider themselves of different ethnicity (like the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda; the Serbs and the Kosovarans in the Balkan,...) These people are of different ethnic races. I believe that Elves, Dwarves and Men are an example of different ethnic races.

Love, Aeleorn

[Fangorn]

This just in from a TORN article:

One other factor may be making MGM attractive to Time Warner. New Line's three "Lord of the Rings" movies, based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novels, have amassed nearly $2.9 billion in ticket sales at global box offices, but there is no fourth Tolkien film to be made.

Unless, that is, Time Warner can get the rights to make a movie based on another Tolkien book, "The Hobbit," and MGM possesses most of those worldwide rights, according to Reuters.

NBC Universal has also been named as a possible suitor, but in the past its executives have said the $5 billion price is too high. NBC Universal is owned by General Electric Co. (GE: down $0.30 to $31.71, Research, Estimates).

MGM and Time Warner declined to comment on the report, while officials at NBC and Sony were not immediately available for comment.