On the Desolation of Smaug trailer, and Tauriel!

[annathepiper]

And lo, yesterday, the Internet did quake with the coming of the first trailer of The Desolation of Smaug! And it was GOOD. Internet, I AM EXCITE. Because OMG the shot of Bilbo at the top of the trees with the butterflies. OMG the barrels tumbling down the waterfall. OMG there’s Bard the Bowman. And OMG THE FIRST GLIMPSE OF SMAUG! \0/

If you haven’t seen it yet, behold!

I’ll just say this right now: after seeing Legolas and Tauriel, I have just two words for Mr. Jackson. Those words are: HEADCANON ACCEPTED!

I do not give a fat flying damn that Legolas is not actually in the book. He is after all Thranduil’s son, and it makes sense for him to be around. I’m absolutely fine with his presence. Particularly if he’s going to be badassed and pretty and shooting things.

I give even less of a damn that Tauriel is entirely a figment of Peter Jackson’s imagination. Those of you familiar with my longstanding Elfquest fandom will know how much I appreciate a clearly badassed female elf. Those of you familiar with my longstanding Tolkien fandom, likewise. Because after all, Lúthien, Galadriel, and Éowyn are my top favorite characters all over Tolkien’s works. Especially Lúthien–because, hello, badassed female elf, even though her badassery is less combat-oriented and more magical.

Also, having read the relevant chapter of The Hobbit not terribly long ago, I do note that Thranduil does in fact have a guard captain. Yes, he’s male in the story, but he’s so incidental a character that I have no problems whatsoever with Jackson pulling a genderflip.

I’d pretty much already decided that I’m on board with Dara’s interpretation of Jackson’s movies, which is to say, Middle-Earth has reached such mythic status that Jackson’s simply now adding extra versions of the same stories into the rich tapestry of stories available. It’s like Greek mythology–there are several different versions of any given Greek myth, depending on what sources you check. With the works of Tolkien, it’s simply that we know which ones are the original canon. Same deal with superhero stories, which are certainly giving us our modern mythic heroes.

Or, if you will, Jackson’s just giving us some damn good AU fanfic. In which case HEADCANON ACCEPTED makes all the more sense. ;D

Here’s one more thing that makes me willing to deal with Tauriel’s presence as well: wondering honestly whether she’s fated to die in the Battle of Five Armies. This would, I think, make narrative sense. I mean, we know what happens to Legolas. We know he starts off bitterly anti-dwarf in LotR, and that it takes his friendship with Gimli to pull him out of it. If the rumblings I’m hearing about Tauriel being his love interest in these films are true, and she goes out in a tragic blaze of glory in the Battle of Five Armies, it would work quite neatly to set up his sentiments in the other films.

Until we get film #3, though, I’ll be over here admiring her badassery. Because redheaded elf with a bow who looks like she knows how to use it? SIGN ME THE HELL UP.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Comments

[wildshadowstar.livejournal.com]

The rumor I've heard is that one of the dwarves is the love interest for Tauriel. I can't remember which one it was suppose to be though. I can't wait to see the interaction between Legolas and Thranduil.

[annathepiper]

Commenter over on Dreamwidth's version of this post says she's hearing Tauriel's supposed to be a love interest for Kili. Which is a bit more 'wut?' than making her a love interest for Legolas, to be sure. Though if any of the dwarves were going to get involved with an elf, I'd buy Kili the most, given that he's the most elven-looking of the lot of them and I could see Tauriel finding him kinda cute, if short. ;)

[wrog]

Especially Lúthien–because, hello, badassed female elf, even though her badassery is less combat-oriented

except where it's combat-oriented, like when she completely demolishes Sauron's guardpost (yes, Sauron!), but we've had this argument before.

Meanwhile I'm wondering, if this film goes all of the way up past the waking of the dragon, what's going to be left for the 3rd movie?

[annathepiper]

*laughs* I've always had Luthien's badassery as magically oriented in my head, though, as opposed to physically oriented. I.e., she slings magic, not weapons. However, I'll always take an excuse to go back and re-read that bit of the Silmarillion. ;)

As to what's going on in the third film, well, the Battle of Five Armies is clearly going to be a big part of it, I'd say. But since we're also pulling in a whole extra plotline involving the Necromancer and Dol Guldur that isn't in the book at all, there's a lot of mileage right there that I expect will need resolving in the third film.

[wrog]

it's in the, book; it's just not "on screen", as it were

[annathepiper]

Yes, well. :)

[wrog]

oh and BTW, I've also decided that Summer Glau should play her when Jackson gets around to making this movie, ... and he will — the way this series of movies is going, he's pretty much going to have no choice but to start mining The Silmarillion at some point.

[annathepiper]

He _can't_. He doesn't have the rights to anything except LotR and The Hobbit. Which is why Gandalf can't identify the names of the Blue Wizards in the first movie--because they're only identified in stuff Jackson doesn't have rights to.

And given how cranky Christopher Tolkien's been about the way the movies have been doing the marketing, I am not holding my breath that the Tolkien estate will release the material in the Silmarillion for filming. No matter _how_ awesome Beren and Luthien's story would be, or Turin's, for that matter!

Re:

[wrog]

well, crap.

What exactly is Chris getting all cranky about? It's weird because Jackson's adaptations have been about as faithful as it gets; I mean, WTF?

Re:

[annathepiper]

From the articles I've read on the topic, it's things like the video game marketing and stuff like LotR-themed casinos or whatnot... things which I suspect he feels are probably too crassly commercial. And I've got the overall impression he's decided that the worldwide reaction to the movies is detracting from the importance of his father's work.

[annathepiper]

Here's the interview that he gave on the topic.

[wrog]

Oh, right. How could I forget: Oxford. No movie could ever do justice to The Great Man's Vision mumble mumble. Which is true, but, Dude, do you have any idea how rare it is that Hollywood does something with a novel that doesn't suck? Have you forgotten Ralph Bakshi so quickly?.

Then again, he's 87.

I wonder if he and Christopher Robin Milne were drinking buddies. There's an SNL sketch in there, somewhere.

[annathepiper]

*snerk!*

Yes. And last I checked Tolkien's _grandson_, who is himself trying to be an author, is apparently cranky that he can't sell anything in his grandfather's shadow!