Hobbit in 5 - Evangeline Lilly talks Tauriel, Peter Jackson and "West of Memphis"

This week on Hobbit in 5:

Evangeline Lilly talks to EW about Tauriel - http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/01/25/evangeline-lilly-real-steel-hobbit/

New Gandalf the Grey statue - http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/01/25/52977-collecting-the-precious-weta...

Chemical Engineering Student Maps out LOTR Geneology - http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/01/23/53027-student-produces-middle-eart...

Peter Jackson's Critically Acclaimed Doc "West of Memphis" - http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/01/22/52888-jacksons-west-of-memphis-is-...

Warner Brothers Interactive Ent. announces the launch of "Rise of Rohan" - http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/01/25/53130-warner-bros-interactive-ente...

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Theonering.net http://www.theoneright.net

Weta workshop: http://www.wetanz.com/

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• sundance
• evangeline lilly
• hobbit in 5
• the one ring
• tolkien
• gandalf J. R. R. Tolkien Lost

[darthclide]

:/ worried that tauriel's character is becoming too important

[darkmist255]

Argh. I feel sorry for Simone, you guys seriously are probably making her self conscious... All that aside though, great update as usual!

@darthclide Yeah, I hope Tauriel doesn't become overly important =/.

[iamavichayil]

All I can say is I am hoping for the best !

[PackerBronco]

The LOTR character that would make a good pez dispenser is Saruman (at least given how he died in the book.)

[darthclide]

@drdaveoldguy Indeed, I might be displeased no matter what the outcome is. Thankfully, Peter will realize that her role on screen will not be for the whole movie, and I can be contented with the other 95% of the movie :) The soundtrack from Howard Shore will win my heart over no matter what. That is another good thing I suppose :)

[drdaveoldguy]

@darthclide : I think you're mostly worrying for nothing. I haven't seen anything that suggests to me that she will be a one-dimensional, cold-hearted killer, or a pure party girl. And given what Jackson did w/ female characters in LOTR ... within constraints imposed by the books (some would say in spite of those constraints) ... there's not much basis for thinking he'll go that route. I guess we'll find out when the films come out ... though you may be displeased, no matter what.

[darthclide]

@drdaveoldguy when you say there is no room for gentleness and mercy between the two major roles for elves is somewhat correct (I still don't think female elves are portrayed by tolkien as being cold-hearted killers). But neither at the same time, should she be this elf who wants to kill things left and right. It just doesn't fit with the books. What it does "fit" though, is the misconception that females MUST fight/lead all the time, and NEVER be a helper/supporter (capitals for emphasis)

[darthclide]

@drdaveoldguy Again, my concern is over how far Peter will take this character. Will she be a cruel cold-hearted killer? (as @loveatrej suggested?) Or will Peter portray her as a Wood elf who cares about nothing else in the world, and just wants to be happy/drunk all the time? I would enjoy neither of those two options. I think there should be a balance between the two. The problem is (which is my concern) that hollywood is pressuring films to always have a rebellious/out of the ordinary female.

[drdaveoldguy]

@loveatrej : Finally, keep in mind that the elves in this story largely play two roles ... they capture and imprison the dwarves, and they engage in the big battle near the end of the story. There really just isn't that much room for an additional elven character in those contexts that is largely defined by things like gentleness and mercy. And I think he's already made some effort to do exactly what you want by expanding Galadriel's presence as much as the story will allow.

[drdaveoldguy]

@loveatrej : As for Eowyn, saying she despised being a caregiver ... that such a role was not worthy of respect ... is hugely inaccurate. She just felt called to a warrior role ... which is just being true to the essence of her character in the books. And as for "The Hobbit" films, it's hard to reconcile your comment about strong female characters and warriors when you also have a character like Galadriel ... a character who PJ has also expanded upon using other Tolkien material.

[drdaveoldguy]

@loveatrej : While I appreciate your general concerns, I just think they are a bit misguided when it comes to Jackson and these movies. While some may have bashed Arwen for not being a warrior, PJ actually expanded her role, using material from the Appendices, because he felt the sacrifice she made out of love for Aragorn was probably the greatest of any character in the trilogy, and played a key role in understanding Aragorn's motivations.

[loveatrej]

@loveatrej I hope that Tauriel won't be completely hard in her behavior and will show some gentleness, mercy, care and humility and won't be the type of female warrior who tries to look and behave cold and hard in every situation.