Lord of the Rings

     When I told them violence & endless fighting in “Lord of the Rings” offended me they said “come on Craig, it’s only a movie.”
     Okay, it’s only a movie. But it’s been remarked before that most cinema is directed toward 15-year-old boys.   Which means, long scenes of fighting with as much graphic death and destruction as possible. I can put up with a modicum of this imagery if it contributes to development of the storyline, but in the ratings it soon becomes apparent that–for all the cutaways to Frodo and the Odyssey of the Ring, which is darn violent itself– this brutality depicted IS the storyline. Forgive me, but I find my adult sensibilities insulted by ceaseless murder and mayhem that’s directed toward adolescent boys. If that’s a natural and healthy part of human development, so be it; but the site of a large audience cheering on the increasingly gruesome battle disturbs me. If we’re appalled by the violence in today’s society, why do we celebrate and glamorize it in our entertainments? Yes “it’s only a movie” but when violence is viewed on screen as a solution to conflict, where else in life does it get legitimacy and approbation? Is this what we want to share with our children, chuckling at the man on fire who runs in the throes of his demise?
     Afterward I walked out of the theater shaking my head at the technical wizardry of the cinematographers, whose many dreamlike scenes were so hauntingly beautiful. It showed me what’s possible for the artform. But so much of it–as depicted in The Rings–is wasted on graphic butchery and devastation–severed heads being catapulted into the “City of Kings.”
    “ Come on Craig it’s just a movie.”
                                                 
-journal, 12-25-2003