Comments | sistermagpie: The Hobbit and Refusing the Call

sistermagpie

The Hobbit and Refusing the Call

Jan 02, 2013 14:41

The concept, I mean. According to Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth there are these stages the hero passes through as part of that big uber-story where the hero has a thousand faces (and one of them is Luke Skywalker).

I was thinking about this concept this week because I finally saw The Hobbit and really enjoyed it. I've been resenting the fact ( Read more... )

meta, lotr, movies

Comments 15

trobadora January 2 2013, 20:57:29 UTC

It's not just about ticking off boxes on the outline.

This, so much! I have to admit, I've been getting more and more annoyed with the way people throw around tropes as if they were explanations, rather than descriptions of common patterns. "Oh, he did this because of Trope X!" - No, in fact he didn't do it just so he could get listed in the examples on tvtropes, dammit! *g*

... yeah. I may have stumbled across that a few times too often recently!

sistermagpie January 3 2013, 02:26:28 UTC

OMG, that article made me actually tear up from laughing. Maybe because I've actually sat through the extended LOTRs all in one day and can totally believe it. And maybe own a jacket and scarf that's totally like Frodo's in the movie.

ava_jamison January 3 2013, 01:33:43 UTC

Very interesting post! Thanks for the reminder that it's a trope for a reason. And I really, really love your point that the two conflicting emotions at the heart of Tolkien are longing for home and the longing for adventure at the same time. That's so great.

I'm glad you enjoyed the movie. Your resentment over the whole making it into three... I saw the onion article and thought of you: http://www.theonion.com/articles/the-hobbit-to-feature-53minutelong-scene-of-bilbo,30727/

volkhvoi January 3 2013, 03:10:11 UTC

Word. I have been trying to explain this to someone for whom the change of mind scene didn't work. I shall make them read this.

sistermagpie January 3 2013, 03:21:27 UTC

Wow, that really surprises me. I can still picture that quiet, empty hobbit hole in my head. I was actually worried he wouldn't catch up to them even though of course I knew he would!

lilacsigil January 3 2013, 07:39:56 UTC

Luke's change of mind scene works for me because it's easy for him to be a big rebel and want to leave when there's no real chance of it, but then the chance is dropped in his lap and it's terrifying. I don't think it would have shown much about his character if he'd just said "Yeah, sure, I hate my uncle and aunt and their boring life!" and gone straight away. Instead, he suffered catastrophe and realised that there was no justice from the Empire.

I think Frodo was different to Bilbo *because* of Bilbo's adventures - Bilbo had no such role model in front of him, though of course as it turned out, Frodo's quest was very unlike Bilbo's!

sistermagpie January 3 2013, 16:23:21 UTC

Oh, totally agree. All three versions work for me. Like you say, it really wouldn't have rung true if Luke had just said, "Great, when do we leave?" when Obi-Wan asked him. Because yes, he wants to have excitement and leave home, but what Obi-Wan is proposing is still a huge, strange thing. It's hard for Luke to even conceive of dropping everything he's ever known.

The type of thing Bilbo has in The Hobbit wouldn't have been right for Luke either, because in that story he needs the reality of what the Empire was like. With Bilbo he really could have stayed home and things would have been the same as ever. In Luke's case he was living under an oppressive regime himself. He'd just never had it made that clear and personal before.

mildlunacy January 3 2013, 08:29:27 UTC

Hee! Longing for home and adventure is probably near the heart of every hero's quest... and every romantic. Aww, he missed his books! I loved reasonable, mild Bilbo in the movie, and, I guess, how he's everygeek in his way. But when you think about it, I mean, it probably began before Odysseus....

Anyway, the quest always leads home, to the Return, after all. If not for the desire to return, even if home is gone, to return to innocence maybe, then perhaps there is nothing worth fighting for.

sistermagpie January 3 2013, 16:24:39 UTC

I do love how he's like...I really miss my books. The main reason Bag End always seems like a fantastic place to live. He's got everything he needs. That's really the main thing Bilbo's fighting for himself, I guess, is the ability to return home in one piece (which is more than Frodo gets ultimately...)