Someday, that mythical day when I have time, energy, and focus, I would like very much to write an article on Tolkien's idea of heroism. While The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, of course, show heros being successful at seemingly hopeless tasks, many if not most of his other tales are of men (and sometimes women) embarking on truly hopeless tasks, fighting the darkness when it cannot be overcome, of sacrificing everything for a cause already lost. What, then, is the difference between heroism and foolishness? Can an action be both? I don't know, and I will have to spend many more moons pondering this question.
In the meantime, though . . . I am not a fan of Hugh Jackson's movies. In fact, parts of them make me so angry that I am sorely tempted to throw things at the screen. One of the main reasons for this is because Jackson consistently undermines Tolkien's entire conception of what manhood is, what it means to be a man and a leader and a king. Elrond, the wise half-elven tried by battle, length of years, and sorrow upon sorrow, yet still with hope and wisdom and gentleness and light, becomes an angry, bitter, cruel father. And Faramir, that beautiful, wise, grave, gentle, learned warrior, with a strong and true heart, becomes a angst-ridden figure nearly giving in to temptations that, in Tolkien's portrayal, do not exist. Even Denethor, once wise and become overwhelmed by real trials, becomes merely heartless, with none of the anguish that Tolkien gives to him.
And is this not a problem overall? Have we not lost the conception of what a true man is? I take it as no coincidence that any man who loves beauty automatically is in danger of being labelled "homosexual"--as if loving beauty were not a mark of a real man! This ubiquitous division of the lover and the fighter, the artist and the sportsmen, the scholar and the soldier, has done incalculable damage to our men.
Here, then, is another task for a mother: to ensure that my sons know they can be both, to guide them to a path where they can be men without fear or shame.
