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All the recent talk from many people I know of wanting to see the new Harry Potter movie, but much more wanting to see the new Lord of the Rings has led me to consider why I do not want to, and will not, go and see either of them, or probably any future sequels.
My problem is this, I love many of the books that have been turned into to movies, but the movies bastardize the images I have in my head. I don't always have the clearest image of what a character should look like, but I have always had very strong self-images of how the characters really are. In other words, I may only get a blurry image of what a character looks like (appearantly my imagination needs glasses just as much as I do), but who the person truly is resonates deeply within my mind, and no matter how well the movie is done, it can only screw with the mental images I have in place.
I love the LotR series, but that is the exact reason why I can no longer watch the movies. I saw the first one, and consequently am still trying to expunge the bastardized images placed in my head. Don't get me wrong, the characters all did a remarkable job, but I just cannot tolerate having Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, Strider, and the rest being violated by the portrayals of the actors. It's like the mental equivalent of having a part of you mangled horribly in some way.
There's also the the fact that no matter how many times I've read through the series, I have been unable to make it more than half way through the final book.
This is a bit of a tangent here, but me not finishing the book (probably one of the only ones ever for me) is exactly how my life is. Such an epiphany struck me one day as I lay considering the way in which I do not finish the video games I love the most and other such things. My role in life is not to make the finished product, or to finish the race, my job is merely to get to the end, or the last lap if you will. I have so many wonderful ideas for inventions, but I realize not that they shall probably never see the light of day. This does not anger me though. Quite the opposite in fact. It is a relief to know that while the journey may be a hard one, I do not have to take the final or hardest step. To get to the final castle is all that is (hopefully) asked of me, and only if I truly feel the need to go further do I have to. I realize that giving only the meager examples that I have may make my presumptions seem foolish or sad somehow, but if one were to look at my life, one would see it to be the case, something that I can only hope to be true.
My problem is this, I love many of the books that have been turned into to movies, but the movies bastardize the images I have in my head. I don't always have the clearest image of what a character should look like, but I have always had very strong self-images of how the characters really are. In other words, I may only get a blurry image of what a character looks like (appearantly my imagination needs glasses just as much as I do), but who the person truly is resonates deeply within my mind, and no matter how well the movie is done, it can only screw with the mental images I have in place.
I love the LotR series, but that is the exact reason why I can no longer watch the movies. I saw the first one, and consequently am still trying to expunge the bastardized images placed in my head. Don't get me wrong, the characters all did a remarkable job, but I just cannot tolerate having Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, Strider, and the rest being violated by the portrayals of the actors. It's like the mental equivalent of having a part of you mangled horribly in some way.
There's also the the fact that no matter how many times I've read through the series, I have been unable to make it more than half way through the final book.
This is a bit of a tangent here, but me not finishing the book (probably one of the only ones ever for me) is exactly how my life is. Such an epiphany struck me one day as I lay considering the way in which I do not finish the video games I love the most and other such things. My role in life is not to make the finished product, or to finish the race, my job is merely to get to the end, or the last lap if you will. I have so many wonderful ideas for inventions, but I realize not that they shall probably never see the light of day. This does not anger me though. Quite the opposite in fact. It is a relief to know that while the journey may be a hard one, I do not have to take the final or hardest step. To get to the final castle is all that is (hopefully) asked of me, and only if I truly feel the need to go further do I have to. I realize that giving only the meager examples that I have may make my presumptions seem foolish or sad somehow, but if one were to look at my life, one would see it to be the case, something that I can only hope to be true.
