![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Concerning Aragorn
I've been following a discussion on the Henneth-Annun list about the legal questions of kingship in Gondor. It was an interesting one - discussions like this are the reason I still haven't unsubbed from that list, actually.
Aside from interesting details that I have saved (so that I won't have to search for them later myself), it made me think about the effect the movies made on me.
When I read The Books for the first time - or the second time or the third time, etc, - I was an all-out Aragorn fan. I accepted his claim to Gondor's throne without question, admired him as the pre-determined King of the Reunited Kingdom, swooned from the romance with Arwen and thought that Boromir was a villain and Denethor a crazed old man.
Then the movies came, and with them Sean Bean. Now, let's set things straigth: I'm not a Bean-luster. I don't even find him particulary attractive, and visually, he was nothing like I imagined Boromir for myself. And yet, he won me over to Boromir's side at the moment he rode into Rivendell. Never had a performance such a strong effect on me before.
So, I became a Boromir-fan immediately, which meant that I started identifying myself with him and his case. I started looking at Aragorn as the usurper, the stranger, the invader who would take Boromir and his family their true place and purpose in history. And I started hating Aragorn. I hate him still. I know it's illogical, but I'm not a logical being.
Of course, the casting and the interpretation of the character in the movies didn't help. I just couldn't buy PJ's and Viggo's Aragorn, I'm very sorry. I know it's a question of personal taste, so please, Viggo-fans, don't lynch me, but the actor (and the director's interpretation) ruined a beloved character for me beyond repair.
I hope I'll get over movie!Viggogorn one day and find my old love for Aragorn again, if not entirely then at least part of it. The same goes for Galadriel. Or for Éowyn. Or for Elrond. Or for Arwen. Or for Faramir. Though with Faramir, I'll have it easier. Movie!Faramir is so far from my imagination of him that it doesn't bother me that much. Just like with Gimli. Movie!Gimli is such a poor caricature of a great character that it doesn't even irritate me.
So, my changed sympathies towards the various sons of Gondor resulted in a growing sympathy towards the Steward of Gondor, Denethor II himself. As I said, I didn't like him in The Books, and I thought he got what he deserved. But writing Boromir for more than two years by now made me change my views on his father, and I mutated into a fan of Denethor. (Hey, we are a rare and endangered species!) So, I was deeply insulted how he was handled in the movies.
I won't go into detail here, as I've already discussed my views on ROTK earlier. The only fact of importance is, that after all this, I feel even more opposing Aragorn's inherited claim. Yes, I know that canon-wise he has to become the damn King of Gondor, but I don't have to like it, do I? Thank God there's always the possibility to write AU's. The mere thought of getting him killed both in Seal On My Heart and The Joys of a Beard is balm for my soul. Especially in SOMH, where I get to leave Denethor alive and both Boromir and Faramir become Kings. Ha!
Still, I wish I could forget Viggogorn and the other movie avatars and find my way back to my once-beloved characters. This is not meant as an insult for those who like movie characters. I'm just vindicating me the right to dislike them.
Aside from interesting details that I have saved (so that I won't have to search for them later myself), it made me think about the effect the movies made on me.
When I read The Books for the first time - or the second time or the third time, etc, - I was an all-out Aragorn fan. I accepted his claim to Gondor's throne without question, admired him as the pre-determined King of the Reunited Kingdom, swooned from the romance with Arwen and thought that Boromir was a villain and Denethor a crazed old man.
Then the movies came, and with them Sean Bean. Now, let's set things straigth: I'm not a Bean-luster. I don't even find him particulary attractive, and visually, he was nothing like I imagined Boromir for myself. And yet, he won me over to Boromir's side at the moment he rode into Rivendell. Never had a performance such a strong effect on me before.
So, I became a Boromir-fan immediately, which meant that I started identifying myself with him and his case. I started looking at Aragorn as the usurper, the stranger, the invader who would take Boromir and his family their true place and purpose in history. And I started hating Aragorn. I hate him still. I know it's illogical, but I'm not a logical being.
Of course, the casting and the interpretation of the character in the movies didn't help. I just couldn't buy PJ's and Viggo's Aragorn, I'm very sorry. I know it's a question of personal taste, so please, Viggo-fans, don't lynch me, but the actor (and the director's interpretation) ruined a beloved character for me beyond repair.
I hope I'll get over movie!Viggogorn one day and find my old love for Aragorn again, if not entirely then at least part of it. The same goes for Galadriel. Or for Éowyn. Or for Elrond. Or for Arwen. Or for Faramir. Though with Faramir, I'll have it easier. Movie!Faramir is so far from my imagination of him that it doesn't bother me that much. Just like with Gimli. Movie!Gimli is such a poor caricature of a great character that it doesn't even irritate me.
So, my changed sympathies towards the various sons of Gondor resulted in a growing sympathy towards the Steward of Gondor, Denethor II himself. As I said, I didn't like him in The Books, and I thought he got what he deserved. But writing Boromir for more than two years by now made me change my views on his father, and I mutated into a fan of Denethor. (Hey, we are a rare and endangered species!) So, I was deeply insulted how he was handled in the movies.
I won't go into detail here, as I've already discussed my views on ROTK earlier. The only fact of importance is, that after all this, I feel even more opposing Aragorn's inherited claim. Yes, I know that canon-wise he has to become the damn King of Gondor, but I don't have to like it, do I? Thank God there's always the possibility to write AU's. The mere thought of getting him killed both in Seal On My Heart and The Joys of a Beard is balm for my soul. Especially in SOMH, where I get to leave Denethor alive and both Boromir and Faramir become Kings. Ha!
Still, I wish I could forget Viggogorn and the other movie avatars and find my way back to my once-beloved characters. This is not meant as an insult for those who like movie characters. I'm just vindicating me the right to dislike them.