Faramir

Well, if you go and take a look over here: http://quizzingnerd.blogspot.com/2007/03/faramir.html - then you will understand what this blog post is going to be about. I decided that my rebuttal of our resident Quizzing Nerd's critique of the movie version of Faramir needed to be slightly more public than email. So here it is. I am addressing each point detailed individually - and Josh, I know you're not trying to antagonize me...but you asked for it!

First objection: Faramir as a character is inconsistent in the movie. I disagree (aren't you surprised). Faramir, like all humans, is not perfect. Yes, he sees the warning signs in Frodo and Smeagol and learns that Boromir was corrupted by the Ring. But Denethor's instructions to Boromir were to bring Isildur's Bane at all costs, and Faramir desperately wants to be valued in his father's eyes. Also, like Boromir and
Denethor, Faramir is only human and thus has human weaknesses - even then the Ring could have conceivably been working on him, just like it did on Boromir. In fact, I would be surprised if it hadn't. He has to weigh the choice in his mind. Take the Ring to Minas Tirith and to Denethor, and finally gain his father's approval - something he's longed for practically since birth - or do what he knows is right and forever lose any hope of gaining respect from his father, and risk his fury once he finds out Isildur's Bane has slipped through his fingers. In Denethor's eyes this would be another failure of a useless second son, and Faramir knows it. So is it really any surprise that he chooses to take the hobbits to Minas Tirith? He too believes that there is strength left in the race of Men, and that the Ring can be used for good.

Another thing you pointed out, oh Quizzing Nerd (:D) is that others have resisted the power of the Ring and so it's not ridiculous to expect Faramir to do the same. You use Galadriel and Gandalf as examples. However, Galadriel is an immortal elf, wiser by far than any man living and wary of the lures of Sauron. She has seen what destruction he can wreak. And Gandalf is practically divine, an emissary of the Valar from the Undying Lands. He's basically the Middle-Earth equivalent of an angel. Is it any surprise that he can resist the Ring's power? Sauron himself is of the same race as Gandalf. Had Frodo remained with the Fellowship, even his other loyal companions could have turned on him. He knows this. That's why he runs away. Aragorn also resists the power of the Ring, but his ancestors died under its power and he knows better than any what it can do.

Faramir doesn't. This is the first he's heard of the Ring's powers, and from two hobbits and a slimy creature he's never met before. What with the Ring's powers combined with his desire to please his father, is it really any surprise he initially decides to take them to Minas Tirith?

I quote: "One last thing I must touch on is that, in the movie, one of the main tempations for Faramir is that his dad might start to value him if he brings the ring back. But Faramir should know from what he's seen of his father that giving the ring to him would be idiocy; he would misuse it and Sauron would eventually gain victory."

How should he know this? Faramir has been posted in Ithilien and Osgiliath for quite some time, and does not often return to Minas Tirith. Denethor closets himself for long periods of time, and it's entirely plausible that father and son very rarely see each other. Faramir may not be aware of the extent to which his father's mind has been twisted. Faramir is not all-knowing, and as I point out above, this is the first time he's seen or heard of the Ring.

Again: "He should also know that his father is becoming so twisted that Faramir giving him the ring wouldn't alter his view of Faramir in the least. Faramir values the fate of Middle-Earth more then he values the chance of respect from his father, and, if the moviemakers made him consistent to his character, he wouldn't have been tempted for a moment by that."

He does value the fate of Middle-Earth more. But initially he's convinced himself that this is for the good of the fate of Middle-Earth, not to destroy the Ring but to use it against Sauron. As you no doubt remember, this thought obsessed Boromir for much of FotR. Faramir is not an elf like Galadriel or a Maia like Gandalf. He's human, and as such has human weaknesses. Even the fact that he eventually chooses the right way sets him apart. Boromir would not have done that.

And my last point: What PJ does with Faramir's character in the movie is vastly more developmentally useful in a short time than what it would have been if he'd followed the book. If he'd followed the book, the hobbits would have met a nice guy who gives them food and directions and sends them off with a wave and a smile. Whoop-de-doo. Wheras in the movie (TTT) we get an intriguing prequel to the father/son angst in RotK, and are far more interested than we otherwise would have been.

I'm done. I know several people who will have skimmed all that. You know who you are. Anyway, I hope you found it interesting, Josh (aka Quizzing Nerd).

59 days!

~Sil

[After Sarah and Everett were sitting due to errors]
Josh: "Aw, c'mon, let 'em jump. I need some competition."
Amy/Erin: "OHHHHHH!"

Spring break

...is coming up for everyone but me. It's next week for all public schools here and all my siblings, but I have the power to switch mine around, so I have. Because Calminaiel (www.bassonfreak.blogspot.com) is coming to visit over HER spring break, which is the first week of April, so since I'd rather not do school when she's here I've juggled things a bit. W00t for me.

My uncle's coming home today! He's been in Toronto for the last six weeks (or so) and we're picking him up today at the airport, around 3. And next week he's coming to the Telus World of Science (formerly known as the Odysseum) with us, which should be fun.

Call me indecisive...but I still can't decide which second study I want to do for my piano exam in June. Everything is decided except that. List A - Solfeggietto. List B - Sonata in G by Beethoven. List C - Puck by Edvard Grieg. List D - To the Rising Sun by Trygve Torjussen (and no, I don't know how to say Trygve). Studies - Capriccio by Handel...or is it Haydn? I think it's Haydn. always get those two mixed up. Anyway, for a second study I could choose from Gypsies (who I forget the composer of) or In Dreams from FotR, or Rohan from TTT. We (my teacher and I) determined that I'm doing a LotR one, but I'm quite torn between the two. I love them both. So I'll work on both of them and see which one grows on me.

63 days!

~Sil

"Okay, so a normal note is a 'dah', alittle upside-down V accent is a 'dat', and a staccato is a 'dit'. So that passage should go 'dah-dah-dit dah-dat-dah dit'. I know I sound like I'm speaking alien, bear with me."

TRAILER!

Get ready, all of you, for possibly the fourth best trailer you will ever see (for the other three, search Lord of the Rings on Google). If this doesn't start you counting the days, you're deprived.

[Thank you to Haldir o' Lorien]



I've already watched it multiple times. It's got EVERYTHING. Jack lines, Barbossa lines, mystical Tia Dalma voiceover, an amazing awesome epic swordfight in the rigging of a ship in a whirlpool with an undead pirate to the beat of the music, and indubitably best - a W/E kiss! DIE J/E SHIPPERS! Best lines:

[In the midst of said epic battle]Will: Will you marry me?
Elizabeth: I don't think now is the best time!

Barbossa: There's not been a gathering like this in our lifetime -
Jack: And I owe them all money.

Elizabeth: It would never have worked out between us.
Jack: Keep telling yourself that, darling.
[DIE YOU J/E SHIPPERS!]

Beckett: You're mad!
Jack: If I wasn't, this'd probably never work.

It just goes to show how obsessed I am that that's pretty much all the dialogue in the entire thing. Heh. I think it's all amazing. Wheee!

~Sil

Jack: Why should I sail with you? Four of you have tried to kill me in the past. One of you succeeded.

New school routine

Ah, the joys of being homeschooled. I've discovered lately how much I really do like it.

On Saturday I went out with my parents to discuss school...stuff...and we determined a couple of things that will hopefully make what's left of my school year more enjoyable. 1) NO MORE SCIENCE TESTS! This deserves all capitals because I detest those and studying for them with a passion. Now I have to read the modules and do the experiments and question, and write a summary when I'm done. I like writing. 2) This has its pros and cons, but I have to get up earlier. And I KNOW I'm a wimp compared to all you people who get up at ungodly hours, but 8 seems early. Did you hear that? I know I'm a wimp. So no snide comments, please, about getting up at 5:30 am. Or whatever it is. And 3) I should only be spending about four hours on school. School being math, social studies, science, and english. Piano and quizzing are extracurricular. So that made me feel better about life in general.

I'm going CRAZY with all the AWE stuff that's out! Linky: http://www.usatoday.com/life/gallery/l070316-pirates/flash.htm

Those are some awesome pictures, the best of which is Will in a pretty dark red shirt which I quite like. There's also an incredibly sweet W/E one. I'm convinced that AWE is a W/E movie. I would link to an incredible Russian version of the trailer, but the English version is out officially tonight (!) with Dancing With the Stars and it's worth waiting for. Besides, the Russian version is leaked and not entirely legal. I'm so excited! 66 days!

~Sil

"Hey, did you hear that Missy killed Everett and I on Friday?"
"No, somehow I must have missed it."

Living Light News

I got newsprint all over my hands last night. It was fun. I totally forgot that instead of Tuesday night Bible study, we were doing a missions trip fundraiser and helping Living Light News with their paper labeling and folding, and we were supposed to be at church at 5:45. I remembered this at precisely 5:37, and pretty much totally freaked out, but it all turned out okay. So we spent the evening talking about various things while Erin labeled and I folded and bundled and Josh (this is Josh Loeppky. I know quite a few Joshes) did the same as me only at breakneck speed and we all admired the alacrity with which he did it. Eventually our hands turned black, and everybody ended up with newsprint on their faces as well, but we got pizza and snacks. The pizzas were so huge, it wasn't even funny. Hopefully we raised a good amount of money, I don't know how much yet.

Also, I've discovered that the image links in my previous post don't work. Apologies. If you really wanted to see them, email me (friend.of.frodo@hotmail.com) and I'll send them to you.

And here is a quiz meet picture! Thank you Josh! (Josh Stauffer this time.)

This is me and Erin goofing off before a quiz and lying on the floor to click our seats. Normally you sit on them.

Clicky

An amusing exchange took place at this point, between Erin and a kid from the other team:
Kid: If you always jump that slowly, you're gonna be easy.
Erin: Hey, we're not easy - we're the top team in A! And we three are the top three quizzers!
Kid: [slightly bemused look]
Erin: [cont.] We've all quizzed out in the first twelve questions of every quiz.
Josh: One time they did it in eleven, and still nobody knows how they managed it.
[General laughter]

See, you need four questions to quiz out, which is why that was funny. For the uninitiated.

FIVE days until the trailer, SEVENTY-ONE days until AWE, NINETY-FOUR days until school's over, and SIXTY more days of school.

~Sil

Erin (to Tyler): "Well, there are lots of other ways you could die. You could fall in the shower and hit your head, get hit by a car, be the victim of a hit 'n' run, not see the open cover of a manhole in the street - "
Amy: "And fall down it."
Tyler: "Amy, you're not helping."