There are definitely a lot of issues I had with the LOTR movie series, most notably the surplus of women in the movies just to not serve as such a sausage-fest, but your message is clear and brilliant.
It's an inevitability for great stories to be made easier to digest for the masses. Hardcore LOTR movie fans, many of them anyway, have likely never read the books, or couldn't be bothered to get through their tediousness. The movies really capture the magic of the books, and present stunning visuals that, I agree, match up very well with what I had imagined in my head while reading them.
It is sad now however indeed, only seeing the actor's faces rather than the character's faces that I remember picturing from the books. The same thing happened to me when I watched the first Harry Potter movie. Daniel Radcliffe is a brilliant actor, but he was nothing like what I had imagined in my head when I had created a visual of "the boy who lived" and so many of the other characters I felt the same way about. Hagrid was pretty spot-on but some of the other choices were just atrocious. Funnily enough though, because of the disconnect I felt about character choices, when I have gone back and read through the books, I can still see glimmers in my head of the original characters that I had pictured, and they haven't all been replaced by the movie's choice of actors. It's strange.
I think imagination will ebb and flow as it always has. We have a larger platform to share our ideas and information, but also a shorter attention span. We want more in our brains, but the quality seems to go down with that desire for more. I definitely think it could do us some good as a society to really think about what we are putting in our brains. Or rather, to just really think more at all. You have that nailed on the head. So long as we continue to be spoon fed our visuals/ideas/stories/etc it leaves no room for growth and development, to accomplish all of the amazing things you spoke of.
I can't say that I am going to banish movies from my life. I do love them, but they also become pretty repetitive. My husband is still really into the Marvel movies, and while fun, I can hardly stomach one more movie. Intro, setup, take-down is so formulaic that it hurts. They are visually stunning, but nothing more, and increasingly more difficult to watch with each release.
Great article. I really enjoyed it.
marketing purposes :)
You should really write an article based on your comment. I can't upvote it too much but I will come and visit your blog soon just based on the effort. Thanks, it is really appreciated.
Haha yes. I suppose the dramatic horse ride between Frodo and Arwen would have been viewed a bit more homo-erotic if it took place the way it did in the book with another male on horseback with him. I wasn't looking for an upvote, but that's very considerate of you. My friend resteemed this and I saw it in my feed, and was intrigued! I love a good philosophy discussion!