board77

Jude wrote:

WTARCOHG = "What's this - a ranger caught off his guard?"

I never did, and still do not, get why people were so bothered by this. I wouldn't have ever thought twice about it if m00bs didn't rant about it all the time.

Jude wrote:

Frodo: YL.
Gandalf: AWINL,FB. NIHE. HAPWHMT.
Frodo: LOL!
Gandalf: LOL!
Frodo: IWTSYG!

Frodo: You're late.

Gandalf: A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins, he arrives precisely when he means to.

Frodo: <Laughs out loud>

Gandalf: <ditto>

Frodo:It's wonderful to see you, Gandalf.


.
.
.

I know this dialogue by heart.

No you don't. You left out "Nor is he early".

Damn!



*crawls under nearest rock*

at Jude and Sassafras.

yovargas wrote:

Jude wrote:

WTARCOHG = "What's this - a ranger caught off his guard?"

I never did, and still do not, get why people were so bothered by this. I wouldn't have ever thought twice about it if m00bs didn't rant about it all the time.

You don't?

OK, try this on for size. Arwen is out looking for Aragorn and the hobbits (having locked Glorfindel in a cupboard back in Rivendell. )

To resume. Arwen is out in the wilderness on Asfaloth doing her cool She-Elf stuff. She knows that the Nazgul are hot on the trail of Aragorn and the Hobs. She KNOWS this. So what does she do when she finds Aragorn in the wilderness?

She cracks a stupid joke and holds her sword to his throat.

Because that's exactly what I'd do in her position too.

Obviously.

I think WTARCOHG is more in character then her blubbering over Frodo. One of the more favorable essays in the Tolkien on Film book had something interesting to say about this. I'll try to dig it up when I go home.

Quote:

I think WTARCOHG is more in character then her blubbering over Frodo.

V, we truly part ways here

Instead of all the sobbing, I would have preferred her to hold him, mop his brow, and say, "It is a strange fate I should suffer so much tear and pout over so small a thing...such a little thing."

I think this is the first time that I disagree with Voronwe to agree with Iavas.

Though I don't like blubbering, either. That is, I don't think it's so out of character that she should cry, but I really don't like the execution.

I can't recall, did Arwen had a single scene where she didn't have a teary close-up? Perhaps the departure of the Fellowship, though I'm not sure if she stayed dry-eyed throughout.

I'm strongly with Diamond and Iavas on this one.

If WTARCOHG (I always read that as WARTHOG ) always strikes me as an exerpt from a different film with the same characters that was somehow mistakenly spliced into FOTR.

I found a passage that V. may have been refering to in his post.

In the film, the viewer first meets Arwen in a scene that is not based on the book, when Aragorn is looking for athelas to heal Frodo after the Ringwraiths attack him on Weathertop. Aragorn stops looking for the plant when he suddenly finds a sword at his throat and Arwen says, "What's this? A ranger caught off his guard?" Despite the seriousness of the situation (she knows the Ringwraiths are hunting Aragorn and the Hobbits) her tone is playful; this is a side of Arwen the reader never sees in the books. Perhaps it is a hint of the days in Lothlorien when Aragorn and Arwen first fell in love. Jackson filmed such a flashback but later decided not to use it. (TTT, scene 33: "The Evenstar" commentary).

Akers-Jorden: Fairy Princess or Tragic Heroine?

Pretty weak, I think. If PJ wanted to show Arwen's playful side, this scene was not the appropriate one in which to do so!

A few points. First, Aragorn is supposedly the best ranger/hunter/tracker in Middle Earth. He is not going to be suprised, not even by an elf. He would have heard Asfaloth in the forest eventhough he is intent on finding kingsfoil.

Second, by ME rules, Arwen runs a very substantial risk of counter-attack, and third, she wouldn't act in such a rash and irresponsible fashion.

I expect that the passage Voronwe provides will have a better argument
for Arwen's peculiar greeting.

Quote:

this is a side of Arwen the reader never sees in the books.

And for a good reason.

Well said Sassy. Though I should counter with Arphy's defense that the scene does achieve several things very succinctly - the elvish quietness/stealth, the fact that she's his equal etc - but it could have been done in a way much more consistent with their characters. All it needed in fact was a view from behind of a cloaked figure silently approaching Aragorn, then a shot of realisation on Aragorn's face that he was being approached, then cut to Arwen's appearance to Frodo.

Iavas_Saar wrote:

the scene does achieve several things very succinctly - the elvish quietness/stealth, the fact that she's his equal etc - but it could have been done in a way much more consistent with their characters. All it needed in fact was a view from behind of a cloaked figure silently approaching Aragorn, then a shot of realisation on Aragorn's face that he was being approached, then cut to Arwen's appearance to Frodo.

If only ....

Your suggestion (? Arphy's?) would have made an absolutely perfect visual.

I think she wanted to shave him, but thought better of it at the last moment.

That would fit.

That's the passage, Sassy. Although in a rare bit of honesty I have to admit that my reaction to it was much the same as yours.

Thanks to this thread I just had a frigging *great* idea for a parody. It'll be a long one, based on a whole other movie.

You have two days to reach safe minimum distance.

I have to say, I agree with Voronwe on this one.

I highly disike WTARCOHG. One of the worst lines in FOTR. However, the way Liv says it is in character. It's calm, cool, etc. Extremely inappropriate for the situation, but it's delivered in character. The crying is not in character. It's way OTT, exactly the opposite of calm, cool, collected Elveness. I'm not sure why. . . I just think it's more in character. Not appropriate, just more "Arwen."

Thank you, Maiden. That's exactly what I meant. Its not that I like the line (I don't). And its certainly not that I like Arwen putting the sword to Aragorn's throat (though I'm not sure that I would agree with Jn that it is "pornagraphic"). But I do think that it is more in character then the blubbering over Frodo.

Voronwe_the_Faithful wrote:

Thank you, Maiden. That's exactly what I meant. Its not that I like the line (I don't). And its certainly not that I like Arwen putting the sword to Aragorn's throat (though I'm not sure that I would agree with Jn that it is "pornagraphic"). But I do think that it is more in character then the blubbering over Frodo.

OK, now I see your point, and Maiden's. Very good point too!

Like you, I dislike the line itself. But I DO like Liv's delivery of it. A British film critic described her as a 'cool and silvery Elf-maiden' or words to that effect, and that is EXACTLY how Arwen should always come across.

The blubbing comes across to me as fake sentiment - it's extremely unconvincing and therefore moves me not a jot. A certain air of Elvish detachment would have been more appropriate. Doesn't mean that Arwen is cold, or can't feel compassion - far from it, she is a very compassionate person, as evidenced by her giving Frodo her jewel for comfort and healing, and of course her place on the ship to the West (Tolkien says she is the first person to notice Frodo's inner pain, post-quest). Film Arwen should display some of these qualities too!

Think of Legolas's expression outside Moria, while the mortal members of the Fellowship are grieving, or when he finds Aragorn with the dead Boromir. Legolas doesn't blub. His beautiful face is full of a cool pity - and even puzzlement. Elves react to death in a totally different way.

I like ArPhy's visual.

Lidless, we wait with bated breath.