re: LOTR thoughts: why is Frodo portrayed as some hero?

Frodo was so pure it took the Ring a year to affect and corrupt him. It corrupted Bilbo, Gollum and others almost immediately.

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Sam did have possession of the ring and he gave it back.

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Sam also wanted to kill gollum immediately.

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Is this a troll?

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Nah, it's a hobbit, slightly different but both have hairy feet.

i watched the extended cuts of LOTR trilogy this weekend, Wood's acting was terrible

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It corrupted Bilbo, Gollum and others almost immediately.

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Not Bilbo. He carried it for decades and then managed to hand it over to Frodo. That was a pretty heroic act.

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Sam is the real hero in all of this. If not for Sméagol biting Frodo’s finger off Frodo would’ve tried to get away with the ring. A real selfish pos imo. Sam saved Frodo many times with less selfish desires

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Frodo carried the Ring and fought its influence into Mordor and until the very Crack of Doom (where its power [and that of its creator] was at its height). Lesser beings would have succumbed to it long before (Boromir did at the Rauros, even though he had never bore the Ring).

The purpose of the Fellowship was to assist the Ringbearer in completing his quest, which Sam did (as a member of the Fellowship, and as his friend). The fact that he did help does not detract from what Frodo did from the steps of Bag End to the Crack of Doom.

You're goddamned right he's a hero.

Well I've read those books ad nauseum, so let me set you straight.

First and foremost, you can't get the full experience of what Frodo was going through in the movies because his struggle was internal while every other character's struggle was external. Since you can't see and really appreciate what he's dealing with every waking moment of the journey it's easy to write him off as weak. Frodo had been resisting the Ring tearing at the very fabric of his soul more and more viciously as the end approached.

Second, NO ONE had EVER willingly given up a corrupting Ring of Power before Bilbo, and he needed all of the help Gandalf could provide him to do so, far from the heightened influence of Sauron. And you're going to fault Frodo for struggling in the heart of evil's domain? GTFO, man.

There's actually a small piece in RotK when Sam returns the Ring to Frodo after rescuing him in Cirith Ungol. He bore it for next to no time, wearing it only sparingly, and he was still reluctant to return it. And he didn't actually even do that. He held it out and Frodo TOOK the Ring. It's a subtle but large difference between that and willingly laying it down. Relinquishing it.

I'm not trying to dump on Sam or any other characters here, but no one had it as hard as Frodo. To hold so much power and choose NOT to use it is a tremendous test of will that most people have never personally experienced, and not having done so it is very hard for them to comprehend and respect the struggle.

The book described it perfectly. It is a burden. A burden of nearly unimaginable proportion. We live in a nation where our divorce rate is nearly 50% because people can't handle the comparatively small increase in responsibility from just themselves to a spouse and kids. It's hilarious that so many think Frodo was weak for being ground down by the power to seize the world and do with it as he pleased. To hold the lives of countless people both known and anonymous in his hands and give them back.

Most of us couldn't do it. It's why we developed democracy. By virtue of sharing the power we can share the burden, thereby reducing the strain on all involved.

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I think this gets lost on people as well. The Ring knew it was about to be destroyed so it was pulling out all the stops. It was also back home in Mordor in the very place it was made making it ultra potent.

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Not just that.

As much as I love the movies, it "papers over" (i.e., completely omits) the fact that Frodo had held (and occasionally used) the Ring for 17 years between the Party and when he (and the others) fled the Shire.

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13SaintTiger

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You're a special kind of stupid aren't ya?

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Well I've read those books ad nauseum, so let me set you straight.

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Put your thang down sir. Put your thang down.

An excellent analysis of what when on in the books that wouldn't translate well onto the screen.

Mind you, I think Peter Jackson did extremely well given the medium he had to work with in portraying that internal battle. There are just some things you can't show on the screen.