To play a bit of a flipside with LOTR. The entire "I am no man" scene would be decried as "hard woke" from every corner possible if it came out today, and would probably dominate the discussion of RotK over anything else. That's another consequence of the Overton Window moving as it did. Nothing isn't political, and all choices in media are considered outright stances, to the point where both sides are locked in purity spirals to their death.
Not that I disagree with anything you said, simply offering a lament that even things that were once good cannot be trusted to be innocuous.
That scene got weakened by the movies not having time to go into the background of Glorfindel's prophecy (second narrative casualty of cutting the golden Noldorian), and the Arnor blades. It is debatable whether using the original identity reveal before the stab would restore nuance to the Witch-King's character, or mess up his radiating dread. But I certainly hate that Eowyn is stripped of her unique motivations when she is grouped with girl-boss characters from other media.
Also weakened by not having the background of Merry's Westernesse sword, that he obtained in Barrow-Downs. The blades had been forged specifically to fight against Angmar, and was enchanted to be able to harm the Witch-King. He was essential in breaking the spell that surrounded the Nazgûl, and just like Éowyn, he was a part of Glorfindel's prophecy, since as a hobbit he was not technically a part of mankind.
That is certain. I'm in a similar boat myself: if I could, I would certainly love to live in a time where we don't have to obsessively ponder whether X element in Y show is a sop to people who want to use my guts as a skipping rope in-between games of soccer with the heads of my family and friends. The dawning realization since Gamergate kicked off almost 10 years ago that that time is gone, buried and will probably not come back for the rest of my own lifespan, is one of my more personal motives to detest the left and all that they stand for.
Ah well. As a quote from one of my favorite fictional characters from a fairly recent work of fiction goes, "In the best of all possible worlds they would just leave us in peace. But they won't."
I've recut my personal copy to remove those two seconds, and it makes my annual rewatch much more enjoyable.
Done right, it's an Achilles Heel moment, a monkey paw twist, a genie's revenge. The armor of immortality has a crack in the wording of its conveyance, and this is an enjoyable twist for the audience, if the reveal is done tastefully.
Taking off the helmet ruins all of that by providing a window of opportunity for the ring wraith to strike back. Cutting straight to the sword thrust instead allows the audience to understand that "no man" is taken literally instead of figuratively, and it turns a bad moment into a good one.
To play a bit of a flipside with LOTR. The entire "I am no man" scene would be decried as "hard woke" from every corner possible if it came out today, and would probably dominate the discussion of RotK over anything else. That's another consequence of the Overton Window moving as it did. Nothing isn't political, and all choices in media are considered outright stances, to the point where both sides are locked in purity spirals to their death.
Not that I disagree with anything you said, simply offering a lament that even things that were once good cannot be trusted to be innocuous.
That scene got weakened by the movies not having time to go into the background of Glorfindel's prophecy (second narrative casualty of cutting the golden Noldorian), and the Arnor blades. It is debatable whether using the original identity reveal before the stab would restore nuance to the Witch-King's character, or mess up his radiating dread. But I certainly hate that Eowyn is stripped of her unique motivations when she is grouped with girl-boss characters from other media.
Also weakened by not having the background of Merry's Westernesse sword, that he obtained in Barrow-Downs. The blades had been forged specifically to fight against Angmar, and was enchanted to be able to harm the Witch-King. He was essential in breaking the spell that surrounded the Nazgûl, and just like Éowyn, he was a part of Glorfindel's prophecy, since as a hobbit he was not technically a part of mankind.
That is certain. I'm in a similar boat myself: if I could, I would certainly love to live in a time where we don't have to obsessively ponder whether X element in Y show is a sop to people who want to use my guts as a skipping rope in-between games of soccer with the heads of my family and friends. The dawning realization since Gamergate kicked off almost 10 years ago that that time is gone, buried and will probably not come back for the rest of my own lifespan, is one of my more personal motives to detest the left and all that they stand for.
Ah well. As a quote from one of my favorite fictional characters from a fairly recent work of fiction goes, "In the best of all possible worlds they would just leave us in peace. But they won't."
Cheers to that man.
I've recut my personal copy to remove those two seconds, and it makes my annual rewatch much more enjoyable.
Done right, it's an Achilles Heel moment, a monkey paw twist, a genie's revenge. The armor of immortality has a crack in the wording of its conveyance, and this is an enjoyable twist for the audience, if the reveal is done tastefully.
Taking off the helmet ruins all of that by providing a window of opportunity for the ring wraith to strike back. Cutting straight to the sword thrust instead allows the audience to understand that "no man" is taken literally instead of figuratively, and it turns a bad moment into a good one.