Continuing my need to remember hope in this world, I rewatched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (extended edition).

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW.

“The Fellowship has broken, but the quest to destroy the One Ring continues. Frodo and Sam must entrust their lives to Gollum if they are to find their way to Mordor. As Saruman’s army approaches, the surviving members of The Fellowship, along with the people and creatures from Middle-earth, prepare for battle. The War of the Ring has begun.”

This is definitely the dark part of the story.

Frodo and Sam are lost in the misty crags. Merry and Pippin are captives of the Uruk-hai. Aragon, Legolas, and Gimli have been running for three days with no food. Gandalf and the Balrog fought through the center of the world.

Like. Nothing is going okay, directly from the beginning of the movie.

Gollum apparently lives to be dramatic. So much drama.

But it’s obvious from Frodo’s first interactions with Smeagol/Gollum that Frodo sees his own future in Gollum. Frodo sees how the One Ring drove Gollum to obsession and madness. He’s seen how the One Ring impacts literally everyone around him, from Bilbo’s lapses to Lady Galadriel’s terrifying “dark queen” routine, and then Boromir’s change from protector to almost-thief/enemy. He’s seen the wraiths of the nine kings of men. He’s seen how horrible everything is for everyone who interacts with the One Ring. But he knows that if he doesn’t do something, the world he loves, the world of song, dance, and comaradarie will die, as well everyone he knows and loves. He also maybe hopes that by treating Smeagol as a person, with kindness, perhaps if he becomes that far gone, someone will in turn treat him with kindness.

So, yes, it’s pity that stays Frodo’s hand and doesn’t kill him, but it’s also understanding.

The lack of women in this entire story really does bother me. I know it’s a product of the times from when J.R.R. Tolkien wrote these books as first a bed time story for his son with The Hobbit. Treebeard’s comments about how the Entwives left and they don’t remember what they look like and that’s why there haven’t been Ent children in ages is an uncomfortable discussion. The entire population of non-males have “wives” in their name? As though that is the only purpose they could possibly serve? Not that they could be individual people in their own rights?

And then the only named women in this movie are Arwen from the Rivendell elves and Eowyn, a shieldmaiden of Rohan; both of whom are romantically interested in Aragon, though they are characters of true depth and each of them changes the course of the war against Sauron, in their own ways. But, on the other side of things, I know that adding more women into this story would just add more sexism and stupidity because societal expectations of men like to enforce societal gender norms on women.

I could write entire essays on women in fantasy settings but I don’t really want to focus on that right now.

But, really, for me, Samwise Gamgee is the absolute heart of this entire story.

“It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”

And I don’t really have anything else to add after that. Because what the world needs the most right now is hope.

Obviously, this movie is another five on my rating scale. Seeing this movie in the theater many years ago was a moving and motivational experience and I’m glad I bought the extended blu-ray trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Directed by Peter Jackson, performances by Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Savies, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom,  Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, and Andy Serkis, New Line Cinema, 2002 and 2012.