*Be forewarned, this is a long and maybe slightly ramble-esque post.*
So, I see all these things on the Internet about Harry Potter and how emotional fans got over the last book and last movie coming out, and how people cried when the Sorcerer’s Stone theme capped the epilogue scene of the last film, et cetera. The thing is, even though I love Harry Potter I don’t have all this nostalgia attached to it because I didn’t read the books until I was sixteen (or see the movies until after the sixth one came out). Most of the time I’m okay with this, but sometimes I really am sad that it wasn’t part of my childhood. I feel like I missed out on this grand adventure that millions of people all had together.
Hearing the newly released Hobbit suite today, it struck me that Tolkien is a little bit like my equivalent of Harry Potter. I read The Hobbit for the first time when I was seven, and The Lord of the Rings when I was eleven, and The Silmarillion when I was fourteen. I’ve grown up loving them so much. They made movie of LotR and I adore them, and I’ve been listening to the soundtrack for the film trilogy for eight years, and the Hobbit soundtrack has a lot of the same elements but combined with new ones. I thrill at the new bits, and the familiar bits mixed in are wringing my heartstrings like crazy. (I started crying when the Shire theme came in.)
They’re really doing it—making a movie of this book I still remember reading on a long car trip and being confused by because the seven-year-old introvert in me didn’t understand why there was any reason anyone would willingly cram fourteen noisy people into one hobbit-hole. It’s the first book I remember reading with a dragon it it (although I’m sure it wasn’t actually the first). It’s the first book I remember reading with trolls that turned to stone in sunlight. I remember making up my own melodies to go with all the poetry; I remember wishing I had a map with moon runes and wondering why the elves got to invent the pinnacle of invisible ink.
I didn’t get back then why Bilbo was so keen on staying home and having a warm bed and robust food and tea, but now as a college student there’s definitely a part of me that empathizes with that, while at the same time thrilling to the adventure as always. There’s a part of me now that understand Thorin’s crazy this-is-what-I’m-entitled-to-and-I’d-better-get-it spree. There’s so much that I appreciate more after having read and reread so many of Tolkien’s other works.
I love The Hobbit. I adore Tolkien. I am so grateful that the rights for the films went to an amazing crew of people who are dedicated to carrying on the spirit of his works, and making a movie of the best quality they are able. There is no way to convey how excited I am that The Hobbit is coming out this year and the next. I feel like I’m at a perfect time in my life to really be excited for it and appreciate it, and it’s good timing for the casting and all. This is like my childhood coming to life in a new way.
Literally, I had essentially all these thoughts—condensed of course into one big weepy explosion of emotion—when I heard the music. It’s beautiful. It;s going to be a fantastic film. I can’t wait. But at the same time, I have so much nostalgia that I could wait a long time, just staying in thoughts of happiness and appreciation like this one, and that’s how it’s been six months since the trailer and it’s still six months until the first film and I haven’t died yet.
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