More of the Same

Floating through Fantasy
Taara Manian, Jalasaya Federoff and Tara Fernandes



Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic as a primary element in plot, characterization, theme and setting. Fantasy films deal with the visual representation of magic and the powers of the imagination.

One of the fantasy movies that we have looked at is “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”. This is the first part of J.R.R.Tolkien’s and Peter Jackson’s famous trilogies.

For those of you haven’t seen the movie, its story starts off with the spotlight on an ancient Ring thought to be lost for centuries being re-discovered, and through a strange twist of fate being given to a small Hobbit named Frodo.When Gandalf the Wizard discovers that the Ring is in fact the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, Frodo must make an epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it! However he does not go alone. Gandalf, Legolas the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn the heir to the throne of Gondor, Boromir and his three Hobbit friends Merry, Pippin and Samwise Gamgee join him. Through mountains, snow, darkness, forests, rivers and plains, facing evil and danger at every turn, the Fellowship of the Ring must go. Their quest to destroy the One Ring is the only hope for Middle Earth. If they fail the Dark Lord will reign!

Credits

Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring
Directed by Peter Jackson
Screenplay: Fran Walsh & Peter Jackson
Director of Photography : Andrew Lesnie
Film editing : John Gilbert
Score: Howard Shore
Year of Release: 2001
Some of the actors: Frodo : Elijah Wood Galadriel: Cate Blanchett
Legolas: Orlando Bloom Arwen: Liv Tyler
Aragorn: Viggo Mortenson Gandalf:Ian Mckellan
Pippin : Billy Boyd
Sam Gamgee : Sean Austin

The film won 4 Oscars and got 81 nominations, which we think it rightly deserved for its excellent direction, camera work, acting, music score and editing. Seeing as it was adapted from such a lengthy novel, we think that the script has also been reasonably well done.

Another movie that we have decided to look at is the first movie in the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” because it makes for contrast and comparison with Lotr 1.

The plot goes thus: Harry Potter has had to lead a hard life, what with losing his parents when just a child and having to live with his mean Uncle Vernon, his Aunt Petunia and their obnoxious son Dudley. On his eleventh birthday, Harry finds out that he’s a wizard and is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Once there, he learns that his parents were a wizard and a witch who actually died saving him from the evil Lord Voldemort, and that although he was just a baby, he escaped the evil Lord’s wrath with just a scar on his forehead. (Picture of Harry with scar)
He strikes up a friendship with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and together they go about discovering the many secrets and mysteries that envelop the magical school. Their quest for the philosopher’s stone leads them through many obstacles including keeping up in everyday school life, a bewitched Quidditch (a magical sport) match, coming face to face with Fluffy, the three-headed monster dog, and battling the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ( American name)

Credits:
J.K Rowling –the novel
Steven Kloves – the screenplay
Released on November 16th, 2001.
Directed by Chris Columbus
Main Actors
Harry Potter: Daniel Radcliffe
Hermione Granger: Emma Watson
Ron Weasley: Rupert Grint
Albus Dumbledore: Richard Harris
Professor Quirrell: Ian Hart
Hagrid: Robbie Coltrane
Snape: Alan Rickman
Camera: John Seale
Music: John Williams

The main question that we are dealing with in discussing these two films are whether they encourage in young viewers escapism and a lopsided view of life that makes one unfit for life or whether they are in fact a help in dealing with reality. We have interviewed people of different age groups and have therefore got a variety of answers.

One view that was prevalent in all the answers was that fantasy did encourage escapism. However, the differences that arose in the views were as to whether this was beneficial or harmful to the viewer. Most believed that fantasy encouraged the individual to flee the harsh realities of today’s world by making them bury themselves in realms of imagination. They viewed this as a negative quality.

When we think of fantasy movies, one of the first things that come to mind is the clear distinction shown between good and evil. For example, in LOTR, the fellowship is “good” whereas Sauron, Saruman the White, the Nazgul and the Orcs are “bad”. And in Harry Potter, the three children and Dumbledore are always good and Voldemort is the evil one. Both movies either have many fights or culminate in one important fight at the end, in which good prevails. Many critics dislike this aspect of fantasy as they think it too unrealistic, as nothing in our world is as clearly black and white. They feel that if these ideas are taken into the real world, they might result in disappointment or embarrassment for the individual.

To this, we have two responses. One is that not all the characters in these two movies are easy to place into the two categories, good and evil. Boromir is a man from Gondor, who lets his weakness for power get the better of him and although he is a part of the fellowship, he tries to steal the ring from Frodo. At the time we think him bad, but later he dies an honorable and valiant death so he is redeemed in the audience’s mind. In Harry Potter, Professor Quirrell is a teacher at Hogwarts who tries to help Voldemort return to power. Although we condemn his cowardly actions in helping evil, we can’t help feeling sorry for him initially, as he is timid and pathetic with his stutter. These two characters are just among a few that go to prove that not everything in fantasy is as clear-cut as we would like it to be. The second response would be that perhaps it’s okay for people to want to escape to a land where there is a definite good and bad and not just a gray area. It is a world where it is possible to live by your morals and ideals without having to make compromises in every situation.

Many said that fantasy awakened the child in them and allowed their minds to wander back to days of childhood innocence and wonder.
One said, “Heaven knows we need something like this to counter the horror of today’s world.”
Others stressed the help that fantasy films gave them in helping deal with the real world. They talked about the many issues that exist in our present world that are discussed freely in the worlds of fantasy.
Tolkein, especially, deals in many parallels.
The Lord of the Rings was written in the thirties, when events in our world were leading up to the Second World War. The Dark Lord could be seen as a prototype for Hitler, and Middle Earth , threatened Europe. Tolkein speaks against Fascism by portraying Sauron as he does, as an evil, ruthless dictator, wishing to conquer the world.
The longing for peace that the Hobbits have shows a love for the philosophy of Pacifism which is not divorced from courage or heroic qualities like loyalty. The hobbits represent many of the people of the world in the thirties who fought Hitler’s armies.
The deep love and respect for nature that is often depicted in the movie was in tune with the environmental movement of his time. This is an issue that we can relate to today, as well. Another universal issue that is addressed in the movie is the importance of fellowship. Although the members of the fellowship are from different races, and animosity is high between many of them, for example, the dwarves and the elves, issues of race are cast away as they work together for a greater good, the saving of Middle Earth. The fact that Aragorn, a man from Gondor, and Arwen, an elf from Rivendell are in love, and that Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas the Elf actually strike up a close friendship give the viewers hope that there might someday be more co-operation between different races in our human world.

In Harry Potter too, there are elements of racism that are discussed, as Hermione is a “Mudblood” and not a pureblood like the other students at Hogwarts. There are other forms of discrimination that are also shown, such as the contrast between the rich and the poor –through Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, yet Ron is willing to do anything for Harry as when he sacrifices himself in the chess game . Hermione too later gives up her earlier values of “Books and cleverness. There are more important things- friendship.” They leave their differences behind and enter a world where petty issues such as money and identity do not matter because friendship matters much more.

It may be argued that viewers feel inferior to fantasy characters as the latter have supernatural powers. However, one idea that is clear in both the films is that of the small and insignificant person being able to change the course of the world. In the first Harry Potter movie, and in the following HP movies, in the end, the children have been let down by the adult world and have set out to combat evil alone. The viewers are able to relate with the hero better, thus. When Harry walks into the vault at the end , the music builds up and the way down is shot from Harry’s point of view, which makes it seem to the viewers that it is their own adventure and that they are the hero. Through fantasy, the common individual can have his own adventure.

In the case of the Lord of the Rings, the hero is an unlikely character- the little Hobbit , Frodo Baggins, whose life changes drastically from a peaceful, existence in the Shire, to saving the world from the evil Sauron. Gandalf’s words on this have a very important impact on us – that even the smallest person may change the course of the world, and have a part to play in the destiny of all. (clip of Gandalf saying the words). .

Some miscellaneous views that were expressed were that fantasy movies are good because they encourage viewers to see a more mystical side to reality, which definitely makes it more interesting.
Some viewers criticize fantasy writers for coming up with extremely wild ideas. But we believe these seemingly wild ideas are all based on our world (as shown above).
“Fantasy tales are today’s parables.” (Weis, Margaret)
Sometimes we see so much evil and pain all around us, that we slowly get immune to it. fantasy presents the problems of today in a different world, making them more apparent to us. For example, some find fire-breathing dragons too horrific, but are they not less terrible than napalm bombs? “Wars that ravage cities, refugees, starving children and dictatorships are all present in our world. “ (Weis, M)

We do not deny the fact that fantasy encourages escapism from the real world in some instances. What we do argue with is the common assumption that fantasy deals with unreal issues , emotions and ideals, because what has essentially been done is that the fantasy writers have simply taken the burning issues of today, and put them in another context, to allow the viewer to understand the problems in their own social systems. We would like to encourage people to watch more fantasy because apart from being incredibly fun and entertaining, it deals with mature ideas and issues that will actually help you deal with real life!

Coming to the main question as to whether the influence and power of film is waning in the present world because of competition from other forms of new media, we would say yes. Our answer is based on the study we have made of fantasy films.

In our opinion, the main competition that fantasy movies face is videogames. Youngsters spend hours in gaming cafes or on their PS 2’s, getting lost in the realms of fantasy. However, this is the way things go – The movie comes out. The fans go to watch it. Only then do they buy the videogames. Thus, the movie is actually promoting the sale of the games. There is some controversy concerning this opinion when games like “ Final Fantasy” are discussed. This started out as a videogame and having formed a cult following, has developed into comics, books and a hit TV serial. It has spawned countless music videos.There is talk of it being adapted into a series of movies. When this does happen, it will offer serious competition to movies like LOTR.
Comics are another form of competition. There are avid comic fans who are disappointed when the comics are turned into movies but most of them love watching their childhood heroes come to life on the silver screen.
Fantasy films have enthralled many for the last century, starting with Disney’s classic adaptations like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty etc. The latest Potter film “ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”, is as usual a big success, and the first movie of of the Narnia Chronicles series “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, adapted from the book by C.S Lewis, is all set to take the theatres by storm on December 9th. This shows that the fantasy films genre is far from dying out and is in fact only growing in popularity.

Bibliography
The movies:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,Warner Bros.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, New Line Cinema.
The books:
Tolkien, J.R.R., The Fellowship of the Ring , Harper Collins, London, 1995 rpt.
Rowling J.K. , Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Bloomsbury , England,2001.
Weis, Margaret & Hickman, Tracy. Treasures of Fantasy.

Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank Mr. Koshy, our Literature teacher, Miss Suravee Banerjee,
Madhav Chandavarkar, Mr. Federoff & Mr. Maheswaran B. for all their help.