A Review of The
Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
By Daniel Carstens
December 19, 2013
Peter Jackson's decision to break The
Hobbit into three films caused an uproar among fans. Few were
convinced that the roughly 300 page book held enough material for
three films. The first installment, An Unexpected Journey,
confirmed these convictions for most audience members and critics,
with its numerous unnecessary action scenes and piled-on infantile
humor. The second film, The Desolation of Smaug, contains
less of the humor, but the gratuitous action remains. Both films
feel thin, and it is clear that three films is too excessive for this
relatively simple story.
The decision to make three films,
however, did allow Jackson and company freedom to add completely new
plot lines to Tolkien's story. The most intriguing addition is
Tauriel the elf. Tolkien's Hobbit had no prominent female
characters. Middle Earth, reminiscent of Europe in the middle ages,
and the 1930's patriarchal world in which Tolkien wrote the book, did
not need strong female characters. There are plenty of opportunities
for females in The Hobbit. If written today, Smaug, the great
and powerful dragon, would be perfectly suited as a woman. Even one
or two of the dwarves could be female, with their manly builds and
beards, and the story would remain unchanged. However, Tolkien chose
to omit females from The Hobbit. However, Lord of the
Rings, the massively successful, quasi-sequel trilogy to The
Hobbit which Peter Jackson completed a decade ago, has three
significant female characters. Each has varying aspirations of power
and breaking free of the patriarchy, but each ultimately becomes
docile and domesticated.
Galadriel is an elf queen, ruling with
her husband. Her beauty is emphasized, especially by Gimli the dwarf,
who develops a slight, innocent infatuation with her. Tolkien began
to write Lord of the Rings after World War I and the decline
of the British empire. The King and Queen gave way to the Prime
Minister and Parliament. In Lord of the Rings, Galadriel is
this sort of symbolic ruler. Behind the scenes, she influences
Frodo, but in the films does little beyond providing supplies and
advice for the travelers. She is tied to her kingdom and to her
husband. Unsatisfied with her role, she flirts with taking the ring
which Frodo has offered, to become more than just a co-ruler of her
kingdom, but a mighty queen to rule over all of Middle Earth and
break free of her husband's influence. She quickly abandons her
Cleopatra-like aspirations and soon leaves Middle Earth entirely,
conceding to the patriarchy and all possibility of becoming more than
a docile queen.
Like Galadriel, Arwen is an elf of
royalty. Arwen is the daughter of the lord of another elf kingdom.
Unlike Galadriel, Arwen has no aspirations of political grandeur.
She is in love with Aragorn, a human and the heir to his kingdom.
This is no political betrothal, she is legitimately in love with
Aragorn and shows no interest in the political implications that
accompany marriage to him. Her father forbids this relationship. He
knows that if Arwen binds herself to Aragorn, she will lose her elven
immortality. Arwen at first submits to her fathers wishes, nearly
leaving Middle Earth with her elven brethren. She then makes her
only independent decision of the films, to stay and marry Aragorn,
against her father's wishes and against even Aragorn's advice. In
the end, of course, her father recants his apprehension of this
marriage, and she does marry Aragorn. Only then, for the first time
in the films, does she become truly happy, now that she is married.
Her domestication brings her true joy.
The other female character in Lord of
the Rings is Eowyn. She is a human, niece of the king, and possible
heir to the throne after the king's only son dies. Eowyn falls in
love with Aragorn. She is heartbroken with the knowledge that
Aragorn is betrothed to Arwen, yet clings to the glimmer of hope that
Aragorn will love her. When she realizes that this is impossible,
she suppresses her feelings of love with a desire to fight in battle.
She wishes to defend her people, but soldiering is a man's duty.
Her uncle, the king, forbids her to fight. Rebelling against the
patriarchy, Eowyn sneaks off to battle. On the battlefield, she is
injured, penalized for reaching beyond her role as a woman. In
recovery, she falls in love, finding her only possible role in the
patriarchy, the arms of a man.
In The Desolation of Smaug,
Tauriel differs greatly from the females in Lord of the Rings.
Galadriel, Arwen, and Eowyn were characters in the books, and thus
Jackson and company were obligated to keep them relatively unchanged.
Tauriel was created entirely for the film, and therefore the writers
had the flexibility to create a female character who does not conform
to the patriarchy of Middle Earth.
Tauriel is beautiful and badass. She
is reckless and ruthless. She is as fierce a warrior as any male.
She is not of royal blood, and therefore unconcerned with politics
and princes. She is a warrior, leader of the elven guard. When her
king orders her to stay inside the kingdom, she does not hesitate to
ignore him to kill orcs and save the dwarves. She fights the
patriarchy.
Tauriel is not uninterested in men,
however. Her exchanges with Kili the dwarf are a nod to Gimli and
Galadriel, but taken to another level. Kili becomes infatuated with
her. Whereas Galadriel merely ignores Gimli, Tauriel actually
reciprocates, internally toying with the idea of a relationship with
the dwarf. It seems more of a curiosity at first, an act of sexual
deviance, an interracial relationship with the enemy of her Aryan
people. But when Kili is injured and poisoned, only elf medicine can
save him. Tauriel tracks down and kills countless orcs to reach and
save Kili. Her curiosity has turned to genuine attraction. The
Desolation of Smaug ends here, and only time will tell where this
attraction leads in the next film. However, clearly this is not the
love story of Arwen or Eowyn. Tauriel does not need love. She seems
more attracted to the exotic idea of forbidden love than to Kili
himself. Tauriel is unafraid of satisfying her personal desires and
rebelling against the patriarchy.
Unlike the docile women of Lord of
the Rings who need their men and conform to the patriarchy,
Tauriel is a modern, 21st century woman. She pursues her desires and
does not need a man to be happy. She is a warrior. She is not
Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. She is a woman in the contemporary
spirit of Brave and The Hunger Games. With Tauriel,
Peter Jackson and company have thrust the modern, powerful woman upon
the patriarchy of Middle Earth.
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