The Good Fight: Analyzing the Tolkienverse

The rich landscape that author J.R.R. Tolkien created in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series is so vivid and thoroughly detailed that readers feel like they are actually in the Shire and trekking across Middle Earth. The characters are just as rich and developed with fascinating backstories and personalities that are relatable despite them being a hobbit or dwarf or elf with a superiority complex. 

Tolkien's blockbuster trait as a writer is that he shows readers that we’re all the same. Whether you have hairy hobbit feet or pointy elf ears we’re all fighting for the same innately "human" things in the end: love, freedom, honor, and safety for our loved ones. The different groups (hobbits, dwarves, elves, etc.) in this world go about obtaining those things in different ways, which is very realistic and relatable. It's also a clever method to explore some pretty complex and heavy themes without hitting the reader over the head with Gandalf’s staff. 

Despite being the first novel in the series, The Hobbit movie adaption didn’t come out until after the blockbuster Lord of the Rings movie trilogy blew our minds and attention spans in theaters. My personal take is that this was a smart, strategic decision. If the movies had been released in chronological order, I have to admit I would not have jumped on the Tolkien movie bandwagon. The Hobbit is full of silly-looking dwarfs and humor and singing. Oh, the singing... 

Dwarf-pop, anyone?

The Hobbit movie comes across as a bit childish, IMHO. But the Lord of the Rings trilogy is epic with an elegant grittiness and clear life-and-death stakes…as well as a few hot sword-wielding gents to keep those less fantasy-inclined interested. 

The Lord of the Rings movies take themselves very seriously, whereas The Hobbit has a bit more fun on the screen. That said, these were both blockbuster adaptations, and I think it all goes back to Tolkien’s world building. The vastly layered landscape and backstories each character carries makes this fantastical world feel real. The real world is complex and layered too, but in the Tolkienverse good prevails against all odds. We don’t get that in real life very often. It's an escape we want and maybe even need given the current societal climate.

The Tolkienverse is a blockbuster escape into a fantasy land, but there’s a twist that’s elevated this series' success. Tolkien’s characters don’t give us an escape pass to disconnect from the horrors of the real world. Instead they show us that the battle will be hard fought and devastating at times, but it’s very important that we keep fighting, and when we do good prevails.  Now that's a fantasy I'd like to see come true. 

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The Other Side of Hate

The Hate U Give paints a scary, yet hopeful, portrait of inner city life that is written in such close first person POV that it’s impossible to keep ignoring the harsh realities of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

The injustices Starr faces in this timely YA novel are almost unbearable because we’ve all seen the news. We know her experience on the page isn’t “just” fiction. It’s fictionalized reporting on a harsh reality in a voice that the author has made us sympathize with. No reader can ignore that black people are being unjustly brutalized by law enforcement when it’s Starr giving them her firsthand account of that trauma. 

It’s a harrowing yet common tale, and experiencing it in the close first person voice of an authentic black teen makes the reality hit hard for all of us. Especially, readers who do not exist in this type of harsh reality are forced to feel and develop empathy for a type of situation  they’d rather ignore. But this novel makes it impossible to ignore the reality of what so many inner city teens can’t avoid. 

In particular, Starr’s constant struggle with codeshifting and her insecurity about who she’s “supposed” to be in any given situation is heartbreaking. She’s from two worlds but doesn’t feel she truly belongs in either. This is a reality that probably a lot of white readers had never been aware of, but it’s a commonality in American black culture. Starr’s codeshifting shows readers what it’s like to live as a black person navigating the fine line between authenticity and what society deems acceptable.  

What this novel does so well is educating readers without it feeling too telling or preachy. Starr is letting us into her worlds, her thoughts, fears, and hopes. So we’re learning about Starr while simultaneously learning about the nuanced layers of inner city community. Approaching a polarizing topic like racially-charged police brutality that way makes it accessible to everyone.

There’s also a strong theme that’s reinforced throughout the story: Sometimes you can do everything right and things can still go wrong. Everyone from every type of background can identify with that theme. So with that the story then becomes universally relatable. The author offers readers common ground to stand on in that theme. 

When this book debuted in 2017, the BLM movement had only been around for a few years and people were (and, sadly, still are) very angry on both sides. The timing and authentic voice is what made this novel a blockbuster, but the true triumph is how the author, Angie Thomas,  broke down the ways in which the system works against low income, primarily black communities through the eyes and heart of a single girl. Starr’s story forces readers to not just acknowledge but really see systemic racism working against people/characters we care about. 

We all have things in our lives that are worth fighting for. That fight is never easy, but it’s very important that we keep fighting. That's a blockbuster message.

xo

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Kale and Broccoli Covered in Cheese Whiz: Analyzing the Success of Jurassic Park

 I am lucky (and old) enough to remember when the movie adaptation of Jurassic Park premiered. Leading up to the release in the summer of 1993, there was a cultural buzz that doesn’t exist in our modern, oversaturated 24-7 digital lifestyle. It wasn’t social media blasts or “influencers” generating this buzz. It was good old fashioned word of mouth. Between friends and neighbors and parents, it felt like everyone was talking about the new dinosaur movie. And this IRL conversation was fueled by one impossible promise: Spielberg had brought dinosaurs back to life. 

The groundbreaking special effects that this movie employed were legendary before anyone even stepped foot in a movie theater. Even if the movie had sucked, it still would’ve been a blockbuster simply because you couldn’t avoid the buzz, the awe, the “who HAVE to see the T-Rex” hype. 

But the movie didn’t suck. The script was layered. The sets were lush and realistic right down to the Jurassic Park lunchboxes in the giftshop and the custom-painted Jeeps that many a fan attempted to replicate on their own vehicles. All of this attention to detail made the impossible concept of an amusement park that brings dinosaurs back to life feel real. Above all that though the cast elevated this movie to blockbuster status.

They're witty, funny, and walked around with theme backpacks strapped to them as they ran for their lives. People showed up to Jurassic Park because of the dino buzz, but they bought tickets a second and third time because of the themes. Theme is the true blockbuster element in Jurassic Park. 

We see Ellie debating “sexism in survival situations” and Malcolm preaching the cautionary tale of man vs. nature. He famously says, "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.". 

And this is it. This is the blockbuster theme (one of many in this movie) everyone in every theater across the globe can relate to. Universal themes shine from every character like the blinking warning lights on the electric fences in the park. People will say they love this movie because they remember that first moment when the T-Rex busts out of her enclosure in the middle of a rainstorm to wreak havoc and gnash on some lawyer-on-the-toilet grindage, but it’s not just the special effects that keep us re-watching this movie every time it’s on TV.

Spielberg and screenwriter David Koepp were savvy enough to make these thematic touchpoints vehicles for character development and comedic relief. We’re being taught so many lessons in this movie that we quote deep moments like “life finds a way” with a laugh instead of a reverential nod. This movie is so palatable yet so intellectually stimulating that it might as well be kale and broccoli covered in cheese whiz. 

The success of Michael Crichton’s novel prior to the movie release can’t be ignored either. Millions of copies sold years before any dilophosaurus made Newman from Seinfeld the ultimate example of nature’s power over mankind. (Dude, deserved it though, right?)

The success of Jurassic Park is the sum of its parts. The blockbuster novel. The blockbuster director. The blockbuster special effects. The blockbuster cast. And the blockbuster themes. Add all that together and you have one hell of a blockbuster that will surely last longer than the dinosaurs. 

XO

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