Too Much To Dream

There was a casting discussion on an an email list I'm on. (This is scary, but I have to share) One of the posters -- a grown up even -- thought Brittany Spears would have been the perfect Galadriel.

Still have horrible pics in my head from that one!

I thought Cate was perfect.

Aaaaggghhhhh!!!

That's almost as bad a mental image as the vidoetaped snippet my sadistic ex-boyfriend showed me of Celine Dion and some other skank-ho singer doing AC/DC's "You Rocked Me All Night Long." (Unfortunately, since he showed me the tape, the image isn't only mental -- it really happened.

Thanks for the plug. Blanchett looks better in the extended version of the movie (I got it on VHS) in which the scene is included where she gives gifts to the fellowship members. (The scene is in the daytime and she does look very beautiful). (There's something about the main Galadriel scene in the theatre, in the nighttime with her hair back, that just makes her nose look really big and un-elf-like - sorry). My rough guess for these characters would be Kim Basinger for Galadriel, Kristen Davis for Arwen, and somebody, anybody, more imposing and commanding for Elrond - Christopher Plummer, maybe. But if I had access to a casting call, I'm sure I could come up with even better actors for these roles. I agree this is a nitpick. The movies are great. But Galadriel and Arwen are supposed to be the most beautful women in Middle-Earth, for Pete's sake. I'm the furthest thing from gay, but I thought Aragorn and Boromir were hotter than Galadriel and Arwen. There were so few big names, it almost seems like they went with Blanchet and Tyler to make sure they got in a few recognizable stars. Having said all that, the movies still rock.

Mmm... I think that Kim Basinger has the wrong kind of beauty for the part. Too American, too earthy -- too something. I don't remember who Kristen Davis is -- and surely Christopher Plummer is too old now. Elrond was supposed to look very old, despite the fact that he was thousands of years old in the story.

IIRC Tolkein's description of Elrond was that he looked neither old nor young, unlike his descriptions of the other elves who always seemed to look young no matter how old they were.

It has amused me to remember that Galadriel is Arwen's grandmother.

Hmmm. Galadriel = Arwen's Grandma?? I'll have to go check the Silmarillion . . .

Her daughter was Celebrían, who was Elrond's wife, and therefore Arwen's mother. Therefore Galadriel was Arwen's grandma -- that is why there was that special moment in FOTR between her and Aragorn -- that is only on the extended dvd. (The reason why Arwen's mother didn't figure in the story at all is because she had taken off for Valinor ages before. This is in the appendices at the end of the Return of the King.) There's no reason Galadriel can't be a grandmother; after all she is thousands of years old.

Michael,

You forgot Cirdan, whom Tolkien described (and Jackson depicted, wearing Narya, in the prologue to FoTR) as having a long beard. He was, after all, the oldest Elf still left in Middle-Earth. Galadriel may have been Arwen's grandmother, but he was of the generation of Galadriel's own grandparents (see the Sil).

Andrea,

You're right that Kim Basinger would be FAR too earthy for Galadriel, although it's not the Americanness that's a problem. I recall a fair consensus for Michelle Pfeiffer prior to Cate Blanchett being cast; playing Titania in A Midsummer's Night's Dream is almost an echo of the same role. As for Kristin Davis, she portrays the (relatively) straight-laced and well-adjusted Charlotte on "Sex and the City" (I am not gay just for knowing that, not that there's anything wrong with that) and, yes, I'd find her at least as believable as Liv Tyler. Of course, I was one of the ones who initially believed the rumors of Uma Thurman playing Eowyn, and felt she'd been miscast; ever since Pulp Fiction I've been looking forward to seeing her in black hair again and I thought for sure that she'd be the best choice for Arwen.

I have found a formidable nest of Tolkein-geeks (like me). I love you guys. (I went back and checked the Silmarillion - you're right - Galadriel IS Arwens' grandma).

[Galadriel]:"This stone I gave to Celebrian my daughter, and she to hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope. In this hour, take the name that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the House of Elendil!"
* * *
[Aragorn]: "For the gifts that you have given me I thank you, O Lady of Lorien from whom was sprung Celebrian and Arwen Evenstar. What praise could I say more?"

From Fellowship of the Ring, "Farewell to Lorien". So you don't need to consult Silmarillion to document the relationship between Galadriel and Arwen, though maybe the foregoing is a little obscure . . .

Rea - I had reread the series recently, and I caught that as well. But I assumed it meant that Arwen was Galadriel's daughter. Since she's obviously Elrond's daughter, I assumed there was something going on that I hadn't remembered (I've never read the Silmarillion).

By the way, isn't Elrond a half-elf? Doesn't that make him mortal (and therefore Arwen as well?).

Rea - I had reread the series recently, and I caught that as well. But I assumed it meant that Arwen was Galadriel's daughter. Since she's obviously Elrond's daughter, I assumed there was something going on that I hadn't remembered (I've never read the Silmarillion).

By the way, isn't Elrond a half-elf? Doesn't that make him mortal (and therefore Arwen as well?).

IIRC, Elrond and his brothers were half elven, but they were each given the choice of whether to live as immortal elves or normal men (i don't remember how or why, it's in the Silmarillion somewhere) and Elrond chose elf while his brothers chose men.