Director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies are considered by many to be one of the best film trilogies ever made, but recently, fans and critics have highlighted some of their flaws, particularly in their depiction of women.
Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, altogether, is over 11 hours in length when taking the extended versions into account. A recent video posted on YouTube, which clocks in at 42 seconds in length, spotlights the lack of interaction between female characters throughout the three films. Roughly 40 seconds of the runtime are dedicated to the intro, the outro and the Lord of the Rings title card, meaning there are only two approximate seconds of female interaction across almost 12 hours of movies.
Dylan, the video’s creator, highlights this absurdity even further in the description, writing, “it took all of my skill as an editor and creative mind, meticulously scouring over thirteen hours of footage, staying up into the wee hours of the morning for weeks on end at my computer, but I finally finished it…” The scene takes place in 2002’s The Two Towers, wherein a young Freda asks Eowyn, “Where is mama?” Among the cast, the trilogy features three prominent female characters: Liv Tyler’s Arwen Evenstar, Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel and Miranda Otto as Eowyn.
Based on the novels of the same name by J.R.R. Tolkein, Jackson’s film adaptations premiered between 2001 and 2003 and starred Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen and Sean Astin, among others. Altogether, the three movies earned almost $3 billion at the worldwide box office and went on to win many prestigious awards, including Best Picture and Best Director at the 76th Academy Awards.
While The Lord of the Rings films barely include any female interaction within their narrative, Prime Video’s upcoming series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which is scheduled to debut on Sept. 2, has the potential to correct this issue and present a story that values its female characters and their interactions. Based on the promotional material and early plot summaries, Galadriel, the Elf Queen of Lothlórien, is set to be one of the show’s protagonists. Original character Disa, a Dwarven princess who notably (as many fans have pointed out) lacks a beard or other facial hair, was also featured heavily in the promotional material.
The Rings of Power series isn’t the only upcoming Lord of the Rings adaptation. A new game, Lord of the Rings: Gollum, is expected to be released this year and will feature stealth-based and dialogue-heavy gameplay.
While The Lord of the Rings movies are no longer available to stream on Netflix, all three films can be found on HBO Max.
Source: YouTube
