MrHanky's Journal: Re-reading The Lord of the Rings

I'm re-reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time in 16 years or so. I should perhaps make a joke about how many times it's mentioned that certain hobbits are queer and gay, but I won't. It's a good book, despite how overrated it is by its most fanatical followers. That's what sets it apart from some other major pop culture cult phenomena, like Star Wars, or worse: Serenity, which frankly are garbage if you try to take them seriously (OK, here I'm being far too kind to Serenity, since it's garbage also if you take it as pure entertainment).

No, what I wanted to say is just what a masterstroke it was to write Tom Bombadil out of the movie. That's one redundant character if I ever saw one. Hell, it's Tolkien's very own Jar-Jar Binks. It really was worth destroying the ambivalent tone and the entire hobbit character development in the beginning of the book just to get rid of him as well. The movie started out extremely rushed, though. Perhaps it would be better to follow the book until Bombadil showed up, and then do some Braindead style lawnmower action on him, just to make sure he never turns up again.

Also, Tolkien should have recognised the fact that he was no poet.