That's so Lord of the Rings

[TheOneHero]

Just because something has elves or dwarves in it doesn't make it "Lord of the Rings".

I can't express how much I hate it when people compare everything fantasy to "Lord of the Rings".

"Lord of the Rings" is awesome. I enjoy it and I'm a big fan of it.

But I'm no idiot.

Hobbits, elves, and dwarves existed before LotR.

Don't say something "takes after LotR" when they mention one of the above races. It's stupid and you're stupid for saying it.

On a similar note: Dark Elves.

Because you got an in depth look on the Forgotten Realms' Drow (dark elves) from the Drizzt Do'Urden Series, don't compare dark elves in other games/books/movies to the Dungeons and Dragons series.

When visiting a friend last month, we were playing a game with dark elves. He went on about, "Dark elf women aren't supposed to be fighting! They are magic users!" He continued on about how if it's different from Dungeons and Dragons: It's wrong.

I've seen this attitude in so many other people for so many other different things.

Stop.

Do yourself a favor and get some intelligence or just give the earth it's carbon back. I'm sure it'd make better use of it than you are.

Edit* Fixed the title name.

Edit2* The main point of this rant is how everyone refers something of a given subject as their bible for that given subject: if it's different, it's wrong.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: TheOneHero on 2008-05-08 14:36 ]</font>

[Anduril]

That is just what popular culture does, and what humanity does in general. We like to associate things with other well known things. And there is the whole fact that everything at this point really lacks much originality and is basically a plagarized version of something else.

[Raine_Loire]

Well, a while ago, I saw a really tall soldier walking with a bunch of really short female soldiers. I pointed and said to Laguna, "Look, he's escorting the hobbits to Mt Doom!"

So I guess that was a wrong thing to say though- I'm sure humans have taken hobbits other places in the past...

[Vanzazikon]

This is the first time I saw anybody complaining about people claiming stuff to be "so LotR" because of races, fantasies, evil etc. I remember one guy saying "J.R.R Tolken was the one who created stories about fantasies like LorT and WoW, I bet you he had no life just like people who play WoW." I said yeah, and you're a fuckin' ignorant idiot who doesn't even know how stupid you sound. Why the hell are you claiming people who enjoy fantasies to have no life? Just because they spend alot of time on one thing doesn't mean they lost their life. You're the one who has no life for making fun of people who are just following their passion!



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Vanzazikon on 2008-05-08 13:03 ]</font>

[Alizarin]

It's easiest to compare something with a decidedly popular reference. I can bet a lot of people compare anything sci-fi to things like Star Trek or Star Wars. Also like FPSs are compared to Halo, which before Halo came out were compared to Counter Strike or Goldeneye, which before that were possibly compared to Doom or Wolfenstien 3D.

I agree that it does get a little frustrating to have something compared to a mainstream counterpart and have that mainstream aspect be considered the law in how things are supposed to be. Especially when it's recent, which would imply that there are references to earlier works it may take from.

[Kent]

...Yeah. It's not like Lord of the Rings was written before a lot of current young adults were born, or anything like that.

Being that the first book was published when my dad was 15, there's no way that people can use it as an old source of high fantasy to think a lot of things stem from it. :/

Especially if it's the thing that is responsible for a lot of the modern-day popularization thereof.

[Nai_Calus]

On 2008-05-08 12:48, TheOneHero wrote:
Just because something has elves or dwarves in it doesn't make it "Lord of the Rings".

I can't express how much I hate it when people compare everything fantasy to "Lord of the Rings".

"Lord of the Rings" is awesome. I enjoy it and I'm a big fan of it.

But I'm no idiot.

Hobbits, elves, and dwarves existed before LotR.

Don't say something "takes after LotR" when they mention one of the above races. It's stupid and you're stupid for saying it.

On a similar note: Dark Elves.

Because you got an in depth look on the Forgotten Realms' Drow (dark elves) from the Drizzt Do'Urden Series, don't compare dark elves in other games/books/movies to the Dungeons and Dragons series.

When visiting a friend last month, we were playing a game with dark elves. He went on about, "Dark elf women aren't supposed to be fighting! They are magic users!" He continued on about how if it's different from Dungeons and Dragons: It's wrong.



I wonder how your friend will feel then about how they're apparently changing the races in 4e, then. >_>; Is it now wrong because it's different from how it was before? http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_lol.gif

The LotR thing... Eh, I can see where it comes from. It's a good popular reference point. If something has Tolkein-style elves, as opposed to say, old traditional mischief-causing elves, it's a safe bet to say 'Kind of like LotR, y'know?', since most people will automatically know what you're talking about. Whether or not it's inspired by LotR's elves, or if it even predates LotR is irrelevant, it's a good reference point when talking to the uninitiated. "It's like LotR, but instead of *blank* it has *blank*, and the *blank*s are *blank*" is a perfectly reasonable way of describing something to someone.

[Eihwaz]

While I do basically agree with the main point of your rant, I will mention that Tolkien did create hobbits. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

[ljkkjlcm9]

I think your argument is invalid.

Clearly anyone is going to compare something to the knowledge base that they themselves have. And clearly Lord of the Rings has become one of the biggest bases for most people.

I think your problem is more with close minded people that think it HAS to be that way. I mean, when I see an elf or a dwarf, I have my thoughts and ideas about them from my experiences with fantasy stories, and when I see them in a new role or something, it strikes me as odd. Do I have a problem with it? No, it's all made up. They can do whatever they want. But typically changing something very well known and making it drastically different makes people uncomfortable and such.

THE JACKEL