One of the gifts of recovery I have noticed is being able to recognize recovery-related themes in movies. When I first watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy I was still in my addiction and was blind to the relationship between the One Ring and that of an Addiction. However, having recently watched the trilogy, various aspects of the movie, in my opinion, directly relate to an addict’s fight against an addiction.
This 38 minute video consists of scenes from The Lord of the Rings trilogy as filmed by Peter Jackson and originally written in the 1950s by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien’s 1937 children’s fantasy novel The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. The book consists of three volumes, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.
J. R. R. Tolkien once described The Lord of the Rings as “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” he wrote to his friend, the English Jesuit Father Robert Murray, “unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.“(The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 142). There are many theological themes underlying the narrative, the battle of good versus evil, the triumph of humility over pride, the activity of grace, Death and Immortality, Resurrection, Salvation, Repentance, Self-Sacrifice, Free Will, Humility, Justice, Fellowship, Authority and Healing. In it the great virtues of Mercy and Pity (shown by Bilbo and Frodo towards Gollum) win the day and the message from the Lord’s Prayer “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” was very much on Tolkien’s mind as Frodo struggled against the power of the One Ring (Letters, 181 and 191). I hope you enjoy watching this video as much as I enjoyed editing it. As always, take what you like and leave the rest! (from http://tolkiengateway.net)
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