Good v. Evil

I'm watching The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and I just got teary-eyed (me? never!). The poor men of Rohan are huddled in Helm's Deep, and everyone, including old men and kids, are getting suited up, and everyone's afraid, and many have despaired of living the night. They're trapped, they're doomed. And then they hear a horn and open the gates, and all these beautiful otherworldly elves come marching in, total badasses, in their cloaks, with their bows and arrows. The elves, who are IMMORTAL, are coming to risk their lives to honor the old alliance between elves and men, when they could easily be boarding that boat for the West. I dare you to find a more stirring scene. Honestly, this trilogy is one for the ages.

I think that of all movies, the Lord of the Rings series does the best job of showing a gathering threat, the frightened peace-loving (and somewhat selfish) people debating over whether it's their problem or not while time's a-wastin', and then the utter undeniable need to stand up for what you believe in. As Samwise Gamgee says, "There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for." You could say that the book, not the movie, is what does this, and that's correct, mostly -- it is a great book. But the movie is so vast and incredible, and works on such a huge scale, that I think it helps magnify the conflict.

It makes me want to sign up for the army. But then again, anything I'd be fighting against in this world is far more amorphous than the threats in LOTR. Maybe that's one reason LOTR is so satisfying -- the clarity of the fight between good and evil.