Peter Jackson has faced a reasonable amount of criticism recently for shooting The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in brand new 48 frames per second technology.  Critics of the newstuff got a ten minute sneak peek of the film at this years CinemaCon, and essentially claimed that the films aesthetics looked “TOO GOOD”:

While 48fps may create a more realistic, “you are there” picture quality, it actually works against The Hobbit from the 10 minutes of footage we saw. This undeniable “reality” kept pulling me out of the movie rather than immersing me fully into its world as the Lord of the Rings films did; the very fantasy element, the artifice of it all (whether it’s the wigs, fake beards or CG monsters) was plainly, at times painfully, evident.

Now I’m not a rocket scientist or anything but I’d say that twice the quality of video is a step FORWARD for the movie industry and is a GOOD thing.

Peter Jackson responded to the skepticism by saying that people will simply have to deal with his movie looking “too good”:

At first it’s unusual because you’ve never seen a movie like this before. It’s literally a new experience, but you know, that doesn’t last the entire experience of the film; not by any stretch, after 10 minutes or so,” said Jackson. “That’s a different experience than if you see a fast-cutting montage at a technical presentation.

Ya.  You idiots.  Oh.  Did I just say that out loud?  Can Peter Jackson yet again bring us a dope sauce rendition of J.R.R. Tolkein’s absolutely delight-filled and charming classic fantasy novel The Hobbit?  If I was a bettin’ man.  I’d say yes.  Because The Hobbit is literally, figuratively, and arguably one of the best fictional novels of all time.  Ever.  Don’t hold me to that one that though.  As there are some pretty solid stories in book form in the world as we know it.  Like this top 10:

Old Man and the Sea, Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, Pride and Prejudice, 1984, Grapes of Wrath, Hamlet, War and Peace, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Fountainhead

(Post your personal top 10 below!)

WHAT TRULY MAKES a vivid, illustrious, and captivating fictional tale you ask?  Well.  Some would say that it starts with a dense and meaningful relationship between the main characters.  Like for instance the somewhat strained but still very dear friendship between Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey.  Who?  You ask?  Well.  Let’s take a look.

Rationals and Guardians can indeed make for powerhouse dynamic duo’s, as both of them seem to share an inherent fondness for the structures within society, Rationals seek desperately to improve it, while Guardians work tirelessly to preserve it.  Indeed a Rational’s pragmatic, skeptical, and relativistic mindset match up quite well with a Guardians stoical, pessimistic, and fatalistic viewpoint.  The two however do have a bright side, and can sometimes take break’s from their work to sit back and enjoy one anothers company.

Good morning!” said Bilbo, and he meant it.  The sun was shining, and the grass was very green.

But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out farther than the brim of his shady hat.

“What do you mean?” he said. “Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?”

“All of them at once, said Bilbo.

— The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

Because Rationals value that strategic intellect so highly,  they tend to take as their idol the technological wizard, specficially the scientific genius.  After all, a wizard is the ultimate scientist, with what seems like an almost magical power over nature, and in single-minded pursuit of the four aims of science: the prediction and control of events, and the understanding and explanation of their contents.  Scratch a Rational, find a scientist; but glimpse the figure the Rationals would aspire to become, and behold a wizard.— Please Understand Me II, p. 192

Gandalf the Grey later known as Gandalf the White is an Istari or Wizard, a race of superior beings that were chosen to aid the people of Middle-Earth in the fight against evil.  Gandalf is the wisest and most powerful of the Five Wizards, and has spent much of his time on Middle-Earth learning, teaching, reading, and studying.  Upon entrance into Middle-Earth, Gandalf (Olorin) spent a good thousand or two years walking among the elves as a stranger and learning from them and teaching them.  He later revealed himself as an Istari:  “Warm and eager was his spirit (and it was enhanced by the ring Narya), for he was the Enemy of Sauron, opposing the fire that devours and wastes with the fire that kindles, and succours in wanhope and distress; but his joy, and his swift wrath, were veiled in garments grey as ash, so that only those that knew him well glimpsed the flame that was within.  Merry he could be, and kindly to the young and simple, yet quick at times to sharp speech and the rebuking of folly; but he was not proud, and sought neither power nor praise… Mostly he journeyed unwearingly on foot, leaning on a staff, and so he was called among Men of the North Gandalf ‘the Elf of the Wand’. For they deemed him (though in error) to be of Elven-kind, since he would at times work wonders among them,  …”

Powerfully intelligent, infamously wise, highly pragmatic, rightfully skeptical, and extremely analytical Gandalf makes for a dynamic example of a Rational.  Indeed Gandalf’s never-ending quest for wisdom and knowledge mirrors that of the Rational.

“Rationals prefer to remain calm, cool, and collected.  And if they cannot avoid these emotional states, they will try hard to avoid letting their concern, excitement or enthusiasm show.  … Indeed, because they are reluctant to express emotions or desires, NTs are often criticized for being unfeeling and cold.  However, what is taken for indifference is not indifference at all, but the thoughtful absorbed concentration of the contemplative investigator.  Just as effective investigators carefully hold their feelings in check and gauge their actions so that they do no disturb their inquiry or contaminate their results, so Rationals are prone to examine and control themselves in the same deliberate manner, being careful to avoid reading their own desires, emotions, and expectations into their observations.”  — Please Understand Me II, p. 188

 A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to. — Gandalf the Grey

“While the Artisan is the sensation seeking personality, The Idealist the Identity Seeking Personality, and the Rational the Knowledge seeking personality, it is safe to say that Guardians have little interest in any other of these.  The SJs concerns are more pressing than sensations, identity, and knowledge, for they are more aware than the other types of the dangers of living.  What, after all, is a guardian but one who stands guard, prepared for the worst, a warden of safety and security.  Guardians know better than the rest of us what dangers lurk nearby, ready to pounce.  Property can be lost or stolen; health can fail; relationships can fall apart.  The world can go to hell in a handbasket.”— Please Understand Me II, p. 99

Bilbo Baggins, on the other hand, is a very friendly and well-mannered Hobbit who like all his hobbit brethren, is “fond of food, drink, a full pipe, his friends and good cheer, and was known for greeting friends and family with hospitality saying “At your service and your families”.

Being related to both the Tooks and the Baggins’: two family groups that were fundamentally opposite in their mentalities, with the Tooks being more fond of adventures and wandering, and the Baggins who were more fond of the settled life, Bilbo had two different sides to him something he referred to as the “Took side” and the “Baggins side”.  This meant that he secretly relished having adventures but still wanted to remain settled and was very afraid.

Warmly hospitable, extremely dependable, surprisingly courageous, and unabashedly concerned Bilbo Baggins is a classic Guardian.  Indeed Bilbo spends half of The Hobbit voicing his concern and pessimism for the adventure he was forced into, but turns out to be the most courageous and stoic of them all.

“This is not to say that Guardians don’t lighten up and have just as good a time as others. SJs can have a great sense of humor, lots of friends, and will usually cultivate a full and satisfying social life.  But even when giving a party Guardians can find things to worry about.  Bilbo Baggins, Tolkein’s hospitable little hobbit, enjoys having friends over for tea, but frets about invitations services and supplies.”   — Please Understand Me II, p. 97

 He liked visitors, but he liked to know them before they arrived, and he preferred to ask them himself.  He had  a horrible thought that the cakes might run short, and then he…found himself scuffling off to the cellar to find a pint beer-mug. and to the pantry to fetch two beautiful round seed-cakes which he had baked that afternoon for his after-supper morsel.  As the host, he knew his duty and stuck to it however painful.

— The Hobbit

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Happy 4th of July too!! ; )