I'm just about as big a fan as you can find. On an emotional level, at least.
I have a fierce respect for both the books and the films, and believe they are on the same level, but I've always felt more attatched to the film adaptations. I'm really more of a closet fan, something only a few members her know about me. I rarely talk about it, but when I do, I talk about it a lot.
I collect as much merchandise as possible, and I'm currently working toward owning The Complete Recordings sets for each of the three installments (I recently got The Fellowship of the Ring's for Christmas).
I love every shot of the film, I love every line, I love every character, and the music makes my heart soar and the metaphors for life in these stories touches me deeply. This was one of the films that changed my life forever. Made me into a different person- a more open-minded, and emotional person.
I cannot see a greater series coming into my life- when somebody mentions beautiful stories, all I can think of is The Lord of the Rings.
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"I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something."
